A bill aimed at slowpoke drivers caused a traffic jam today at the House podium as lawmakers clamored for their chance to knock it.
Authorities could issue tickets to drivers going below the speed limit who delay five cars or more under House Bill 1042. It requires slower drivers to pull over at the first safe opportunity to let traffic pass or to drive in the right-hand lane.
Lawmakers worried aloud today about leaving tanker trucks on the side of the road vulnerable to terrorist plots. Others, such as Rep. Wes McKinley, just didn’t want to give troopers another reason to stop cars.
McKinley, D-Walsh, said he’d been pulled over for impeding traffic on a rural road, even though he was going the speed limit. “Then in the process, he found out my tag was expired,” McKinley said of the officer, getting a laugh from his colleagues. “This gives another right to pull somebody over.”
The bill survives until at least Friday, when lawmakers will take it up once more. A handful of Republicans delayed further debate and a vote on the bill today by asking for another estimate on how much it would cost.
Legislative staffers estimate it will generate an extra $5,000 a year at most, although opponents argue that the state would have to build new places for cars to pull over.
With the support of four Democrats, Republicans also won a key amendment that would exempt tankers hauling hazardous materials.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Michael Merrifield, D-Manitou Springs, pointed out that tankers and other cars are put in danger every time a frustrated driver takes drastic measures to pass a slow driver.
Motorists already are prohibited from traveling so slowly that they would impede traffic. Merrifield’s bill just defines what going too slowly means, he said.
He chalked some of the criticism up to “paranoia that there would be a rash of tickets.”
“We need to trust the common sense of highway patrol (officers),” Merrifield said. “The bill is just pragmatic. It’s no-nonsensical.”
Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244 or jfender@denverpost.com
