You are here: Home » Adult Webmaster News » Op-Ed: Could California Use Some of Indiana'...
Select year   and month 
 
June 10, 2015

Op-Ed: Could California Use Some of Indiana's Traffic Laws?

LOS ANGELES—Say, adult industry members: Ever find yourself late for a shoot or some other appointment, and even though you're on a freeway and the traffic's not too heavy, there's some jackass in the far left (aka "fast") lane driving at 65 and not letting anyone pass? This author had that experience (yet again) while returning to L.A. from Las Vegas after the close of the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo. He was driving west on I-15, still east of Baker where the highway is just two lanes wide, when he found himself behind a compact car doing 65 (the speed limit there is 70) in the left lane, with another vehicle pacing the compact in the right lane, allowing no room for anyone to pass either on the left or the right. As most people who drive from L.A. to Vegas and back are aware, more than half of the non-tractor-trailer vehicles making the journey travel at anywhere between 75 and 100 mph for most of the trip outside of L.A. County, and since there are no sharp turns in the road, only a few hills, it's easy to maintain that rate of speed if slower traffic uses common sense and stays to the right, even on the portions of the road that have three, four or even five lanes. But this day, that compact was maintaining a level 65 mph in the left lane, so this author, as is common in such situations, blinked his headlights to signal that he would appreciate if the slower vehicle would move to the right to let faster traffic pass. The compact maintained its speed, oblivious to the blinking headlights. Blinking the headlights more frequently similarly had no effect, nor did blowing the horn, except that one of the compact's passengers leaned towards the rear window to give the author "the finger." This little drama played out for roughly ten miles, until the car in the right lane apparently became so fed up that it accelerated enough to allow the author's car to pass on the right—often a dangerous maneuver—and get in front of the slowpoke. A glance in the rearview mirror revealed an approximately two-mile-long line of cars backed up behind the compact, whose driver still steadfastly refused to either accelerate or move into the right lane. So it is with a certain amount of joy and hope that we read about a law recently passed in Indiana—yes, the state that caused such an uproar by passing an "okay to discriminate against gays" law a couple of months ago—that allows police to ticket drivers traveling in the left lane if faster drivers are stacked up behind the slowpoke and he/she doesn't move into one of the righthand lanes. "The so-called 'slowpoke' law is believed to be one of just two in country that attaches a fine to dawdling drivers in the 'fast lane'," reported IndyStar.com's John Tuohy. "The bill was sponsored by State Rep. Jud McMillin, R-Brookville, and signed by Gov. Mike Pence in this year's legislative session. It becomes law on July 1, just in time for the summer's busiest travel day, the Fourth of July. McMillin said the law is intended to get drivers to use the left lane only for passing, as the law also requires." The other state that has a similar law is Georgia, which passed theirs last July 1, and since then, the Georgia State Police have issued 310 tickets, and county sheriffs have also issued an as-yet-uncounted number, each carrying a maximum fine of $1,000. "Georgia State Police Capt. Mike Perry said the officers have wide discretion about when to issue tickets," Tuohy wrote. "Generally, he said, a motorist who is holding up a long line of cars is more likely to get a ticket than someone who is blocking only a couple." Capt. Dave Bursten of the Indiana State Police said his troops would take a similar approach. "It's really just using common sense," Bursten told Tuohy. "We've all been on the highway when some driver, or two drivers, are blocking the road and there's 20, 40, 60 cars behind them and up ahead it is crystal clear for miles." "Bursten said slow drivers can cause traffic hazards, because frustrated motorists behind them 'start jockeying for positions and making sudden lane changes.'" There are a few exceptions to the Indiana law, such as when conditions such as bad weather, obstructions or hazards make it necessary to travel in the left lane, or when complying with an officer's instructions to do so, but in most instances, the new law will apply. So how about it, California legislators? Think a law like this might help drivers in the Los Angeles area, whose traffic has been deemed by Thrillist.com to be (along with New York City) the worst in the entire United States?

 
home | register | log in | add URL | add premium URL | forums | news | advertising | contact | sitemap
copyright © 1998 - 2009 Adult Webmasters Association. All rights reserved.