Posted on 04/08/2005 6:29:31 AM PDT by RedBloodedAmerican
TALLAHASSEE -- Slowpokes could get a $60 fine for hogging the fast lane and ticking off motorists who want to pass.
The "Road Rage Reduction Act" is speeding through the Legislature following a 27-10 vote in the Senate on Thursday, two days after the House passed a similar bill by an even wider margin, 109-4. A spokesman for Gov. Jeb Bush said the governor must still evaluate the issue.
The bill requires drivers to stay in the right lane unless they're passing a vehicle or making a left turn. Supporters -- including the Florida Sheriffs Association and Florida Police Benevolent Association -- said the bill would ease traffic flow and make it unnecessary for motorists to dangerously maneuver around slower moving vehicles.
Opponents, including Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach, said the bill's emphasis on slower drivers was misplaced.
"We should have our police catching all the offenders of speeding," Lynn pleaded on the Senate floor.
In addition to the proposed fine, the bill calls for a three-point penalty on a driver's record (motorists who accumulate 12 points can lose their license). Bill sponsor Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, had pitched a four-point penalty but critics said it should be less than the four points assessed to reckless drivers.
The proposed law would allow for many exceptions to the right lane rule, such as using the left lane to avoid hydro-planing in a rain storm or to dodge debris in the roadway. Plus, it doesn't apply when there's no one else on the road.
"You can drive from (Tallahassee) to Miami as long as there's no one behind you," Bennett said.
Still, Sen. Rod Smith, D-Gainesville, called it a "traffic ticket enhancement" act, and Rep. Irv Slosberg, D-Boca Raton, one of the few opponents in the House, said it would increase speeding.
Local motorists were mixed in their reaction to the proposal.
Terry Carter, 26, of Holly Hill liked the idea of separating lanes for faster and slower drivers: "Most older people go slow. I have problems when I get cut off by an older person," Carter said.
Donna Parks, 48, of Volusia County said the bill was necessary: "All truck drivers should be in the right lane. Once when I was merging onto the interstate a truck driver was going so slow he almost ran me off the road," she said.
Naamon Lewis of Holly Hill, though, had doubts.
"We got a lot of people that hog that left lane, but I don't know about making a law," Lewis said. "Good gracious. I don't necessarily agree with the fine and (three) points off your license. I think that's stepping a little too far."
-- Staff Writer Eileen Zaffiro contributed to this report.
SIGNS YOU MIGHT BE AN AGGRESSIVE DRIVER
· Do you get angry at drivers who cut you off, tailgate or go slowly?
· Are you impatient at stoplights or when driving in the slow (right) lane?
· Do you compete with other drivers, drag racing from stoplights or moving ahead in traffic jams?
· Do you punish bad drivers by tailgating, cursing, flashing high-beam headlights or blocking drivers attempting to pass?
SOURCE: Adapted from AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety aggressive driving quiz at www.aaafoundation.org/quizzes
I tend to do the same thing. I will stay out of the left lane except for passing, and when I'm passing and somebody comes up on me, *if* I can safely get over without too much trouble, I will, and I will let them by. But if it'll just take me ten more seconds to get around the guy beside me, and then I can get over, I'll do it. And if somebody in the passing lane in front of me does the same thing, it's no big deal...I can wait the extra few seconds if it gives everybody a smoother drive. I drive a hard-used pickup truck with 137,000 miles on it and dodgy brakes anyway, so I don't tailgate.
The only exception to this is if somebody comes screaming up on my ass and parks four feet off my bumper. Tailgate me like that, and you'll get to see just how slow and wide I can make a '96 Ram. Drive like a sane human being, and there won't be any problems.
My mother (80 this May) is one of those "I paid my taxes so I can drive 55 in the left lane if I want" people, and the sad thing is, she taught me to drive. So 20+ years ago, I was motoring my little '76 Datsun B210 (curb weight: 1800 pounds) down the left lane of four-lane highways at 55 mph exactly, and couldn't quite figure out why everybody was flipping me off and tailgating me. It took a couple of years, and a few trips out onto Interstate highways, to finally get it through my head that driving slow in the left lane is BAD.
}:-)4
I agree with you about the emergency vehicle passing law. It is not clear cut. However, my best guess would be that in an emergency situation, the emergency rules would supercede the regular traffic rules. Also, isn't there a provision that if you can't move into the next lane, you must drive by slowly? There are situations where you may not be on an interstate and you only have the lane you are in.
As the mother of young teens, agreed.
I think what happened is she finally got over, then he tapped her left front returning to the right.
There is a difference to be noted in this discussion. There are the passers, who want folks out of the way but don't go psycho about it. Then there are the truly dangerous. They tend to come up very quickly and swing all over to get through traffic. Those are the ones even I (who will go up to 80 in a 65) move over for immediately.
Now let's see if it is actually enforced (assuming it is signed into law). It has to potential of making the Jax-Sav'h commute a little less stressful.
Actually, Arkansas' highway department has asked motorists to use the right as well as the left lane, to even the wear on the highway.
Add to that the people who ride your bumper on the interstate so you pull from the left to the right lane while maintaining your speed via cruise control. Then the guy that was on your but starts to pass, but then matches your speed, but just sits in your left side blind spot. You accelerate to get back into the left lane to pass the really slow turkey you are coming up to in the right lane, you add 5-10 mph to your cruise control and the jerk in the left lane again rides your bumper until you pull over again. The guy then slows down and sits in your blind spot again. These guys, whom I'm beginning to think are just trying to slip stream, are really, really anoying.
....not very Christian of you, but that's your right!
The young fellow flashed his hi-beams about 4 or 5 quick times and the guy in front just locked his brakes up. No warning. The kid swerved into the middle lane and as he over-corrected, he sent his car into a flat spin, power slide with white smoke and the smell of burnt rubber. I was 30 or 40 yards behind and keeping an eye on the situation so had plenty of time to slow and avoid any trouble and when I saw through the smoke that his car was still on all fours, had quite a chuckle. I continued on and pulled up even with the lead car and I looked in my rearview mirror to see the mustang scrambling to the shoulder, I looked over and I swear the driver of the lead car was 90 years old, if he was a day.
OK,
So waddaya do if you are--
a. In the right lane.
b. In heavy traffic.
c. Going 10 miles over the speed limit, in the flow with all other cars.
and
d. Some idiot-jackazz-sumbeach in a Compensation Sports Car in Silly Color is driving 1 1/2 inches off your bumper constantly,
e. Has the nerve to honk when you don't start moving the milli-second the light changes.
f. Even though you are 4 cars back?
Isn't is grounds for 'they needed a killin'' defense?
Let him get around you to annoy someone else! Hopefully somebody packing . . .
Cute. You could just follow the rules of the road and let faster drivers pass by getting out of the way.
Or do it your way. We had someone in the Chicago area do that a couple of years back. The person in the back was a pregnant woman. Accident ensues. Pregnant woman and unborn child dies. Person in front car charged with murder. I think they all were young-ish. Can't recall if front car driver was convicted, but I think she was.
She won her little battle, but lost the war, I'd say.
The interstate was built primatily for the truckers? Where is that written?
Yep,
the Laws of Physics state that you can't go faster than the car in front of you (OK, for maybe a milli-second ;) )
Hrmpt,
Bumper-riders annoy the bejeezus out of me!
We could be sisters!!
When I have to pass someone on the right, I give no dirty looks nor do I cut them off. I merely move over if/when I need to. I was NOT put on this earth to increase anger in people.
The Interstates were primarlily built to promote Interstate commerce. Same as the rail roads. The fringe benefit was to make it easier for people to move about the country easier. This has changed a lot since the 1950s and America's infatuation with the Automobile...and building the Interstates provided jobs during the Depression...but that was the original reason for them. Just as Germany's main reason for building the Autobahn was to move troops rapidly from one side of the country to the other. Roads have evolved over time.
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