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Slowpokes Should Get Out Of The Left Lane
June 18, 2013
A massive transportation bill signed by Gov. Rick Scott will require slow drivers to move out of the left lane or face potential fines. The bill bars left-lane drivers from going more than 10 mph below the speed limit if they know they are being overtaken from behind by faster-moving vehicles. The bill includes exceptions, such as when drivers are preparing to turn left at intersections. Violators of the new requirement could face a $60 fine.
Comments
31 Responses to “Slowpokes Should Get Out Of The Left Lane”
I think it would be better if the law said 10 mph below the flow of traffic versus the speed limit. That would take care of any situation where there is a rolling road block. The left lane of a 4 lane is for passing and turning left, period! (On non-limited access highways.) The only exception would be an instance where traffic flow is slowed/stopped ahead and both lanes are filling with slowing/stopping traffic (like for a traffic accident or rail road crossing). People talk about road rage but don’t blame the people that purposely cause it by driving in the passing lane. If you want to drive below the speed of the flow of traffic please drive in the right lane. People talk about the speed limit a lot but driving faster or slower than the flow of traffic is the real problem!
@ Fed Up, Mike and Jack
I agree with your points 100%. There is a common theme to everything being said here, and that is to exercise some self control. Just yesterday, I was responding to a call for help from my wife when she had car trouble in a somewhat unsafe area. I felt a lot of anxiety as people drove 30 in a 45 zone in two columns in front of me. I understand the frustration. But, tailgating would probably only have gotten me into an accident.
If you bother to read those traffic signs – did you ever NOTICE the one that says “SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT” dah …
Ron on June 18th, 2013 7:29 am
I will still drive in any lane i want at the speed limit,,If your passing me your speeding and that’s what they should start ,with first…Ticket and do your job!!!
Herein lies the problem…Ron… I will…I want…to heck with everyone else….
Thank you
I’m beginning to think no one around here has ever read the drivers handbook, or they just don’t care. They tailgate regardless of which lane you’re in, no one seems to know what a turn indicator is and the woman on her phone the other day almost wrecked herself when my son honked his horn to keep her from running us into oncoming traffic. And like Kathy said…if someone is going faster than you, move over. Do you really want that person tailgating you. Is it worth risking your life.
Fred I agree that aggressive driving and speeding is dangerous. I lost my son in a car accident partly because he was speeding. The other part was the driver in front of him who saw him approaching at a high rate of speed and slammed on his brakes in an attempt to slow him down. My son made an attempt to slow but the aggressive deceleration of the car in front of him caused him to swerve and lose control of his car. I’m not making excuses for my son, but everyone has a responsibility when behind the wheel of a vehicle. The car didn’t stop when my son crashed, but kept driving. Everyone needs to slow down, especially in construction zones. I don’t care what the reason, no one can rationalize the need to speed. Call 911 if you have an emergency and what good does it do to be rushing to a hospital. You’re no doctor and can’t administer life saving measures to a person in distress. Tailgating me won’t make me speed up or move over. I move over when there is an opening and its safe to do so.
Let’s make it illegal to have a 6 lane interstate (I110) with a 55 mph speed limit. The difference in relative speed when overtaking a vehicle trying to do a pathetic 55 mph is sometimes 25 miles per hour. That difference in relative speed is fatal.
Some interesting reading of Florida Traffic Laws:
F.S.S. 316.083 overtaking/passing
F.S.S. 316.0895 following too close
F.S.S. 316.089 driving on roads laned for traffic
F.S.S. 316.090 driving on divided highways
All this is/was covered on the exam to get your drivers license. After getting their license, most people forget to stay up to date on the traffic laws. It is each drivers responsibility to know the traffic laws. That is part of having the privilege to drive a vehicle.
The left lane belongs to me, I own it and the rest of you just stay out of my lane!
Running up behind someone flashing your hi-beams in their mirror will rarely get you what you want. If you have the habit of doing this then you should be taking anger management classes instead of driving an automobile among the rest of us. If I must vacate the left lane for you then you must also vacate the right lane for me. Now, do the math. How many cars are on the road under that arrangement?
Ok so which one of the left laners will be the first to be confronted by road rage. Yes in a perfect world all drivers would obey all the traffic laws. When someone is coming up behind you and you do your best to block the road what smug self satisfaction do you get. You have no idea why the “speeder” is trying to get around. Maybe they are rushing someone to the hospital, maybe someone they love is at ghe hospital dying already. I know what I would do to some left lane, no brai if it were me. Just keep blocking the lanes for your little thrill and you receive no sympathy from me if someone runs you off the road or pulls a gun.Too many people only care about themselves without thinking.
Now is this going to apply to just the interstate/highways or ALL roads? If I’m on a 4 lane road like Michigan Ave and doing 45 in the left lane (when it’s only 40) I’m not moving, sorry. Most people do 60+ down that road anyways, whether they are in the right or left lane, and have no respect for other drivers. And I have seen idiots pass others in the turn lane and drive a half mile down it, maybe they should make a law against casual driving in the turn lane.
I know I’m not the “perfect” driver, hell nobody is… but if others had some common courtesy on the roads and didn’t think they ruled the roads, we would have less accidents and wouldn’t need laws like this.
Thanks Frank,
Just Sunday afternoon, I was on an exit ramp, running at the speed limit, and some Earnhardt wannabe nearly swapped paint with me in his thrilling lane change/passing maneuver. It’s the aggressive driving and speeding that cause wrecks. We’ve all got stories, I’m sure. While I don’t like left lane slowpokes either, they’re not that big of a deal. I can just turn up my Dolly Parton album and listen to her sing about how much she loves me.
As a retired LEO (trooper from South Carolina), I can tell you from personal experience slow drivers in the left lane is not the problem. Speeding and tailgating are the issue 90 percent of the time. Most drivers clocked in the left lane with traffic behind them are 95 percent of the time running the speed limit…get it speed LIMIT. Most are never running under the speed limit, especially 10 mph under. After 35 years of experience I can honestly say regardless wether it was left or right lane, 70 percent of the drivers were running the speed limit, 25 percent were speeding and 5 percent were running under the speed limit. So, from personal experience the problem is speeders and aggressive drivers tailgating. The problem is not normal drivers running the speed limit or those few running under the speed limit. For the most part, if the 25 percent weren’t speeding then most would be running the same speed (speed limit) and neither lane would be faster than the other. As to those who think the left lane belongs to them……we have a speed LIMIT (that doesn’t mean 15-25 mph over, just because your in a hurry). We also have a law for tailgating, “The operator of a motor vehicle shall not follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent, having due regard for the speed of such vehicle and the traffic upon and the condition of the highway.” Most LEO want to see about 3 seconds between vehicles, not .50 – 1.0 second like most speeders commonly do. Take it for what it’s worth…..just my personal thoughts due to experience.
We DO NOT have the authority to enforce speed limits. If one is driving at the posted limit in the left lane and being approached by a faster vehicle…….MOVE OVER unless you are preparing to make a left turn within the next couple of blocks and then use your turn signal!
If One is driving less than the posted speed limit, MOVE OVER to the right lane!
HECK YEAH!! I’m tired of all these jokers casually driving, too busy paying attention to everything but the road to see that they’re holding up traffic. You flash your lights at them and they slow down or just don’t move.
Ron & Randy,
Maybe it would help if you took a defensive driving course…..the left lane is a passing lane , that was in your driving handbook. All your doing by riding in the left lane is impeding the flow of traffic. So you are as guilty of a crime as the speeders. Also it aggravates people…that’s where road rage comes in….people have been shot for less. I have an Uncle that feels the same way as y’all , and I have told him the same thing…..there are crazy people in this world and no one wants to read where a motorist was shot and killed for trying to slow traffic down riding in the left lane , is it really worth it?? If you feel like people are driving too fast , pick up your cellphone and call *FHP…..don’t try to be the police.
Well said Kathy!!!
There are a lot of RUDE people that ride in the left lane and block the flow of traffic on purpose!! I use the left lane to pass and then I move back to the right lane. Through my years of observation an impaired driver will be driving in the left lane because they think that they are on a two-lane highway which ends in a head-on collision and someone usually dies so that’s another reason that I move over.
“I, for one, am tierd of being tailgated just because some idiot wants to get someplace”
Maybe if you were driving in the correct lane you wouldn’t be tailgated. Most cars today come with a “flash to pass” feature, but some of these idiots around here don’t even understand what it’s for.
Exactly. The left lane is for two things….passing & making a left turn. That’s it. It’s not a driving lane. Everyone….regardless of how fast they’re traveling….needs to move over to the right after they’ve passed someone in the right lane. Basic stuff everyone should have learned when they studied for their drivers test.
Ron and Randy,
You’re not supposed to “drive in any lane you want”, even if you are doing the speed limit. The left lane is for passing. Drivers like you that block the passing lane on purpose cause cars to bunch up in a pack and that is dangerous. If someone wants to drive faster than you the safest thing you can do is move over. You’re not traffic cops. Its not your job to regulate the speed of other drivers. Let them go and maybe they will get stopped for speeding. Block them and YOU are being the dangerous driver.
Ron you need to REREAD the info. “If you are driving 10mph UNDER the speed limit you have to pull over to the right”. If you are driving the speed limit then you are ok unless some idiot is going over the speed limit.
This law will be enforced just like the ban on loud radios, tinted windows, etc – NOT
Another “useful” law, but hey whatever makes them happy.
Just what we need, another excuse for aggressive drivers to be more aggressive. I, for one, am tierd of being tailgated just because some idiot wants to get someplace.
I thought we already had a law about this? Or was that only in regard to the Interstate?
I will still drive in any lane i want at the speed limit,,If your passing me your speeding and that’s what they should start ,with first…Ticket and do your job!!!
I don’t know what the problem is….I use the slow lane to pass. haha. Everytime I get on a 6 lane + the slow lane is always empty. Lol
Going the SPEED LIMIT — or even a few miles per hour over the limit — in the left lane would be considered a “slow driver” by most motorists around these parts. If you’re not going at least 80 mph in the left lane — prepare to be run over…
Left Lane Fast Car, Right Lane Slow Car.
Maybe they should start teaching that, starting in kindergarten.
Excuse Me , I’ll get over out of the left lane when I’m thru talking on my cell phone – if you don’t mind …
WOOOHOOO!!! Its about time Rick Scott does something useful!