Left Lane

I RECEIVED an e-mail last week from Patricia M. of Columbia. It's one of those e-mails I love to receive. "We moved to Maryland one and a half years ago. At first we assumed it was just us who had problems adjusting to traffic in Howard County. Thanks to your column, we have learned we are not alone. Your column has become one of the best educational tools we have found," she said. Thanks, Patricia M. I've heard a lot of complaints about Maryland drivers from former out-of-staters, so you're not alone.

The Ravens will be keeping an eye on Oklahoma left offensive tackle Lane Johnson. He is rated the third-best at the position in the draft, and a lot of the experts have predicted he will go in the top 10 picks, but the Ravens might trade up for him at a reasonable cost. The Ravens have some options because they have 12 picks. Johnson is athletic, durable and the pro scouts like his demeanor. He plays with the nastiness of a defensive lineman. After investing so much money in quarterback Joe Flacco during the offseason, the Ravens need a top player to protect his blind side.

OTHER VOICES of outrage have lifted up to join Patricia M.'s. She complained in last week's column about the new proposal, which passed the Maryland House of Delegates last month and is under consideration in the Senate, to make camping out in the left lane (and impeding the flow of often speeding drivers) illegal. "I've just finished your 11 March article and can't believe the intelligence of our legislators," fumed Leo Harrold. "Getting a ticket for going the speed limit in the left lane!

A trailer that became separated from the vehicle pulling it smashed into a jersey wall along Interstate 83 North near Northern Parkway about 10:25 a.m., closing the highway in both directions, according to Baltimore Police. The trailer came to rest partially overturned in the left lane of the highway, police said. As of about 1:30 p.m. all lanes reopened with one northbound shoulder closed. krector@baltsun.com twitter.com/rectorsun

Isn't it annoying when people in the left lane of the interstate of your choice drive only 50 mph?This trait especially bugs a White Marsh reader, a courier who drives a couple of hundred miles a day."I wish you would write a column, on the front page, daily, reminding people to stay out of the left lane if they're going 50," he said. Such motorists "have to be passed on the right, by the people who are doing your average speeds, and it creates a hazard."OK. Let's take this information down: Left lane . . . going 50 . . . pass on the right . . . hazard.

The House of Delegates reversed itself yesterday and approved a bill that would require drivers in the left lane to move aside for faster motorists to pass. Under the bill, drivers who fail to yield the left lane to faster-moving vehicles could be subject to a fine and a point on their driver's licenses. The penalty would apply even to those drivers who are traveling at the speed limit. The measure failed to win the required 71 votes Tuesday, but upon reconsideration yesterday the House voted 90 to 49 to approve the bill.

IF YOU DO MUCH DRIVING on our nation's highways, you've probably noticed that, more and more often, bullets are coming through your windshield.This is a common sign of Road Rage, which the opinion-makers in the news media have decided is a serious problem, currently ranking just behind global warming and several points ahead of Asia.How widespread is Road Rage?To answer that question, researchers for the National Institute of Traffic Safety recently did a study in which they drove on the interstate highway system in a specially equipped observation van. By the third day, they were deliberately running other motorists off the road.

They are among the most reviled figures driving our roads: those who clog the left lanes of our highways and get in the way of red-blooded Americans who just want to get somewhere fast. A reminder of this species of driver comes from reader Carl I. Thistel of Baltimore, who suggested - "as someone who is disposed to at least maintain if not slightly exceed the posted speed limit" - that this column address the subject of "left lane huggers." "From my own observations [they] fall into two basic types: the BLUENOSES who believe they have been anointed with the mission to keep traffic at or below the posted speed limit, and the OBLIVIOUS who remain steadfastly focused on where they are going and at a speed they feel comfortable with," he continued.

A trailer that became separated from the vehicle pulling it smashed into a jersey wall along Interstate 83 North near Northern Parkway about 10:25 a.m., closing the highway in both directions, according to Baltimore Police. The trailer came to rest partially overturned in the left lane of the highway, police said. As of about 1:30 p.m. all lanes reopened with one northbound shoulder closed. krector@baltsun.com twitter.com/rectorsun

A Greenbelt man was injured yesterday after falling asleep at the wheel on Interstate 95, causing an accident and a seven-mile traffic jam during the morning commute, state police said.Partha Sengupta, 43, was northbound in the far left lane of I-95 between Route 175 and Route 100 at 9: 30 a.m. when "witnesses said he began driving erratically," said Trooper First Class Arthur Betts.Police said Sengupta's car weaved among lanes before he collided with a car two lanes over, causing minor vehicular damage.

Responding to concerns from Howard County residents after a pair of well-publicized fatal crashes, the State Highway Administration said it will launch an $800,000 project Sunday to add new left-turn lanes at three intersections along Route 32 north of Interstate 70. The highway agency said it will build the new turn lanes on Maryland 32 at the intersections with Day Road, Amberwoods Way and the southern end of River Road - all of which lie between Old...

Alcohol and speed appear to have contributed to a single-vehicle crash in Linthicum early yesterday that claimed the life of a Baltimore woman, said the state police at the Glen Burnie barracks. Sudi Sharifa Smith, 25, of the 5200 block of St. Charles Ave., died in the wreck, which occurred shortly before 5 a.m. on Baltimore-Washington Expressway near West Nursery Road. Richard Rolanzo Queen, 38, of the 700 block of Peach Orchard Lane in Dundalk was driving a 1998 Chevrolet Suburban northbound in the left lane when he lost control of the vehicle and swerved off the left side of the road, police said.

THE PROBLEM -- Missing "left turn only" sign at a Baltimore County intersection. THE BACKSTORY -- Watchdog received a complaint from a motorist who frequently takes Ingleside Avenue and turns left onto Security Boulevard. She is afraid the busy crossroad is an accident waiting to happen. "Turn left, going straight will get you killed," the motorist wrote in her attention-grabbing e-mail to Watchdog. That sounds like an overstatement, but the motorist might be right. Drivers heading west on Ingleside have two options when they reach Security: go straight or right from the right-hand lane or turn left from the left lane.

Sometimes, it's an official-looking limousine that blazes by you on the highway as though you were standing still, but Lincoln Town Cars and SUVs like the 2005 Chevy Suburban that carried New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine are also common. Governor Corzine's fateful ride ended one week ago when his Suburban crashed on the Garden State Parkway and he was seriously injured. On Tuesday, officials revealed an important fact in the case: His state trooper-driven car was traveling 91 miles per hour.

They are among the most reviled figures driving our roads: those who clog the left lanes of our highways and get in the way of red-blooded Americans who just want to get somewhere fast. A reminder of this species of driver comes from reader Carl I. Thistel of Baltimore, who suggested - "as someone who is disposed to at least maintain if not slightly exceed the posted speed limit" - that this column address the subject of "left lane huggers." "From my own observations [they] fall into two basic types: the BLUENOSES who believe they have been anointed with the mission to keep traffic at or below the posted speed limit, and the OBLIVIOUS who remain steadfastly focused on where they are going and at a speed they feel comfortable with," he continued.

Harford County: Aberdeen Charges likely in bus crash Maryland State Police expect charges to be filed in connection with Wednesday's crash of a school bus on Interstate 95 near Aberdeen that resulted in the serious injury of four students, authorities said yesterday. The northbound bus was in the left lane on the highway when the northbound tractor trailer, owned by Cowan Systems in Baltimore, traveled from the center lane and ran into the right side of the bus, police said. The impact forced the bus into the center median of the highway and ultimately caused it to overturn.

Three people were seriously injured yesterday morning when a man driving a pickup truck collided with another pickup truck whose occupants were closing a lane of Interstate 95, causing a five-mile backup from downtown to O'Donnell Street. The accident occurred about 10: 15 a.m. in the southbound lanes of I-95, near the I-395 interchange, on an elevated section of highway. Kelly Melhem, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Transportation Authority police, said the accident occurred when the driver of a Ford F-150 pickup truck tried to merge from the left lane to a middle lane.

Thirteen people from the York, Pa. area, including 11 students from York Suburban High School, suffered minor injuries yesterday morning when a bus carrying 37 passengers overturned on Interstate 83 in northern Baltimore County, Maryland State Police said. The bus, which was returning from a sporting event at Goucher College in Towson, overturned on northbound I-83 between Mount Carmel and Middletown roads about 11 a.m., police said. The driver, Charles R. Spiker, 69, of Manchester, Pa., was moving into the left lane to pass a car when the bus sideswiped a second car, a Nissan Sentra, in the left lane, police said.

A selection of road advisories for the Baltimore metro region. Previously listed closures still may be in effect. Closures are subject to weather conditions. Anne Arundel County 1) Bay Bridge West, lanes closed 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, reopening by 5 a.m. the next day. One lane closed 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Left lane closed at 9 a.m. Friday to permit use by eastbound traffic. 2) Md. 100 between Md. 10 and Md. 177, lane closures 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.