Letters to the Editor June 22

Roads are safer when slower traffic keeps right

The National Motorists Association recently designated June "Lane Courtesy Month." This would be great practice for the drive between Reno and Carson City.

Lane courtesy is the practice of yielding or moving over for faster-moving traffic on multi-lane roads. When all motorists adhere to the principles of lane courtesy, traffic flows more freely, uniformly and therefore, more safely.

As we see on drives between Reno and Carson City, it only takes a single motorist hunkered down in the left lane, whether intentionally or not, to tie up traffic for dozens of others on the road. Many do not realize that Nevada and most other states have lane courtesy, or keep-right laws that deem such action to be an infraction, regardless of whether the offending driver is traveling within the posted speed limit.

Those laws recognize that the artificial restriction of traffic by a driver in the left lane raises the potential for congested stop-and-go traffic and even for episodes of tailgating and road rage.

Practicing lane courtesy is easy. Simply keep the left lane clear unless passing a slower moving vehicle, and then move back into the right lane as soon as practical.

When highway travelers practice lane courtesy, accidents are less likely, drivers reach their destinations faster, and most arrive in a better mood.

Thanks for doing your part to help keep our highways safer and more enjoyable.

Ron Leiken

Carson City

State should be protecting seniors, not taxing them

As expected, Senate Bill 423, which was initiated by Governor Sandoval to effectively raise property taxes for low-income seniors, passed easily through the state Legislature. This bill takes more than $300,000 per year out of the pockets of our local low-income seniors in Carson City and Douglas, Lyon, Churchill and Storey counties.

Since, by necessity, this age group spends all of their income, it takes an equivalent amount of much-needed funds out of our local economies.

A spokesman for the governor from the Division of Aging and Disability Services said that these tax increases were needed to fund elder protective services. This protects elders from abuse, neglect, exploitation and isolation.

What we really need is a program to protect our elders from the state government for the same reasons. They also used the lame excuse that some of the recipients of this tax rebate had incomes slightly above the poverty level.

It seems that the political pundits of all levels work very hard to procure the votes of our seniors during their campaigns, but once they are elected, they act as if seniors don't even exist

It's too bad that low-income seniors, unlike the public service unions, trial lawyers, real estates developers, mining companies and casinos, have absolutely no clout with either political party, and they certainly should not be treated as second-class citizens.

Paul Lockwood

Minden