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Florida Legislature 2005 (click for ongoing coverage)

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A passing act

ROAD RAGE REDUCTION ACT: The Florida House passed the bill Tuesday with the intention of keeping traffic moving.

By ALISA ULFERTS
Published April 6, 2005

They're the motorists who pull into the left-hand lane and stay there, angering other drivers.

The Road Rage Reduction Act, passed Tuesday by the Florida House, is intended to keep traffic moving and hold tempers in check.

The bill, which the Senate could take up today, generally prohibits highway motorists from driving in the left-hand lane unless they are passing.

That means, critics say, motorists could be ticketed for obeying the speed limit.

But supporters say the bill is needed because some drivers won't budge from the left-hand lane. They impede traffic and encourage other motorists to dart between lanes, leading to accidents, said Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, who sponsored the Senate measure (SB 732).

"If you have an accident at 75 mph, people are going to die," Bennett said Tuesday.

The legislation has strong support from the Police Benevolent Association, the Florida Highway Patrol and Florida sheriffs.

"I think it's going to fly through here," Bennett said, predicting overwhelming approval.

The House version (HB 157) passed the House on Tuesday, 109-4. House sponsor Ken Sorensen, R-Key Largo, said the bill will make the streets a kinder, safer place to drive.

"It will return us to a time of good courtesy," said Sorensen.

But Rep. Irv Slosberg, D-Boca Raton, one of four lawmakers who voted against it, said the bill encourages speeding and punishes people who follow the speed limit.

Drivers who fail to comply could face a $60 fine and four points against their license.

In at least 21 states, slower traffic is expected to keep right, except for emergency vehicles, which are permitted to exceed the posted speed limit, but only when their lights and sirens are on.

In some states, laws specify "keep right except to pass."

Illinois passed a law two years ago imposing a $75 fine on drivers who slowpoked in the left lane. And Colorado's "Keep Right Except to Pass" law took effect last July.

Florida isn't the only state considering road rage bills this year. Indiana, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania lawmakers have proposed bills that run the gamut from making certain road rage incidents a felony to establishing a toll-free hotline for drivers to report road rage.

"This is going to help us in the fact that a lot of aggressive driving road rage we see is where there's slower traffic in the left lane and faster cars approach from the rear and pass on the right and cause a crash," said Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Larry Coggins Jr.

Many times, the slower driver will decide, "I'll show them," and drives even slower instead of getting out of the left lane, he said.

The faster driver then passes on the right, cutting off other motorists, or tries to pass on the left in the median, losing control.

Coggins disputes opponents who say that the bill would punish people for maintaining the speed limit.

No one wins when a crash happens, he said.

"Don't put yourself in that position to get rear-ended. You can get yourself hurt or killed," he said. "Be part of the solution, not part of the problem."

Times staff writers Saundra Amrhein and Steve Bousquet and researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report, which includes information from the Associated Press.

[Last modified April 6, 2005, 01:08:04]