At least that is what they are calling it.
It should be called the common sense bill but as we know, that does not exist. There is an etiquette while traveling the roads (especially the interstate highways) that people don’t seem to follow.
The bill is very inappropriately named. It should be called a “lane protocol bill.”
Road rage, like any type of anger, comes from within. Blaming road rage on external causes is puerile, which is why I’m not surprised to see this type of behavior coming from our representatives in Tallahassee.
Some states (NJ and PA to name two) have a law to keep to the right lane except to pass. Then move back to the right lane. Makes perfect common sense to me.
It most likely is already illegal to impede traffic in FL (drive slow in the left lane).
@mleich: “It most likely is already illegal to impede traffic in FL (drive slow in the left lane)”
I’m afraid not. The Florida legislature already passed this bill once, and it was vetoed by Jeb Bush, who said he vetoed it because it encouraged speeders to break the law. It will be interesting to see if Rick Scott does the same.
NH passed a similar law 2 years ago. Driving in the left lane ONLY when passing. It’s NEVER EVER EVER enforced.
@MikeInNH–the law in many states “Keep Right Except to Pass” seems to be ignored everywhere. I follow the law, but it is frustrating to have motorists that hang in the left lane and make it impossible to pass a slower vehicle. What also bothers me is that one semi-truck will pass another semi-truck and the left lane is then blocked for quite a while as the passing truck can’t get up the speed.
The left lane conflict is troubling to me. If I pass a vehicle and 1/4 mile ahead is another vehicle that I am overtaking I don’t feel compelled to jump immediately to the right in order for the vehicle tailgating me to get by since we will both pass the slower traffic in good time. I have on occasion quickly moved to the right to accommodate an impatient driver behind me only to find them moving only imperceptibly faster than me, forcing me to become trapped in the right behind the slower right lane vehicle. Too often drivers let themselves become stuck on the cruise control and damn anyone who forces them to drop out of cruise and anyone who expects them to accelerate significantly to pass a slower vehicle.
Realistically, the law is toothless.
It prohibits driving BELOW the PSL in the left lane, without passing. Realistically, most drivers speed (somewhat), and the typical issue is somebody doing PSL+5 in the hammer lane drawing the ire of somebody doing PSL+20.
I typically am fairly disciplined about keeping right, but occasionally issues (like a left exit, for instance) compel me to be the guy briefly doing PSL+5.
In situations like that, I do not feel it my obligation to facilitate others’ lawbreaking, even if I might feel the law is an ass w/r/t the PSL.
(OTOH, folks driving below the PSL in the passing lane really are jerks!)
I think that Florida is looking for a good excuse to nail speeders passing unimpeded in the left lane. Maybe $50 per MPH over the posted limit? Yeah, baby, now we’re livin’ large.
But that won’t happen here in the Free State. We can pass in any lane. Oh, we can get a ticket in any lane, too.
The problem in NH and MA (the two states I drive every day) is that MOST people are driving in the left most lanes. The right lanes is where you want to be to get around traffic. Just plain stupid…and then there’s stretches like I-93 where certain times of the day you can drive in the break-down lane.
How frustrated must the commuting public get before seriously considering leaving the suburbs and moving back to the city, closer to their jobs?
Reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw in Florida. “When I retire, I’m going to move up north and drive slow in the left lane.”
I did the 45 to 60 minute commute for a number of years, I would rather be driving back roads and moving than sitting in a parking lot called the Interstate, and paying to park as it was a tollway. Ill has upgraded to Ipass, but the toll gates used to be the major source of congestion. I do not have to make that drive in rush hour anymore, but there still is rush hour traffic so I hear. 5.5 miles to work now, I try for at least 2 bicycle days per week weather permitting.
When you retire, you eventually get out of “gotta hustle” mode and no longer have concern if you have to go slow. If you dread going slow in a car, try a horse, or better yet, try walking! Stay in the right lane if you are calm and slow and you will be fine.
I often wonder if people who drive fast will finish the job by running to their destination after they park their car. Nope!
Quite a few years ago I drove more than 1 million miles on a delivery route similar to Fed-Ex Ground and never was ticketed nor involved in an accident while keeping production at #1 or #2 position out of 13 routes month after month. Other drivers, whose routes were slower, often got speeding tickets or wrecked. My secret was to be the first to leave each morning and never hang around shooting the bull when making a delivery. Avoid the rat race. Get up and leave before the rats.
How frustrated must the commuting public get before seriously considering leaving the suburbs and moving back to the city, closer to their jobs?
Commute vs higher cost of living, higher crime rate, less land. The commute will have to get a LOT worse.
What frustrates me is the lack of GOOD public transportation here in the Boston. It’s cheaper and a lot more convenient for me to drive into Boston then to take the current public transportation. I can take a bus, commuter train or drive to a T station. All of those are more expensive then driving into Boston and paying $20 to park. And even though the traffic can be hell…it’s still faster then taking public transportation.
@Rod Knox:
That seems an awfully presumptious statement: that all the “frustrated motorists” out there are white-collar professionals, driving their BMWs from suburban “McMansions” to an urban situated work site (presumably constant), where they no doubt work jobs where they are compensated for the exclusive use of their brain, not braun.
Well, plenty of commuters labor for their wage, commute to job sites that are either ever-changing…or perhaps, like me, they are self-employed, picking up what work they may find, where they may find it. Not much moving would do for us, other than perhaps move our “theater of operations” a few miles in one direction or another…
I have made no secret of my belief that Environmentalism (as currently practiced) is a cause celebre of the petit bourgeois
the implicit assumptions in your comment regarding work-related commuting only serves to solidify my opinion.
All assumptions aside, @Joe, I moved to San Leandro California and found a job in Oakland in 1972. The daily commute on either the Nimitz or MacArthur Freeway was more than I wished to deal with but I endured the mayhem long enough to pay off some debts and pay off a car note, then moved back to Mayberry II. Here I worked 12 hours a day to earn what 8 hours would earn in Oakland but here my commute was 10 minutes or less at <30 mph.
Recently I have traveled quite a bit, driving through most of the US and the I-95 corridor has been the most insane piece of real estate in the country. Picking fruit from Salinas to Lompoc would be preferable to fighting that battle twice each day. But, to each his own. There is work for those willing to endure the commute and it’s good that a great many people are willing and able to endure the mad house… Enjoy your weekend.