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
Yup, I totally agree. Phoenix had 3 intersections in the top 5 most dangerous intersections list put out by some insurance institute a few years ago. Loop 101 is one of the most dangerous stretches of road in the Southwest...most accidents being caused by slow drivers in the left hand lane, kids driving cars that are out of their league (NEVER buy a 17 year old an M3...no matter how much they want it) and drunk drivers.
It is clueless behavior like this that starts this tailgating behavior. Some people won't get a clue unless you are on their bumper. And some people have real emergencies. I am sure you can tell who actually has an emergency! I ran into someone like you when my mom was in her final stages of emphysema and we were on the way to the hospital. This type sure showed me - idiot.
I'm sure if you would ask driver #1, he would have told you that he was trying to avoid a deer or dog that jumped out into the road.
I'm not saying he was right, I'm just saying that driver #2 must have had to change his drawers when he got to the next exit. The point being that even if you know you are right, never pick a fight with a stranger, you don't know what he's packing.
"Also the reason the Mustang didn't want to drive in the middle is because its illegal to pass on the right.... see how the idiot slowpokes make others break the law by breaking it themselves, "
Just hit your blinker and go around him. The "idiot slowpoke" was doing 75mph (10mph over the limit) Your cruising up the highway at around 80 mph in a 65 mph zone and your worried about breaking the law by passing somebody on the right?
Actually, I wouldn't be out there if I weren't passing.
Yup.
Agreed.
I eventually pass these cars and then get in front of them and go 10 miles an hour below the speed limit until they change lanes to pass. It sort of teaches people how annoying a left lane vigilante is.
If the car was particularly offensive, I'll do it 2 or 3 times just to make sure the point sinks in.
He might better drive sanely to the hospital where the ambulance took her.
I'm sure it would have but I would have been more ticked off at the young fool in the swerving car for being an @$$. The fact is that you don't tailgate at 75mph, if another driver is in your way and there's plenty of room, you hit your blinker and cruise on by, no fuss, no muss.
I have spent many Sunday nights driving up 95 between Richmond and DC and I am very aware of what goes on in that corridor. I was doing 75 in the slow lane a few weekends ago as all lanes were bumper to bumper at the same speed and I nearly got run over by a semi tractor sans trailer w/a big black Earnhardt #3 painted into the front grill. And that Son-of-a-gun flashed his lights and blew his horn at me!
The funny part was that as I maintained my 75, slowing occasionally for slower vehicles, the semi passed me about 5 times in 50 miles worth of driving. All that lane jostling didn't do him, or anyone else for that matter, any good. He was just as far away from me in Richmond as he was when we got to Springfield. Difference was that my heart rate was alot lower than his was.
As I mentioned in this particular incident, it was very late on a Sunday night/Monday morning (after 1:00am) and other than our three vehicles, there was nobody else for atleast a quarter mile and I was doing 75mph in the slow lane and the lead car was pulling away from me by 2 or 3 mph. Driver #2 had all the room and time to hit his blinker a hundred yards back (the middle lane was wide open) and go around without breaking stride as, I might add, many others do without thinking twice.
Huh?
True...if they called an ambulance...which won't come unless she has already broken her water and the baby is waving at it's mother. Point being you don't know what the person behind you's state of mind is. Whether they are just speeding, late for work, have 10 minutes to see their father before he dies and their flight was delayed...whatever.
Perhaps you could read the whole thread before posting. We have already discussed this.
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