Which laws are enforced?

I moved to Alaska about one and one-half years ago and have only lived in the Valley now for just over a year, but there is one thing that I have noticed. Not all of the traffic laws apply in the Valley.

Have you ever been driving across the Palmer-Wasilla Highway and had the person in front of you want to take a left turn? I am sure it is against the law to pass anyone on the right side, but that exact traffic maneuver happens instantly when that person in front of you slows down with their left blinker on and waits on oncoming traffic to clear.

Now I am a motorcyclist and I, just like almost everyone else, have passed that waiting left-turning car on the right side. But as a motorcycle rider you will learn real quick why such a maneuver is illegal. That car that is coming towards you and is also making a left turn can’t see you as you are going around the waiting car on the right. If your paths meet it will be at a very inopportune time and place and the motorcyclist will be lucky if he or she walks away from such a meeting.

Have you ever been driving down the Parks Highway in the vicinity of Main Street in Wasilla and had a car come up along side of you on the right, on the shoulder, and make a right turn? Isn’t it illegal to make a right turn from the shoulder of a road? Isn’t that the purpose of a turning lane?

I am sure that in both of these incidents, if an accident was to happen, the police would find the car that is going around the stopped car in the wrong and issue a ticket accordingly for this illegal traffic maneuver.

In both of these incidents I have personally seen a law enforcement officer directly involved in this exact maneuver. They were either the car stopped or the car going around.

If I was to get stopped for this traffic maneuver by a law enforcement officer, would my saying, “But everyone else does it” get me out of a ticket? Of course not.

What if I was to pull out a video recorder and play a video of the exact same incident only with a law enforcement officer involved. Would that get me out of receiving a ticket? Maybe.

In either case, I ask myself, “When are the laws enforced and when are they not?”

“Are there some laws that are plain ol’ not enforced until a traffic accident happens?”

“Is this unique to Valley living?”

Layne Brunk

Wasilla