States get tough on driving menaces: Jeeps Specialist and International Coverage Reviews

States get tough on driving menaces

States are trying to put the brakes on bad driving by targeting “super speeders,” lane hogs and those guilty of multiple moving violations.

Florida is leading the way with a new law that sends its worst drivers back to driving school. A driver found at fault in three crashes in three years will have to pass a driver education course and a driving test, just like novice drivers.

“These people have proven themselves to be chronically bad drivers. You have to try everything you can to change their behavior,” says Electra Theodorides-Bustle, executive director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The cost for additional training will be passed on to violators, she says.

The moves come as a growing body of evidence suggests that aggressive driving - including speeding, tailgating, changing lanes without signaling, ignoring traffic signals and weaving in and out of traffic - is deadlier than drunken driving. An April study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that aggressive driving was a factor in 56% of all fatal U.S. crashes from 2003 through 2007.

Florida’s new law, which takes effect Jan. 1, is unlikely to eradicate bad driving in the Sunshine State: Highway safety officials have identified 3,200 people - out of about 15.5 million licensed drivers - who would currently fall under the new law.

A tougher stance for repeat offenders is a logical move for states, says Justin McNaull, AAA director of state relations. “Car crashes aren’t evenly distributed among all drivers,” he says. “While this might not be a classic 80%-of-the-problem-is-20%-of- the-people situation, it’s probably pretty close.”

Others states cracking down on bad drivers:

- Georgia now adds an extra $200 fine to the tickets of “super speeders” - defined as drivers caught traveling more than 75 mph on two-lane roads or 85 mph on any road. The new fine, which Gov. Sonny Perdue sought for three years before it was enacted July 1, is expected to generate $23 million a year to help the state’s trauma hospitals.

- Kansas’ new “Right Lane Law,” which went into effect July 1, makes it illegal to drive in the far left lane of multi-lane highways except when passing or turning left or when instructed to do so by traffic-control devices or officers. The law is designed to reduce road rage and prevent motorists from trying risky maneuvers, says Trooper Mark Engholm of the Kansas Highway Patrol.

- Five Southeastern states - Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee - joined forces last month for “Take Back Our Highways,” a week-long dragnet for dangerous drivers. Highway Patrol officers targeted aggressive and drunken drivers, speeders and drivers not wearing seat belts.

- Delaware and New Jersey launched statewide campaigns last month aimed at aggressive driving.

Copyright 2009 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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States get tough on driving menaces

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International Coverage Reviews

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