‘Right Turn Only’ Lanes on Route 88 in Westport Could Save Lives

One of my biggest pet peeves is people who speed past you in the right hand lane on Westport's Route 88 just to get in front of you.

First of all, that's an illegal pass, according to my driving instructor and also the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, but it doesn't seem to matter on 88 and I've witnessed it hundreds of times. For some reason,  I don't think the state seems to want to do anything about it. Yet here we are witnessing reckless driving and bad car accidents on a daily basis.

Just this morning, a local was very upset when another car used not only the right hand lane, but also the breakdown lane to dangerously pass him in a hurry. Luckily for the local driver and his teenager passengers, no one was hurt and nothing was damaged. That's still beside the point, because that one person who was in such a rush could have lost control and taken both vehicles out, resulting in injuries or even worse.

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If you're traveling on that roadway and you're stuck behind someone, unless you're by the broken or dotted white lines, there should be no reason to pass. A couple of minutes until your exit is worth a life or lives saved. Yes, it's a pain to be stuck behind someone going under the speed limit, we've all been there, but patience is too rare this days and will be rewarded karmically.

I truly believe this particular lane was a right turn only, it would prevent careless drivers from speeding through the intersections or driving erratically. I'm not sure who needs to put this idea in place, but after driving that area for over 17 years, I've just about had enough of the irresponsible drivers on Route 88, and I know I'm not alone on this.