By C.T. BOWEN, Pasco Times Editor of Editorials
Published April 17, 2005
Without adding law enforcement officers, new highway lanes or tougher driver license requirements, the Florida Legislature thinks it can curb road rage.
Are you chuckling yet?
Legislation cleared both the Florida Senate and House of Representatives last week that directs highway drivers to remain in the right-hand lane unless they're passing another vehicle.
A Republican-controlled Legislature is prohibiting people from the left. Hard to believe, isn't it?
But that is the strategy for reducing highway accidents spurred by impatient drivers cutting off right-lane motorists as they attempt to circumvent slowpokes on the left.
"It will return us to a time of good courtesy," said Rep. Ken Sorensen, R-Key Largo, the House sponsor.
Be real. The Legislature will have to tackle a myriad of driving issues before that happens.
Here are our piques, all from the daily commute across Pasco County, and the satirical legislation they provoke:
Rock truck roulette. Motorists pull in front of fast-moving trucks, figuring professional drivers will slow down to avoid a rear-end collision with deadly consequences. It's frequently played on U.S. 41 and State Road 52. Legislators are now drafting the Rock Truck Roulette Reduction Act to require drivers to have some semblance of common sense.
Red light acceleration. This should not to be confused with drivers who speed up to avoid being stuck at a light just turning red. Between those little white lights that hang below the traffic signals and increased enforcement, that problem seems to be diminishing.
Red light acceleration involves motorists speeding through a red light to make a right turn before cars from the opposite direction facing a green arrow can complete their left turn.
The result is cars from opposite directions converging into the same lane of traffic. This occurs frequently at the State Road 52 intersections of U.S. 41 in central Pasco and at U.S. 19 in Bayonet Point. Horn honking, head shaking, gestures and dirty looks routinely follow.
The state is now considering legislation requiring motorists to stop completely at a red light before attempting a right turn. Oh wait, that law is on the books already. Effective, isn't it?
Suncoast strip. The stretch of State Road 52 as it approaches the Suncoast Parkway access ramps is a legalized drag strip. Motorists in the left lane speed for several hundred yards to pass right-lane vehicles before losing the lane and merging back into traffic.
If you're going to be in the left lane you have to be passing somebody, according to the Road Rage Reduction Act. So the law, if signed by the governor, just legitimizes the drag racing tactic.
At least the merge is orderly. Most of the time.
Eastbound traffic on SR 52 is not as cordial. Just west of the Moon Lake Road traffic signal, the inside lane becomes right-turn only. Motorists ignore the large white arrows. Instead of pulling into the 7-Eleven or Winn-Dixie driveways, as intended, drivers accelerate, then pull back into the left lane. Minus the left turn signal, of course.
The Courage to Merge Act is now in bill drafting in Tallahassee, but an alternative proposal, Purge the Merge, also under consideration. Both require motorists in right-hand-only turn lanes to actually turn right. In layman's terms, this is known as following a traffic control device. Bicycle bocce. Bicyclists, minus helmets, dart between vehicles to see how close they can come to being bounced around like balls on a lawn bowling court. We're not talking about the Spandex-clad, helmet-wearing enthusiasts on a miles-long ride. People putting themselves in harm's way are children on the way to school and adults crossing against the light or riding on the wrong side of a multilaned road such as U.S. 41 or U.S. 19.
Legislators are considering get-tough laws requiring children to wear helmets and forcing bicyclists to obey the same road rules as people driving vehicles.
Oops. Florida has a helmet law. The Legislature adopted it in 1996.
All the planned bills will replace an archaic law that has proven to be ineffective in curbing road rage: Yielding the right of way.
