'Move over' law gets serious (You Left-Lane Florida vigilantes are going down)

Miami Herald ^ | 03/02/2006 | PHIL LONG

[gardengirl]

We still pull over here (eastern NC)for emergency vehicles- and funeral processions. A few months ago, law enforcement started pulling people and leaving the tail end of the officer's vehicle sticking out on the road. They were ticketing passing drivers if the passing driver didn't get in the other lane or slow down to a crawl. They did this with no warning at all. Didn't take us long to figure it out.:)

[Criminal Number 18F]

In Broward, troopers will spend today concentrating on speeders, and on Friday will be working on I-75 near Royal Palm Boulevard with a combined speed and ''move-over'' enforcement

Yep, they want to get out there quick before the public learns of the law, so the speed tax agency can rack up the highest possible "collections." I'm sure new quotas have been issued to all.

Since 2001, there have been an average of more than 700 crashes a year in which someone hits a law enforcement vehicle stopped on the roadside or slowing down to stop, resulting in an average of more than 300 injuries a year.

I suspect they mean nationwide. And not to be cold about it or anything, this is just the price of using the police as a revenue arm instead of for public safety.

I have seen some pretty horrific stories of drunks, etc, slamming into Officer Friendly's brightly-lit cruiser and killing or crippling him, but I've also seen cases of him absently stepping back into traffic while looking at paperwork or writing the next example of his quota.

There was a link on Instapundit yesterday to a Google video, showing what happened when a group of college-age kids did an experiment by lining up abreast on the Atlanta (?) beltway and driving the posted speed limit. They created much more of a hazard than the usual disobedient drivers do.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

[GrandEagle]

the Atlanta (?) beltway
At the speed limit???
Instant death wish.
I drive through there frequently. Traffic is either moving at 85-105 or sitting dead still.
I'm ok at 80-85 but the fast lane really makes me nervous. Accidentally got in it a couple of years ago and was running 105 with the line of traffic behind me so close I couldn't see the guys front bumper in my rear view mirror. Took me miles before I could work my way over to the slow (80-85 mph) lane!
Speed limit on the Atlanta loop - LOL, the guy has a death wish.

Cordially,
GE

[ChuteTheMall GawdSortaMount]

Never happen on DC's Beltway.

20 under the speed limit?

That's insane. I'd rather risk a ticket than death.

Besides, on many interstates, the speed limit is 55 mph with a legally enforced minimum speed of 40 mph. There's no way to legally proceed past the "revenoor's."

[tfecw]

I don't think he did either ;)

this jumped out at me though:

"slowing down to 20 miles under the speed limit, other troopers will be waiting down the road to pull over that offender. "

Does getting hit by a car going 45 as opposed to a car going 65 make that much of a difference? i would have guessed you're pretty much screwed at anything over 15-20 miles an hour.

[Criminal Number 18F]

You gotta see the video, GE. It's as scary as you think. One guy passes on the right... there's a vehicle in the breakdown lane... he just clips it and keeps on going!

Their point is that the speed limit is so low that driving at that limit is unsafe. The vid makes that abundantly clear. They call it "an exercise in public obedience."

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

[zeugma]

I suspect they mean nationwide. And not to be cold about it or anything, this is just the price of using the police as a revenue arm instead of for public safety.

I agree with you. It's more dangerous being a cab driver in most jurisdictions than being a revenue enhancement officer. If the officer doesn't want to get hit, then get the hell off the road!

[Junior]

You Left-Lane Florida vigilantes are going down

I wish this was what the law was about, but the article says it means you must move to the lane farthest from emergency vehicles on the side of the road, or move over when emergency vehicles are behind you.

We really do need a "left-lane laggard" law. Around here we have a plethorah of what I call "Democrats" -- they immediately move to the left and impede progress.

[Junior]

You must be living in a backwater. Most of the interstate and limited-access freeways in the South are in the 65-70 range.

[GrandEagle]

Most of the interstate and limited-access freeways in the South are in the 65-70 range.
I travel around quite a bit for work, and drive most places I go. You really have to be careful. Down here 70mph speed limit usually (on the interstate) means 75-79 or so unless all the traffic is moving 80 or better. As you are aware, over around 82 or so you may get a ticket, over 85 you probably will. BUT, up the east coast, say Virginia I believe is 65 and a ticket is 70 or better. I believe Maryland is still 55, then it is pot luck in NY. Darn speed limit changes all over. Seems like PA is 55 also.
The biggest thing I've found is that once you get to VA and beyond, there is nearly no leeway from the posted limit.
I think it was Ohio, I got a ticket for three miles over the limit.

Cordially,
GE

[monday]

"This can be true of the right OR the left lane depending on which shoulder is used for the stop."

In most states stopping on the left shoulder is illegal even if there is room.

[monday]

" I call this a rubberneck law because it forces drivers to drop the speed considerably in the vicinity of a traffic stop/accident."

Which is a traffic hazard in itself. Slowing down suddenly offten catches following drivers unawares and causes accidents.

I guess it would be too much to ask the police to use common sense and not hand out speeding tickets when traffic conditions make it dangerous for them to pull over and ticket offenders.

Perhaps they could simply photograph offenders and send the ticket in the mail? Common sense has never been the strong point of those whose job it is to raise revenue via traffic tickets. Taxation has always been the principle objective of traffic enforcement, not safety.

Traffic cops have more in common with the IRS than with detectives that actually fight crime.

[weegee]

There would be no left lane shoulder if it wasn't to be used.

[monday]

"There would be no left lane shoulder if it wasn't to be used."

If it exists it is as a buffer against oncoming traffic, not for parking.

[weegee]

When there is a barricade between the directions, that "empty lane" is not necessary. Is is a shoulder, not "insurance" against oncoming vehicles.

And they will remove the breakdown lanes altogether when they close lanes for construction projests.

[GrandEagle]

Traffic cops have more in common with the IRS than with detectives that actually fight crime.
Yes, but you wouldn't want to tell them that.
Several years ago I got stopped by Mobile's finest - one of the motorcycle guys. I was doing 35 in a 30 - got me dead to right.
I, thinking I was being qute, called him the moble, roadside tax collector.
He wrote the ticket for 60 in a 30.

Haven't been stopped in a while, but when I am, I keep my mouth shut.

Cordially,
GE

[freepatriot32]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5366552067462745475&q=speed+limit

[GrandEagle]

Thanks for the link!

[Not A Snowbird]

Gosh. I always move over, just for courtesy and safety's sake. I had no idea there's a law about doing it.

[Criminal Number 18F]

I was doing 35 in a 30 - got me dead to right.
I, thinking I was being qute, called him the moble, roadside tax collector.
He wrote the ticket for 60 in a 30.

Typical. How can you tell when a cop is lying? His lips move.

Sometimes justice is served by that, sometimes it isn't.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F