Do this on any Lexington road and a cop could stop you

Lexington town police are cracking down on impatient motorists who use center turn lanes to bypass traffic jams.

Officers are concerned about what they consider a growing practice that threatens to increase accidents and worsen congestion in a town where bottlenecks are an everyday event.

“This is something we’re focused on stopping,” Police Chief Terrence Green said.

The number of accidents related to the habit is low – about three dozen in each of the past three years – but use of center lanes as an unsafe shortcut around congestion is spreading, officers say.

“Nobody really gets that you can’t use that median to pass several other cars,” Cpl. Cameron Mortenson said.

Improper use of the center lane also is reflected in accidents caused by failure of motorists there to yield to other vehicles entering it or turning too quickly in front of oncoming traffic, he said.

That problem is rising, cited as a cause in 166 collisions two years ago to 218 through Nov. 30 this year even though the number of crashes has fallen dramatically since 2015, officers said. Failure to yield is the leading cause of traffic accidents in town, records show.

Collisions in town average three to four a day, records show.

Misuse of the center lane as a bypass is common on every thoroughfare in a town where U.S. 1, U.S. 378 and S.C. 6 – all major commuter routes lined with stores – intersect, police said.

Lexington, home to 21,000 residents, has the traffic of a community with a population of 130,000, town officials said.

Police are patrolling more in areas where the problem seems more common, Mortenson said. This month, that includes the intersections of U.S. 378 at Hope Ferry and Corley Mill roads, the intersection of U.S. 1 and Swartz Road and where U.S. 1 and U.S. 378 meet.

The center lane is supposed to be used only when a motorist is approaching a road or store entrance requiring a left turn, police said.

Drivers interpret the distance allowed differently, but it should be for only a few car lengths instead of a block or more as some motorists are doing, Mortenson said.

Violations are subject to a fine up to $233, but tickets and warnings are at the discretion of officers.

The number of traffic tickets issued for violations in the past three years wasn’t available Tuesday.

This story was originally published December 5, 2017 at 11:52 AM with the headline "Do this on any Lexington road and a cop could stop you."