Will South Carolina’s Move Right Law Make The Roads Safer?
Do traffic laws prevent accidents? The short answer is yes. Your grandparents can probably tell you what a scary experience it was to be a passenger in a car when they were children. Most cars did not have seatbelts, drunk driving was rampant, and people freely smoked cigarettes at gas stations. Improved traffic laws, as well as improved vehicle design, have helped to reduce the number of traffic accidents that result in serious injuries or worse each year. This month, South Carolina enacted a law that aims to streamline the speeds at which people travel in the various lanes of multi-lane rows. If you were injured in a car accident that occurred when one vehicle tried to pass another, contact a South Carolina car accident lawyer.
State Law: Slower Traffic, Move Right
It would be nice to pass a law against road rage, but it would not be practical. When you are angry and something is trying your patience, it only makes you angrier when people tell you to calm down. South Carolina legislators have decided that the best way to prevent impulsive driving maneuvers that arise out of frustration is to enact a law requiring the slowpokes to get out of the way of drivers who are trying to reach their destination more quickly. South Carolina’s Move Right law went into effect on August 15, 2021; many other states have similar laws.
The Move Right law states that, on roads with two or more lanes going in the same direction, the leftmost lane is for passing and for left turns. If you are in the left lane and the car behind you is going faster than you are, the new law requires you to move into the right lane to allow the car behind you to pass. Lawmakers hope that, with this law in place, drivers who are in a hurry will not resort to dangerous moves just because they are stuck behind a slow-moving car.
Signs have begun to appear at the roadside, saying “State Law: Slower Traffic, Move Right.” The goal is to post one such sign approximately every 35 miles on all of South Carolina’s major highways. For the first 90 days, police will issue warnings to drivers to fail to merge right when a car behind them is trying to pass in the left lane. After that, drivers who fail to move right when someone behind them is trying to pass will receive a $25.00 traffic ticket.
Meanwhile, rash moves by impatient drivers still cause many accidents. If you have been injured because of someone else’s road rage on a crowded highway, a car accident lawyer can help you.
Let Us Help You Today
A Columbia car accident lawyer can help you recover damages if your injuries were the result of an impatient driver trying to get past a slowpoke in front of them. Contact The Stanley Law Group for help today.
Source:
scdps.sc.gov/news/2021/080421
