Two articles go together here: One welcoming the attention these pigs,
I mean hogs, deserve from the law; another, about the incredible
refusal of the governor of Florida to sign the law into effect. I bet
you even the governor's chauffeur would have made a wiser decision. But
then politics would be about common sense and not about big money. I
don't want to wander off the subject too much though... ;)

In the meantime, we may have to swallow our rage. Remember the Bible,
"turn the other cheek." Or count to 10. Or get a bigger vehicle. Or
pack your bags and go to Colorado.

This is the advice they give...

"Better yet, how about crafting laws that reinforce the rapidly
disappearing concept of personal responsibility, that all drivers
should have a grip on their emotions when they get behind the wheel?"

Target: Left Lane Hogs - Finally!
by Eric Peters

Some good news: Left lane hogs are finally getting the attention they
deserve from traffic cops -- and traffic laws.

In at least two states -- Colorado and Florida -- cops are begiining to
target drivers who squat in the far left lane and refuse to move right
to let faster-moving traffic get by. For decades, these drivers have
been allowed to create rolling roadblocks and interrupt the smooth (and
therfore safe) flow of traffic with virtual impunity because "faiure to
yield" laws were either not on the books -- or not enforced. And
twenty-plus years of ddumbed-down, politicized "driver's education" and
"safety" campaigns had effectively propagandized the populace into
believing their was only one cardinal sin -- "speeding."

And so the focus of traffic "safety" enforcement was speed limit laws
-- which of course were often ridiculous (the best example being the
55-mph National Maximum Speed Limit that Congress finally repealed in
1995. But these under-posted, artificially low speed limits were found
to be very useful in terms of generating an unforseen flow of easy
money for state and local governments -- who soon became addicted. And
it was so much easier for traffic cops to simply shoot fish in a barrel
with their radar guns -- because almost every car on the road was going
faster than the absurdly low posted limits.

Much easier than actually looking for dangerous drivers, anyhow.

This is finally changing, though.

In Colorado, state police have written more than 500 tickets to left
lane hogs since the beginning of the year; in Florida, a bill is on the
legilstive docket that would impose a $60 fine and four DMV "demerit
points" on the driving record of motorists who refuse to allow faster
moving traffic by.

Twenty years ago, this would have been an unthinkable violation of the
politically correct orthodoxy that onle "speed kills" -- and therefore
only enforcing speed limits (no matter how absurd or contrived)
matters.

But in fact, people who refuse to move right represent a major traffic
safety hazard -- whether "they doing the speed limit" (as they often
bleat in self-righteous high dudgeon) or not.

By refusing to allow other motorists to get by, the left lane dawdler
causes traffic to back up unnaturally; drivers then angrily jockey for
position -- and typically are forced into making a passing attempt in
the right lane to get around the hog -- who seems to get some sort of
weird passive-aggressive satisfaction from his obstinancy.

The situation is frustrating, distracting -- and very unsafe. In fact,
the lack of reflexive lane courtesy in this country is arguably the
biggest single safety problem we have -- not "speeding."

Consider the example of Germany -- where yielding to faster-moving
traffic is part of the national culture and adhered to religiously. As
a result, it is possible for the Germans to have unlimited speed
Autobahns -- where drivers in the left lane often overtake other cars
at tripe digit speeds. But because German drivers are taught to use
their mirrors -- and immediately move right to allow faster-moving
approaching cars to pass -- they have a lower accident and fatality
rate than we do here in the United States with our dumbed-down speed
limits.

It will take time for the facts about the danger of left lane hogging
to sink into the general consciousness -- the consequence of 20-plus
years of neglect and outright disinformation peddled by know-nothing
"safety" advocates.

But, at last, things are beginning to change for the better.

http://www.grmotorsports.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=9798

***

Target new drivers, not the hapless ones

BY LARRY LEBOWITZ

The debate rages on across the Sunshine State over Gov. Jeb Bush's veto
of the shrewdly misnamed Road Rage Reduction Act.

The bill -- which passed both houses of the Legislature with just four
dissenting votes -- would have required drivers in the left lane of any
limited-access four-lane roadway to get out of the way when a faster
driver approached from behind, even if the lead driver was traveling at
the speed limit.

Drivers who didn't yield would have been ticketed.

Proponents said the bill, modeled on similar measures in 21 states,
would have provided relief from the phenomenon of ''rolling
roadblocks'' caused by slowpokes driving in the fast lane and impatient
speeders darting through traffic to bypass them.

Citing a lack of empirical evidence, Bush said the bill was trying to
offer relief to the wrong people: ``those traveling at high rates of
speed, or possessed of emotional intemperance, at the expense of
cautious and careful drivers.''

Don't misunderstand: There is a legitimate problem here. Plenty of
oblivious doofuses are puttering along in the far-left lanes of
Interstate 95, the Palmetto Expressway and Florida's Turnpike, where
they have no business. But this bill wasn't the answer.

Here's a novel idea -- one espoused by many Streetwise correspondents.
Instead of pandering to speeders, perhaps lawmakers ought to demand
greater accountability and efficiency from the state Department of
Motor Vehicles.

Why not make sure that new license recipients actually learn the
Florida traffic laws before they legally hit the road?

You know, regulations like slower traffic should stay to the right.

Or that stopping in the middle of the interstate and backing up to the
exit ramp is verboten.

How about finding more money to hire troopers to clear accidents
faster?

Better yet, how about crafting laws that reinforce the rapidly
disappearing concept of personal responsibility, that all drivers
should have a grip on their emotions when they get behind the wheel?

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