Seriously, just take the lane.

[chris_s]

Don’t learn the hard way like I did this morning on Walter Reed Dr – instead of taking the lane in the narrow bit south of Glebe, I hugged within 6″ or so of the gutter, trying to let cars pass me more easily. Well one of them did – within about 2 inches. I’m pretty sure thinking back that no actual contact was made – I think I just panicked from the surprise of it all and lost my balance – ended up laid out in the road. Thankfully nobody was coming behind him and I made it over to the sidewalk with just a scrape, a blister and a bruise.

But seriously, your safety and mine is much more important than saving anybody the “inconvenience” of having to wait for a good opportunity to pass you safely. If there had been a car behind him I’d be in the hospital or the morgue. Expect to see me practicing some serious lane control. I just feel like an idiot for needing this freaky experience to drive it home for me.

Also, thanks to the awesome Arlington County traffic guy who got the license plate # of the car and came back to give it to me, to the Arlington County Police officers who took my report and to the random dude in the black pickup who checked to make sure I was ok and offered me a ride home.

Topic

[Brendan von Buckingham]

But now I see you’re a first time poster and my second cup of coffee has a more successful sugar content. The regulation I described can be found here: http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+46.2-905 Title 46.2 – Motor Vehicles Chapter 8 Regulation of Traffic § 46.2-905

And as a bonus, here’s my new favorite section of code: § 46.2-823. Unlawful speed forfeits right-of-way, which says, “The driver of any vehicle traveling at an unlawful speed shall forfeit any right-of-way which he might otherwise have under this article.”

Sounds like something my widow could use.

[Author]

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