Bumper to Bumper: How to avoid those tailgaters: Move over!

So keep sending your pet peeves — and your questions, too — to bumper@gazette.net.

We’re printing a few more this week since the response has been so great.

I feel I must respond to the person who is hassled by tailgaters. Tailgating is never a safe option on the roads; however, I have an idea of why someone might be tempted to do so.

One of my biggest pet peeves is the person driving below the speed limit in the left lane. The left lane is supposed to be the passing lane. Slower drivers are supposed to stay to the right, yet so many insist on crawling along in the left lane forcing traffic to pass them in the right lane, which is dangerous.

What these drivers don’t understand is that driving under the speed limit in the left lane disrupts traffic and actually causes traffic jams. My advice to those drivers who feel the need to drive under the speed limit, and especially to those chatting on cell phones, move to the right ... lest you be tailgated.

Robin Eastman Caldwell, Darnestown

Some of the blame for road rage lies with drivers I call ‘‘road enragers.” A letter you published in the Oct. 17 edition sounds like one of them.

Worried about drivers tailgating, he⁄she slows down? Good grief. That just makes things worse.

Get out of the left lane and let people pass. Keep your eyes on the road ahead, not behind. You can’t avoid crashes behind you, only the ones in front.

About the only time you need to look behind you is when you’re changing lanes. If people tailgate this person, it’s probably because he⁄she is traveling in the left lane 5 or 10 mph below the speed limit just keeping pace with another pokey driver on the right causing cars to stack up behind them while there’s a half mile of clear road ahead.

Mark I. Fow, Rockville

I do not care for drivers who honk at other drivers when they think it’s OK to go at a stop sign or at a right turn on red. Why can’t these drivers just be patient and wait their turn? Perhaps the driver who is making the right on red doesn’t feel comfortable enough to make that turn yet.

Driving would be so much more pleasant if everyone could just share the road, obey the laws and be courteous. That’s even in your driver’s handbook. It makes me wonder if people actually read.

T. Yassara, Germantown

Now on to some questions.

Q: My question concerns the intersection of Route 108 and Old Vic Boulevard in Olney, and the traffic light that was installed for Good Counsel High School.

I was coming home around 2 a.m. one morning and the light was not flashing like the lights at both Old Baltimore Road and Dr. Bird Road. In fact the light actually changed to red even though no one was waiting for the light on either side of Route 108.

Surely this light does not need to be running at that time in the morning. It should be set like the light at Sherwood High School, which starts to flash at 10 p.m.

The second issue I have with the light is the sensor cameras that are used for the left-turn lanes. Quite regularly the left-turn arrows will activate even though there is no one in the lane, so I think they need to be adjusted better into the turn lane.

Andrew Dodge, Sandy Spring

A: It’s a good thing you wrote in. It turns out the signal at the Route 108 and Old Vic Boulevard intersection is supposed to be in flashing mode between 12:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m.

Officials with the county’s Department of Public Works and Transportation will make necessary adjustments — if they haven’t already. Officials will also check the left-turn detection system to make sure it accurately senses that vehicles are waiting to turn.

Q: Do you know who I can contact about my neighborhood street? I want to request the ‘‘Children at Play” sign. People are starting to just tear through our neighborhood making U-turns.

Also, they recently paved our road, and did a horrible job. The street is worse than before. There is gravel everywhere and it is uneven.

I am sure that all the neighborhood roads off of Riffleford Road have the same issue.

Trenna Allen, Gaithersburg

A: You raise two separate issues.

First, Montgomery County does not post ‘‘Children at Play” signs. Interesting, I know.

There are several reasons for this. These signs are not approved by the ‘‘Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices,” which is the national standard for traffic control signs. The generic message of these signs does not command sufficient motorist attention since most people realize children may be playing in yards or on sidewalks when they drive residential streets.

Plus, officials say that having these signs can give parents — and children — a false sense of security that these signs do not actually provide.

When there are specific areas where there are many pedestrians — schools, parks, playgrounds — appropriate warning signs are posted. You can request these signs through the county’s Division of Operations at 240-777-6000.

Now on to the world of paving.

The work on your road was completed in early September, and hopefully you have noticed a considerable improvement since you wrote.

Oftentimes, the midway point of the process seems final, and motorists worry about the same thing you wrote in about.

The process (albeit somewhat technical) is as follows: First, the road patching operation called chip-seal patching involves using liquid asphalt that is sprayed onto cracks and other imperfections. Then, small stone chips are spread over the liquid asphalt. A large rolling machine then presses chips into the asphalt. The method does create a patchwork look to the road. But, the Micro Pave surface material covers all of the patching and creates a relatively smooth and uniform surface.

Still with us?

Good. The patching operation is done by hand, so some extra chips accumulate on the sides of the road. That’s when a sweeper comes to clean the debris.

Finally, a seal material is used to coat the pavement. There will still be some rough areas, but over time — a few weeks most likely — traffic will diminish those areas.

The county will provide an additional sweeping if necessary.

But if you are still having problems, you can call 240-777-ROAD (7623) or e-mail highway@montgomerycountymd.gov.

Q: Could Bumper to Bumper please investigate why Montgomery County would issue and allow a permit to install a private driveway from a residence backyard onto 50 MPH Fieldcrest Road between Manor View Drive and Route 108 in Laytonsville? This is the only private driveway onto this high-speed road and seems completely unnecessary.

Robert Hughes, Gaithersburg

A: Investigation complete.

The county’s Department of Permitting Services approved a permit to allow only a temporary entrance from Fieldcrest Road to the owner’s property. The driveway allows for some work the owner is doing at the rear of the property.

The permit expires next September. The owner is responsible for restoring the existing conditions along Fieldcrest Road (eliminating the temporary driveway).

If you have questions about the permit, call 240-777-6320 and reference permit No. 244426.

Bumper to Bumper, a biweekly column dedicated to answering your questions related to transportation issues, is compiled and written by Staff Writer JoAnn Grbach. For past columns, log on to www.gazette.net.