The Lane Police. They Really Do Exist

If you’ve never met these people, consider yourself lucky. Other than people who don’t use blinkers, they are the most annoying, asshole drivers you will likely ever encounter.

They’re the drivers that get in the left lane or pull in front of you and drive exactly the speed limit or the infamous 4 miles over the speed limit but won’t let you pass. They decided the best speed for everyone and want to enforce it. If you happen to pass them, you will see they become highly annoyed. Even irate. They have decided this is how fast “I” think everyone should go. They will speed up, slow down, etc. just to prevent you from passing or going any faster. They have decided what the allowable speed should be for that lane.

I had to deal with the lane police this morning. I can thankfully say it ended fabulously. I was behind a driver that varied between 39 and 45, back and forth. Does that annoy you or is it just me? I mean pick a speed and drive it. Makes me crazy, but I digress. There was a local county sheriff behind me but since the posted speed was 55, I thought it would be ok to pass the other car. When passing we all watch the traffic not our speedometer but when I couldn’t seem to get around her, I glanced down and realized she had sped up to 70 mph. I slowed down and got back behind her assuming those blue lights would light up any minute. He didn’t light me up so that worked out well but the car in front of me is now back to 43 mph. Since there was no oncoming traffic, I decided to pass her. Again the same story, I look and I am at nearly 80 mph and she is right beside me so I can’t merge back over.

As you can guess the sheriff lights behind me lit up with that dreaded flashing blue and red lights that make you immediately wonder, how much is this going to cost me. Of course I immediately turned on my right blinker and pulled over. I will say I was a bit shocked when he flew right past me. However, I was so amazed when 2 blocks down the road there sits the other driver and the sheriff, that I actually pulled over behind them. He seemed a little put out that I got out of my car but I asked if I could know what she was being ticketed for. He started to tell me to get back in my car then asked, are you the driver that tried to pass her? Well to my surprise, there is a kind of new traffic law in Florida. Instead of reckless driving which carries a $250 fine he said she was being sited for “aggressive driving with the intent to cause an accident”. 3 points on your license and $500. I almost laughed out loud when I saw the look on her face when he said $500.

So moral of this story? There are no lane police. Really, no natter how much you want the job, it’s just an urban legend. So drive whatever speed makes you happy but remember, if you’re 10+ miles under the posted speed, you’re a traffic hazard. Drive the posted speed like the other cars or relax and let people that want to drive past you. Contrary to belief, they won’t hurt you, slow you down etc. They just want to get where they are going safely.

Peace out and drive safe.

Signed Slightly