Passing on the Right Revisited

I hope that an article about passing on the right might help at least some drivers understand the rules and help improve the driving community. I have made a point of keeping to the right side of the lane to try and prevent vehicles from passing. One day a driver fingered and yelled at me, yet the driver was attempting to do something illegal (even though many drivers perform this illegal act).

Give a driver enough room to go around something and he or she will do it rather than pause for a moment. It doesn't have to be much room, or sometimes even no room at all. I was once passed on the right by a monster truck that didn't have enough pavement so the driver used the sidewalk too.

How many times have you stopped for a stop sign, looked left, looked right and had another vehicle zoom past you on the right? Good thing you were turning left, isn't it? Now imagine if you were turning right and your signal light was burned out.

In general, British Columbia prohibits passing on the right. The obvious exception is when there is an unobstructed lane on the right of the vehicle being passed to use. This still requires that the movement be done with great caution as this article from Hergott Law explains.

Otherwise, for safety's sake, you wait your turn.

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Submitted by E-Mail

About two years ago (I know its a long time) I was passed on the right, I remember it like it was yesterday. I was in my vehicle behind another waiting for that person to turn left, when I could see in my side mirrors a vehicle coming up from behind. It was a smaller car, but it was distinctive, it had on it’s roof a sign for a well known driving school. It didn’t slow down, it didn’t stop, it passed not only me but the vehicle in front of me, I was still waiting.

I called the school and asked what their policy was about passing on the right, they told me it was illegal. I told them what had transpired, the reply was “oh, that was me”, “well the reason for doing that was to avoid an accident, what if another vehicle came up behind us and hit us?” I couldn’t believe what I heard. If this is what a driver educator is teaching new drivers, no wonder there are so many problems.

I didn’t report it to the police at the time, I thought what good would it do, even if they follow up there is no real consequence. I thought albeit late, something could be done to change the ways of driving school teachings.

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Complaints About Driving Schools in BC

ICBC is responsible for driving schools in British Columbia. They will take and investigate your complaints through their driver training web site. A valid complaint does include the way a driving school instructor behaves and may be submitted through an on line complaint form. ICBC says that they do take your complaints seriously, investigate and will follow up.

Obviously, you can report improper driving behaviour to the police as you would with any other driver.