The House gave initial approval today to a bill requiring slow-moving vehicles to pull over if there are five or more cars behind them.
The action came after a debate in which some rural lawmakers said farmers driving tractors or trucks loaded with hay or other materials would be unfairly penalized.
Rep. Mike Merrifield, D-Manitou Springs and the sponsor of the bill, said the measure was necessary to prevent traffic backups behind slow-moving vehicles such as RVs. He said frustrated drivers behind the slow-movers often attempt unsafe passing maneuvers or develop road rage.
Merrifield said the bill requires slow-moving vehicles to pull over, but only when it is safe to do so.
“If it’s more dangerous to pull off” than it is to stay on the road, slow-moving vehicles won’t be ticketed, he said.
But rural lawmakers such as Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, backed an amendment to exempt farm vehicles from the law.
“The last thing we want is somebody’s tractor to be pulled over” that is pulling a tank filled with anhydrous ammonia, Gardner said.
The House must approve the measure, HB 1042, once more before it can go to the Senate.
Read more about this story, including more debate on the farm-vehicles amendment, and the fate of a second proposed amendment on vehicles hauling hazardous materials at .
Tim Hoover: 303-954-1626 or thoover@denverpost.com
