Posted on 01/27/2005 6:08:40 AM PST by devane617
Aggressive driving along Interstate-75 appears to be more problematic than ever.
"We're seeing the problem of road rage increasing," said Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Norman Parks, who has been patrolling the interstates for almost 15 years.
"It's scary to drive down here," said one driver.
"Weaving, tailgating, cutting people off," said another driver.
"When you get all of that, it can pose real problems," said Parks.
That's why Florida Senator Mike Bennett is pushing for the Road Rage Reduction Act to be made into law. It's designed to reduce the amount of people in the left lane.
"We have a lot of people in the state of Florida who unfortunately, drive in the left-hand lane and block traffic," said Bennett.
Signs in the median advising people to only use the left lane for passing don't seem to be working.
"We need a better tool to specifically deal with this issue," said Parks. If the bill gets passed, there will be more signs like these and bigger ones.
If the bill gets passed, you'll not only see more signs and billboards on the roadways warning drivers to stay out of the left lane, but greater enforcement of that.
"We're trying to figure out a way to increase traffic flow and prevent citizens from accidents and road rage," said Bennett.
Bennett says the Department of Highway Safety's involvement is key to the bill working. If the bill passes, the department will be required to work with the Florida Highway Patrol to educate the public about the new law through an awareness campaign.
"I believe Texas is better than Florida with left-lane oblivions, but not by much."
Texas has without a doubt, far and away, the worst drivers in the country. I moved to Austin from Ohio where people actually know how to drive when it snows and rains, and fear for my daughter's life every time I take her out. I'm no left-lane-Louis, and people drive 2 centimeters off my bumper no matter what lane I'm in. A few months back, some guy was doing that and zoomed around me, cut me off again and disappeared. 10 seconds later, I saw his car smoking and crumpled into a telephone pole. I hope he died slowly and I'm not kidding because it could have been my family.
They stand a greater chance of getting killed if the putter along in the left lane causing the faster traffic to have to weave in and out and speed up and slow down. If you let the faster traffic move on, then you are much safer. Just get out of the way.
If you want to race, go to Daytona.
If you want to poke along move over to the right or get off the highway and use the surface streets.
hell no it wasn't justified. Sometimes I wish I was a part-time traffic cop in an unmarked car so I could bust people like that and impound their car.
Actually there is a reason the passing lane died.
It relates to the revenue natture of citations and the fact that judges had a no excuse attitude to going over the speedlimit in the 70's.
Thus a person who passed a swerving car by going over 55 was cited regardless.
The reasoning of the safety nazis and the nany state was that if you were going the speed limit you had no reason to pass.
The reason no speed limit works for the autoban in German is that the left is only for passing and you don't get cited for passing.
In this country we would have to allow a faster rate of travel in the far left lane. This will not pass muster because it would impact the revenues of the state and many highway patrols would have less to do.
(if anyone has interest "Why Johnny Can't Speed." by Lester Del Rey, is an interesting read for fun.)
An acquaintance of mine said that Missouri tickets "left lane bandits" for dawdling in the passing lane.
I haven't driven in Florida in many years so I don't remember much about their highways. Here, in Houston, it's necessary to drive in the left lane to exit some freeways and access certain booths on toll roads. If you drive the speed limit or ten mph over you will enrage someone sometime regardless of which lane you are "blocking."
I already related to your screen name, now to find out we're I-75 sistahs. (I live about 2 minutes off I-75, in Kennesaw, GA)
Yes it does! That's exactly what it means. You must let the faster traffic get past you.
When I do pull over into that lane, it is very hard to get back into the left lane, ...
Are you serious? If you are really so incompetent of a driver that you have difficulty doing something as simple as changing lanes, you have no business on the highways.
... because most people going 20 mph over the limit also are not very conscientious about letting someone pull in ahead of them.
How much room do you need? You just pull over. If you are going the same speed as them you only need a few car lengths. If you are going so much slower than them that you risk getting slammed into the rear, then you have no business pulling over into the left lane anyway. Why are you moving over if they are going so fast and you so slow?
Good point about the Atlanta experience, but I would make the case that the "keep right except to pass" rule cannot possibly be applied in an urban environment where 5-7 lanes of traffic are moving in each direction. Right off the bat you have a serious impediment to driving in the right lane -- due to closely-spaced interchanges where slow-moving traffic is exiting and entering the roadway.
No, not at all.
Should I have moved over into the far right-hand lane.
No. If there are additional lanes on the left that are not restricted as HOV or left exit only, then he should have moved over and passed.
Or should he have moved into the 3rd or 4th lanes to pass me (without needing to bright me or give me the finger in the process)?
Yes that is what he should have done. Given that it was four-lanes wide there was nothing wrong with what you did. He had plenty of room to pass.
"What are they thinking?"
I can tell you exactly what some of them are thinking, and I'm sure some of them will be along shortly to say so: "I'm doing the speed limit or a little over and it's my god-given right to drive in any lane I want, and anyone who wants to go any faster is speeding and so must be in the wrong."
BTW, in Nova Scotia where I grew up the signs are very clear: "KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS" - none of this "Slower Traffic Keep Right" stuff, because nobody thinks they're the slower traffic.
Maybe 10% of the population knows that the left lane is for passing. For the other 90%, they think it's multiple choice, and will drive in the left hand lane simply because that's the lane they like the best. Signs could help, and an aggressive effort by law enforcement to get the word out will do wonders. A $200 ticket to the a-hole holding up a mile of cars behind him will work wonders. Our roadways are for the most part adequate to handle the traffic IF people were curteous, and obeyed the laws. Driving in the left lane is one major problem, but it's always amazing to me at how many people will not allow a car getting on the interstate from an on-ramp to merge into traffic. It's stuff like that clogs our highways.
"Getting stuck"? How hard is it for you to change lanes? Is there something wrong with your vehicle?
I always figure if I am in the left lane and anyone gives me a courtesy flash, "I move over". No matter if I'm driving 85-90, I realize I am "in the way."
A good driver glances at the rearview occasionally and moves over before the need arises. Common courtesy.
I remember a few years back the DC police chief got on radio and told all the drivers to not use the left lane if you are only going the speed limit as this would block the lane for the speeders.
So pull over to the left when you see someone merging and pull back once you have passed the on-ramp. What's so hard about that? You don't need to STAY on the left.
Out is CA they have two limits with truckers @ 55 in the right lane. This make that lane almost unusable for most traffic forcing the moderate driver into the 80 mph left lane. What is amazing is that the CHP has even bought high performance Z-28's inorder to chase down speeding TRUCKERS!
If the general speed of a highway is, at the moment, 70mph, then going much slower forces a lot people into another lane, if it's open. If it's not open, you can very quickly get cars 3 or 4 wide and 30 or more long in a pack. Doesn't strike me as safe. Outside of the cop who pulled the stunt for the last 10 miles going into DC northbound on I-95 a while back, it's usually--seems to me--someone not just going slower in the left lane, but matching the speed of the car on his right. They almost seem afraid to pass and get over.
As for the cop, I fugure he just wanted to investigate an accident on an otherwise boring day. Well over a hundred cars were very close, and any blown tire would have taken out a lot of folks.
Note: the above does not apply when there is real congestion, but when most of the road is open and just stacked up locally by some idiot.
"We're enabling road-ragers by this kind of crap. Instead, throw 'em in jail for awhile"
Grace for thee but not for me?
you should read Mathew 18:23-35
Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
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