Colorado Highway Patrol cracks down on left lane drivers

A family friend recently found out first hand that Colorado has a law prohibiting motorists from driving for extended periods of time in the left-hand, or passing, lane.

"The Left Lane Law" actually hit the books in July 2004, but as the officer who pulled over our friend noted, "I'm not going to give you a ticket today because we are still educating the public about this."

The law states: “A person shall not drive a motor vehicle in the passing lane of a highway if the speed limit is 65 miles per hour or more unless such person is passing other motor vehicles that are in a nonpassing lane or turning left, or unless the volume of traffic does not permit the motor vehicle to safely merge into a nonpassing lane.”

By the way, the black and white photo above, circa the 1960s, comes courtesy of the state's Left Hand Lane Law brochure. Perhaps the highway patrol held onto this photo for more than four decades just waiting for the legislature to act on this critical issue.

On one hand, I am always annoyed when someone is putt-putting along in the passing lane on the highway, but, wow ... did we really need a law? I'm picturing that Colorado's legislature just got bored one afternoon while trying to solve a real traffic issue -- like the ludicrously long weekend highway lines to the ski areas -- and decide to tackle something easy, like keeping people out of the left lane.

By the way, violations carry a $41 fine and 3 points against your license. So, move it on over, bub!

Do Colorado dogs really moo?

The pro-gay organization Born Different (BD) recently launched a campaign of billboards and TV spots that assert that 3% of the population is "born gay." The campaign is built around a mooing dog named Norman, who is different because, well, he moos ... and that is supposed to be analogous to those who are "born different" and are gay.

I don't know about anyone else, but the next mooing dog I see will be the first. It seems to me, that if you want to build a campaign around an icon such as a "mooing dog" that you'd actually want it to reinforce your message. But since mooing dogs don't exist, the effort actually counters the very point the BD folks are seeking to make.

Speaking of which, the site No Moo Lies offers a humorous counterpoint the nonsensical mooing dog effort. In this campaign, Sherman the dog reminds us that dogs, in actuality, only bark. The site also humorously counters other Born Different icons, such as two purportedly gay penguins that are put forth as further "born gay" evidence.

"Meet Roy and Silo ... two penguins living in Manhattan's Central Park Zoo. A few years back, they started spending a lot of time together — and became celebrities as Manhattan's 'most famous gay penguin couple.'

"Then something happened that messed it all up: Silo met Scrappy, a female penguin from California. Silo ditched Roy and built a nest with Scrappy. They've even started trying to have kids. It just goes to show: Penguins can change."

Be on the look out for the next phase in the BD campaign: Unicorns That Bark.

Sweet Home Colorado: It's Where You Want To Be

According to Money magazine's latest critique of best places to live in the U.S., Colorado is just a crazy great place to live.

Fort Collins, Colorado, topped the Best Places to Live list, while Colorado Springs, topped the list of Best Big Cities (though at a population of 369,000 it barely qualifies as a true, big city). Rounding out the Big City Top 5 were: Austin, TX, Mesa, AZ, Raleigh, NC and San Diego, CA. Interestingly, New York City placed a respectable 10th.

Completing the Best Places to Live Top 5 were: Naperville, IL, Sugar Land, TX, Columbia/Ellicott City, MD, and Cary, NC. Our former hometown, Overland Park, Kansas, placed sixth on the Best Places to Live list.

Money evaluated all cities 50,000 or greater in population (745) based on criteria, which included: purchasing power, housing costs, education options, quality of life/crime, leisure and culture opportunities, and weather.