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The Tourist Lane

A while back, I was traveling through Canada on a vacation. Specifically, I was driving through the Canadian Rockies with a friend. As it turns out, though, driving was going to cause a few laughs. Specifically, it was going to cause a few laughs at my expense.

You see, shortly after renting the car, we drove to the hotel. I always get a little wary when I have to drive through unknown territory, but we had a GPS unit, so it was fine. All in all, it was just a matter of following the directions and staying the appropriate lane at the appropriate time. However, we quickly came upon a sign that said something like, "Right Lane: Taxi and Transit." I distinctly remember asking my travel companion if he knew what "Transit" meant. I wasn't sure, and I could've taken it a couple of different ways. Did my rented sedan count as a "transit" vehicle? If so, why call it out in particular? That didn't make any sense. So it must've meant something else, but I couldn't quite figure out what that was. I did see a few other cars driving in that lane, but for the most part, people avoided it. It was too wide and well-paved to be a shoulder, so I was fairly confused. He wasn't sure either, so I cautiously stayed in the lane for a little while.

I had to switch lanes at some point, and it was a good thing that I did. Sometime after I had moved over, the mystery was soon solved when we saw a bus drive past us in that lane. Somewhere in the back, it had some sort of ad for the city's public works projects, and it said something about "public transit." It immediately clicked that the sign meant public transportation. In short, the lane was reserved for buses and taxis. After a few laughs at my expense, I decided to be a good vehicular citizen, and let the city's buses and taxis use their lane without me getting in their way.

Fast forward a few months, and I was in a rented car in Hawaii. I knew I needed to make a right turn in a while, so I was in the right-most lane. There was no sign this time, but again, it seemed like everyone else avoided the lane. As far as I knew it, it was perfectly legal to stay in that lane, and I wanted to make a right turn, so I didn't see why not. Given my previous experience, I suspected something was up, and I joked that there must be some secret that all the locals knew about. My travel companion quickly dubbed the right-most lane the "tourist lane," and proceeded to make fun of me for driving like a tourist. As it turns out, all of the tour buses and hotel shuttles used that lane, so most people avoided it simply to avoid the hassle of driving behind those vehicles. In a way, she had been right. Of course, that led to even more laughter. To add to the fun, I was driving somewhat cautiously, what with being in unfamiliar territory and having heard that the lower speed limit in Hawaii was not to be trifled with. Taking that factor into account, I ended up in the tourist lane on more than one occasion. She laughed at me some more.

After all of that, though, I've decided that I don't like the right-most lane.
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