Emporium Blog

Inconsiderate motorists, who hog the fast lane on highways, hear this!

You may drive slowly, you may even stop if you want, but make bloody sure you are not in other people’s way when you do that.

These road hoggers are selfish and oblivious to the dangers and the inconveniences they are causing other road users. I suspect they are somewhat blind and deaf. They could not care less about the flashing lights or blaring horns from the cars behind. I must add they are also bad tempered and ill mannered. The moment you overtake them, often by using the slow lane, they will give you the “I-own-the-road” glance. Some may even give you the middle finger.

It is easy to recognize them. It is either genetically built in or a universally recognized “road hogger trademark”. Most wear sunglasses. They will have their driver seat adjusted very close to the front almost hugging the steering wheel. This is also the reason why they cannot see or use the rearview mirror. They look tensed and eyes fixed and scour the road right in front of the car and have the look and concentration of a Formula One driver going at blazing 300kmph. Truth is they are driving 60kmph on the fast lane of a highway rated for 110kmph.

Generally road hoggers are uneducated and cannot read road signs. Messages are being shown on highways saying “Ikut Kiri Jika Tidak Memotong” or “Keep left unless overtaking”. Somehow these messages are not comprehended and are ignored.

When someone hog the fast lane by driving slowly, other motorists have to overtake on the slow lane. This will cause accidents to happen. Any slight alarm will trigger the right-hand side driver’s normal reflect to swerve left. So beware the road hogger to suddenly swerve into you if you do just as little as to press the horn while overtaking them.

There are many researches done and have proven that you save fuel by going more slowly. Somehow no research has been done on time wasted while driving slowly. You save some money but at the same time you are making your life shorter and riskier by spending too much time on the road and exposing yourself to unnecessary risks. I would say slow drivers has a shorter and riskier life.

Driving safe and carefully is not the same as driving slowly. This misconception is instilled in every motorist by the road safety campaign every time it is promoted. Are you so stupid as to not know how to differentiate between safe driving and slow driving?