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Traffic Laws
Clearing up the top 10 misunderstandings about Florida's traffic laws
Quote:
1) Since 2002, a law has been in effect requiring drivers approaching a stopped law enforcement or emergency vehicle to move out of the lane immediately adjacent to it or, if that is not possible, to slow down to at least 20 mph below the posted speed limit.
During the five-year period between 1996 and 2000, motorists in Florida crashed into working law enforcement vehicles that were stopped or parked along Florida roadways 1,793 times, causing five fatalities and injuring 419. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, roadside accidents involving officers performing traffic-enforcement duties remain the third leading cause of death among all law enforcement officers.
2) In storm-wracked Florida where power outages are not uncommon, an inoperable traffic signal must be treated as a four-way stop. The first vehicle to reach the intersection should move forward first. If two vehicles reach the intersection at the same time, the driver on the left should always yield to the driver on the right.
3) It is illegal to drive with an open container of an alcoholic beverage in your possession and, the way the law is written, possession is largely in the eyes of the officer on the scene. Generally speaking, according to a Florida Highway Patrol spokesman, if a container with an alcoholic beverage is anywhere within reach of the driver, it's a violation -- and that includes any bottles, cans or cups that have been hastily emptied and dropped under or behind the seat, which, however, the officer finds cold or wet to the touch, and aren't locked in the trunk. If a passenger is holding an open container of an alcoholic beverage, the passenger may be cited for a nonmoving violation of the law.
4) A speed limit sign is a traffic device intended to control the speed of drivers from the point where it stands beside the road and beyond. Even when drivers are within reading distance of a sign displaying a different speed ahead of them, they are still under a legal obligation to obey the last speed limit sign they passed until they come abreast of the next one.
5) Flashing hazard lights on vehicles are only to be used to indicate a vehicle is stopped or disabled. Drivers who turn them on while continuing to drive in blinding rainstorms as an indication to others they are traveling at a reduced speed create a confusing hazard of their own, and are a danger to others.
6) Cameras mounted at intersections cannot be used for the enforcement of Florida's traffic laws.
7) There is also no law against driving with a foot protruding from a vehicle's window as long as the foot protrudes no more than 6 inches beyond the edge of the body of the vehicle -- the same distance allowed by statute for anything to stick out a moving vehicle's window.
8) According to the Florida's Driver's Handbook distributed by the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles: "A yellow light means stop if you can. The light will soon be red." Accelerating when a green traffic light turns yellow to beat the impending red is not a statutory option. So if the light turns red before a driver's vehicle has completely passed the light, it can be considered a violation by an observing law enforcement officer.
9) There is no law in Florida statute regulating the type of footwear that may or may not be worn by drivers. It is not illegal to drive while wearing flip-flops or barefoot.
10) Unless you're driving an emergency vehicle, you must pull to the shoulder to allow a funeral procession to pass by. Cars in a funeral procession may proceed through intersections "regardless of any traffic control devices or right of way provisions," according to statute. If you're part of the procession, you must have your lights on. And, except in cases of gross negligence, funeral homes are not held responsible for any death or injury occurring in a traffic accident involving a funeral procession.
Story Here
Clearing up the top 10 misunderstandings about Florida's traffic laws
Quote:
1) Since 2002, a law has been in effect requiring drivers approaching a stopped law enforcement or emergency vehicle to move out of the lane immediately adjacent to it or, if that is not possible, to slow down to at least 20 mph below the posted speed limit.
During the five-year period between 1996 and 2000, motorists in Florida crashed into working law enforcement vehicles that were stopped or parked along Florida roadways 1,793 times, causing five fatalities and injuring 419. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, roadside accidents involving officers performing traffic-enforcement duties remain the third leading cause of death among all law enforcement officers.
2) In storm-wracked Florida where power outages are not uncommon, an inoperable traffic signal must be treated as a four-way stop. The first vehicle to reach the intersection should move forward first. If two vehicles reach the intersection at the same time, the driver on the left should always yield to the driver on the right.
3) It is illegal to drive with an open container of an alcoholic beverage in your possession and, the way the law is written, possession is largely in the eyes of the officer on the scene. Generally speaking, according to a Florida Highway Patrol spokesman, if a container with an alcoholic beverage is anywhere within reach of the driver, it's a violation -- and that includes any bottles, cans or cups that have been hastily emptied and dropped under or behind the seat, which, however, the officer finds cold or wet to the touch, and aren't locked in the trunk. If a passenger is holding an open container of an alcoholic beverage, the passenger may be cited for a nonmoving violation of the law.
4) A speed limit sign is a traffic device intended to control the speed of drivers from the point where it stands beside the road and beyond. Even when drivers are within reading distance of a sign displaying a different speed ahead of them, they are still under a legal obligation to obey the last speed limit sign they passed until they come abreast of the next one.
5) Flashing hazard lights on vehicles are only to be used to indicate a vehicle is stopped or disabled. Drivers who turn them on while continuing to drive in blinding rainstorms as an indication to others they are traveling at a reduced speed create a confusing hazard of their own, and are a danger to others.
6) Cameras mounted at intersections cannot be used for the enforcement of Florida's traffic laws.
7) There is also no law against driving with a foot protruding from a vehicle's window as long as the foot protrudes no more than 6 inches beyond the edge of the body of the vehicle -- the same distance allowed by statute for anything to stick out a moving vehicle's window.
8) According to the Florida's Driver's Handbook distributed by the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles: "A yellow light means stop if you can. The light will soon be red." Accelerating when a green traffic light turns yellow to beat the impending red is not a statutory option. So if the light turns red before a driver's vehicle has completely passed the light, it can be considered a violation by an observing law enforcement officer.
9) There is no law in Florida statute regulating the type of footwear that may or may not be worn by drivers. It is not illegal to drive while wearing flip-flops or barefoot.
10) Unless you're driving an emergency vehicle, you must pull to the shoulder to allow a funeral procession to pass by. Cars in a funeral procession may proceed through intersections "regardless of any traffic control devices or right of way provisions," according to statute. If you're part of the procession, you must have your lights on. And, except in cases of gross negligence, funeral homes are not held responsible for any death or injury occurring in a traffic accident involving a funeral procession.
Story Here
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