Florida Senate passes bill cracking down on left lane drivers
 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A bill that seeks to prevent motorists from cruising in left lanes of highways is headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The Senate on Thursday voted 37-0 to pass the bill (HB 317), which would apply to drivers on highways with at least two lanes in the same direction and speed limits of 65 mph or higher.

The House voted 113-3 last week to pass the bill. Senate sponsor Keith Perry, R-Gainesville, said the measure is intended to improve highway safety.

"If someone in the left lane is going slower, and you pass them (on the right), you are creating an infraction and you can get ticketed," Perry said.

Under HB 317, drivers on a road, street or highway "with two or more lanes" where the speed limit is "at least 65 miles per hour... may not operate a motor vehicle in the furthermost left-hand lane, except when overtaking and passing another vehicle; when preparing to exit... or when otherwise directed by an official traffic control device."

The purpose of the bill is to make it clear when motorists can use the left lane.

The bill's sponsor said he wanted to prevent drivers from using the right lane to pass slower-moving traffic using the left lane.

The bill sets non-criminal moving violation fines of up to $158.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday he will talk with law enforcement officials before deciding whether to sign the bill, according to News Service of Florida.

During an appearance Friday in Pensacola, DeSantis said he wants to hear the practical implications to law officers of enforcing the measure, which would apply to drivers on highways with at least two lanes in the same direction and speed limits of 65 mph or higher. “Are we going to be pulling people over for that? How would that work?” DeSantis said.

He added, "So, I'm going to actually talk to people that do this for a living, whether they think it would be a benefit, both in terms of safety but also we want convenience. We want people to be able to get where they can go as quickly and as safely as possible. But then also enforcement, is that going to radically change how they (officers) do their job, in terms of enforcement?"

Huh? Based on other TOTV threads, I understood that this was already the law. But, it sounds like the law is being downgraded to only apply to the Turnpike and the Interstate, where speed limits are 65 mph or higher.

Does this mean that you can't use the left lane of the Turnpike or I 95 unless you are passing a vehicle? Wouldn't that reduce these multi-lane roads to a one lane highway except for passing? I would think the right lane would really be crowded!

The current law states you must move out of the left lane if approached from behind by a faster moving vehicle. This new law would keep slow drivers out of the left lane in the first place. About freakin' time. I only wish it applied to all multi-laned roads with a speed limit of at least 3 mph.

I agree today driving to Mulberry VA clinic on BV 11 cars never left the lane from 44. All was well they were all driving 28mph, so just cruised by in the right lane:clap2:

I don’t get it fear of being passed, fear of the right curb jumping at them, eventual left turn. Trying to control traffic speed or just i am special I only go left

At the very least, the news of this should encourage people to MOVE OVER, & stop hogging the left lane.

It should, but I doubt it will. No more than a sign on BV showing a speed limit of 35 stops cars from going 50, nor a huge red octagonal STOP sign stops cyclists from blowing right through it. It appears Americans feel they have the right to drive however they darn please and to heck with anyone else on the road or the traffic code. But don't feel bad, it's worse in many parts of the world I've been to.

They do a much better job of staying right on restricted access highways in Europe and it is illegal to pass on the right

Believe Louisiana has such a law, and has for several years. The left lane is for passing only. If you are not passing a slower moving vehicle, stay in the right lane.

I hope like crazy this becomes a law. They should have signs everywhere. Left lane is for passing. It would absolutely benefit. The reason for traffic on highways is always the left lane driver, of course barring any accidents or road blockages. I think 50% of the people don’t even know about the left lane.

I drove up to New York recently on I-95 and even though the speed limit is in the 70mph range most drivers were doing 90mph or better. I even caught myself going with the flow and traveling at that speed from time to time.
The question I have is what this is supposed to achieve, and does it apply to truck drivers who will drive for miles in any lane they choose.

Answer to first part of question: It achieves the goal of keeping slugs out of the left lane at 55 mph in a 70 zone, which in turn increases safety because everyone won't have a mad dash to get around them on the right.

Second part: It applies to all vehicles. And on most highways with 3 lanes trucks are totally barred from the left lane anyway.

If the bill is signed in to law I doubt it will make any difference. As a rule, people do what they want, regardless of the law or the fact that they are inconvenincing others.
We can always hope though!

We are pretty good at lane discipline on two lane roads in the UK.
Our main problem is when there are 3 lanes on our Motorways.
Heavy trucks and coaches in UK and Europe are governed to 60mph (96kmh) and are not allowed in the outside lane.
There are a lot of car drivers who are members of The Centre Lane Owners Club, who insist on traveling at 59mph in the center lane and will not speed up or pull over to let trucks out to overtake each other.
CLOC members are easy to recognize, very white-knuckle grip, glazed eyes, and fixed stare ahead, very similar to left lane huggers in US.

In Germany, on unrestricted Autobahns, drivers soon let you know to move over.
I was once overtaking another car doing 90mph+ and was blasted for holding someone up.
'Das Volk' take no prisoners!

I hope this passes and cops fine people that don’t obey it. Then, they need to modify the bill to include all 2 lanes with speed limits over 20mph, like on Morse and BV. Why people will park themselves in the left lane not going any faster and especially when going slower than the slow lane when cars are behind them.

Then after that bill gets invoked, the state should assign a cop at every roundabout and ticket people that don’t know how to navigate them with a $1000 fine. With the number of fines, they can justify the cops salary.