Driving left-of-center in a right-lane country

Imagine what it would be like the next time you are driving in or out of Anchorage and all of a sudden, in your lane there is a car or truck headed straight toward you at 65 miles per hour.

What are you going to do?

I still remember the day some years ago as an APD reservist when we found a motorist going the wrong way on a one-way street, and fortunately there was no traffic to clue the driver in that he was headed in the wrong direction. As a police officer, the answer was easy: Stop the car and turn it around. But what could you do as a private citizen?

As I contemplated this question, I could only come up with a couple of reasons why anyone would drive on the wrong side of the road, the first of which is that they are from a different country. While Americans are not the only ones who drive on the right side of the road, there are nations that are distinctive to us and we to them in that they do not. Though this may seem simplistic, doesn’t it seem reasonable that if you planned on driving in a foreign country a you would first become familiar with its traffic laws so you could conform to the culture you would be in?

I admit that this is seldom, if ever, the case, and that the most probable reason for this happening is because of driving under the influence of an addictive substance, such as drugs or alcohol. Though I have yet to hear of this in Alaska, down in the Lower 48 this is a particular problem along divided highways at night because DUI drivers miss on ramps and turn on to an off ramp. While they have the good sense to stick to their right, they don’t know they are on the wrong side of the road and are traveling with their lights off so they won’t get caught. I know of a young lady who met such a person, and believe me, her life has been changed beyond her wildest imagination.

There is also a third reason for driving left-of-center, and that is failure to follow. Ever go into a blind curve or begin over a hill only to find someone trying to pass a string of cars paying no heed to the double yellow? Call it impatience or foolishness, I don’t care, but the truth is that they became dissatisfied with following, abandoned caution and gambled on risk. And what’s more, each time they beat the odds only emboldens them to do it again, placing themselves and others on a collision course with death.

Let’s face it, the cost of driving left-of-center is high. While death might be thought of as the ultimate price in terms of life, being permanently maimed is that in terms of quality of life, and then you have the financial costs to both body and property. Alaska has not been immune. Yet this is not my focus. I am more concerned with those who live their lives left-of-center.

It is interesting to me what people are willing to say about themselves. Terms of shame once reserved for the basest of society are now worn as badges of honor. Politically, the term leftist has always been associated with socialism and communism, and it wasn’t long ago that red was their color because of the blood they were willing to shed to reach their ends. That they have embraced “change” for their motto is an admission that America at least used to be “right.” They have either come to or lived in a culture with which they are unwilling to conform, become addicted to philosophies that are antagonistic to the fabric of our country, and they don’t have a problem violating our Constitution if it furthers their ends.

But there is also a religious left. Called the “Christian Left” by pollsters because of their numbers, their lines run parallel with the political left. They call themselves Christian because it is a popular term, but are unwilling to conform to the way of life it stands for because they are addicted to the philosophies of this world rather than God’s word, which they count as nothing.

These both are called “the left” because they left the rest. The problem is they are driving on the wrong side of the road.

Ron Hamman is pastor of Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla. Contact him at 357-4229 or ron.hamman@gci.net.