Florida lawmaker hopes proposed bill will help alleviate frustrations with drivers in the far left lane
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A state lawmaker wants to alleviate frustration on the roads, and make them safer and less congested.
Florida Representative Jenna Persons-Mulicka, R-Fort Myers, is sponsoring a bill that would fine drivers up to $158 for using the far left lane for reasons other than passing another vehicle, exiting the road or following directions from law enforcement or a traffic control device.
"All of us who travel back and forth to Tallahassee experience frustration on the major highways and frustration caused by drivers impeding the flow of traffic in the left lane," Persons-Mulicka said in December presenting the bill to the House Transportation Modals Subcommittee. "This creates a dangerous situation when drivers unnecessarily camp out in the left lane. It leads to blocking traffic flow, less predictability, more encounters, more passing maneuvers and more opportunities for accidents."
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HB 317, Interstate Safety, is for roads with a speed limit of 65 miles per hour or higher, and with more and more congestion on the roads in the Tampa Bay area, most drivers said they’re for it.
"The route I take on through 75 I cross by the place where people get off to the airport and I-4 is all stacked up," Stephen McNutt said. "So, I tend to go in the left lane, and there's nothing worse than cruising along and then have some clown get in front of you either slow or shouldn't be there… I mean, if it would help with the traffic, I'm all for it. Traffic is pretty thick here sometimes."
"It makes people very mad," Suzie Butts said about people driving slow in the far left lane. "I just try to sing with music. I said, the only ticket I’m going to get is singing off cue when I’m driving. It is terrible to get behind someone just trotting along."
Dr. Pei-Sung Lin, the program director for the Center for Transportation Research at USF, said the bill is a good idea, but worries it could create more traffic.
"When traffic starts to get heavier, and we've got a three lane capacity, for example, and now the majority of vehicles are on the two lane, and the most left lane would be only for passing. And so, think about if we got three lanes of traffic, the capacity can handle that, but if we move traffic to only two lanes … that would become a real congestion," he said.
Drivers would still be able to use the left lane to avoid obstructions in the road. If the left lane is an HOV lane or turn lane, the one immediately to the right of it is considered the left lane.
The bill, if passed, wouldn’t apply to emergency, maintenance or construction vehicles. It recently passed the Transportation and Modals Subcommittee and is in the Infrastructure Strategies Committee. If it becomes law, it would go into effect in January 2025.
Senator Keith Perry is sponsoring an identical bill, SB 258, in the Senate. Similar bills have been filed in the past, but didn’t pass in the Senate or the House.