PASS OR NOT PASS

YOU’RE ON YOUR way to a big motorcycle rally, traveling through a forest in the mountains. You’re anxious to get to the fairgrounds, set up your tent, socialize with the other riders and look at the different machines. But for the last 20 miles you’ve been stuck behind a slow-moving motorhome. The double yellow “no passing” lines seem to go on forever, and wherever you could legally pass, there had been oncoming traffic. To add frustration, the motorhome driver speeds up in the straights, and slows down in the curves.

Finally, you see a passing zone ahead, with no oncoming vehicles in sight. You signal, shift down, roll on the throttle, and sail on by. But as you pull back in line ahead of the motorhome, you realize there is a police car by the side of the road ahead. You’re still well over the speed limit, and know that the officer has you nailed. Even before you see the blue lights, you decelerate and pull off onto the shoulder to await your fate. To add to your embarrassment, the motorhome drones on by.

It’s frustrating to be stuck behind a slow moving vehicle, but you won’t get to your destination any quicker if you get nabbed by the law, or collide with a wild animal.

Consider that there is a slight rise in the road that blocks some of your view. If you couldn’t see the police car hidden behind that rise in the road, you couldn’t have seen a stalled vehicle, or a wild deer, either. Yes, this was a legal passing zone, but you should always weigh the risks before pulling out to pass. In this situation maybe it would have been better to curb your anxiety a little longer and wait for a better place to pass.