A mile and a half: that’s the distance you can now legally drive in the left lane on Alabama interstates without passing another car. Anything more than that, and you could be facing a ticket.
It’s called the Anti-Road Rage Act. It was put into effect in September, but officers have only been handing out warnings- until now. The law aims to reduce the amount of time drivers spend in the left lane, without passing other cars– and in turn, reduce the amount of road rage on the interstate. Starting Nov. 1, if you’re found in violation, you could be stuck with a $200 ticket.
We talked to Rusty Dinwiddin at a local gas station, and asked how he felt about the new law. He says, ”It drives me nuts–the people that hang in the left lane when going on the interstate. And you can’t pass on the right, you’ve got trucks and everything like that. They’ll stay in there forever.”
AAA says 80% of drivers reported feeling aggressive when drivers in the left lane just wouldn’t move over for extended periods of time.
People in Huntsville hope the new law can fix this problem.
Erik Anderson tells us, he moved here from Atlanta, where he feels drivers use the passing lane more efficiently. He adds, “It seems like it should reduce the instances of road rage, because I know that’s a frustration that I’ve had driving here in Alabama.”
Some locals say we should all just pump our brakes.
Nicolas Webster tells us, “It’s just people in too much of a hurry trying to cut off the person in front to them thinking they’re gonna end up somewhere faster… but in reality they just end up in a wreck somewhere.”
Road Rage might be a more serious problem than you know. According to a study done by safemotorist.com, 66% of traffic fatalities are caused by aggressive driving. That same study shows, in a 7 year period, over 200 deaths and 12,000 injuries were attributed to road rage.
We spoke to Adrienne Crowell, who says, “I mean, look at the statistics to see how many people die in car accidents that could’ve been avoided. That’s where my rage comes from.”
Road rage is one of the leading causes of crashes.
Safe Motorist reports, even if you’re not the one initiating it, over half of drivers respond to road rage with aggressive behavior.
There are exceptions to this new law, like if there’s extreme weather, road work being done, heavy traffic, or a driver is preparing to take an exit off of the interstate. Emergency vehicles also get exceptions.