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Originally Posted by dcb

OMG, you saw him coming a mile away, with his lights on, and didn't move right. Who gave you a license?

sorry, but when I learned to drive, I was taught that cutting across 5 lanes would get you pulled over, and I *have* been pulled over for moving over a mere 2 lanes while signaling and taking my time back when Davie had a 'policy' of profiling DWB. (forgive the unintentional sarcastic tone here - I can't see a way to write it without it coming off that way)

that said, I was unaware of the specific details of the move over law - most drivers down here tend to follow the 'slow down and get out of the way of the emergency vehicle via the shortest and quickest way possible' rule, regardless of the actual direction... ie if the emergency vehicle is on the left, move right, and if the emergency vehicle is on the right, move left. it's been my observation that generally emergency vehicles are thus always afforded the center until they actually make a move in a particular direction themselves - the surrounding vehicles adjust accordingly. note this is not a criticism or disagreement with the law as it stands... just an observation based on 21 years and somewhere around a million miles driven. it doesnt help much that the law is only 5 years old... most drivers like myself have been driving for far longer with long-standing habits and trained procedures - especially here, which is a melting pot of driving habits from all over the world.

in any case, consider me enlightened. my thanks

1. florida has a move over law, meaning that you don't play chicken with the emergency vehicles stopped on the side of the road. You move to a lane away from the scene and failing that you reduce your speed to 20mph under the limit.

who said I (or the van ahead of me) was playing chicken? the stopped cruiser was on our left, the approaching (at high speed) cruiser was on our right, smack in the middle of the highway, and he stayed there until the last possible moment, making no attempt whatsoever to indicate any intention of doing anything other than continuing in a straight line. the posted limit on that section of 95 is 65mph, and we had both slowed to 40 - in compliance with the move over law interestingly enough. if either one or both of us had merged right - into the path of the approaching cruiser BTW - we likely would have been seen as actively obstructing him, and pulled over for it, and there was no way for us to know where the approaching cruiser was going. if we had merged right all the way across the highway, and he [b]wasnt[/i] going to the other cruiser, but onto one of the off ramps that lead to I-595 or SR-84 right there, we would still have been in his way. IMHO we made the best choice of a very limited set of possibilities, which were:

1. he keeps going straight or goes to one of the off-ramps to the right, we slow down and give the stopped cruiser at least 1 lane of clearance to his right after the moving cruiser passes. no problem (this was my original plan anyway).

2. he slots in behind us, we move right. no problem.

3. we move right, he moves right. we end up in his way and possibly get an accident or pulled over for changing too many lanes at once

2. you are supposed to move to the right and yield the right of way to emergency vehicles (or any overtaking vehicle). Passing on the right is illegal and arguably dangerous, as is passing in the emergency lane. There is usually crud or completely stopped vehicles or pedestrians in the emergency lane.

look... if you *absolutely* cant go left, and you seemingly can't go right without getting in the way, where the hell are you supposed to go? if the approaching cruiser had slotted in behind us, it would have been apparent where he was going and I at least (cant speak for the van in front) would have moved over to the right to get out of the way - as per the rule. sometimes following the letter of the law is worse than breaking it.

3. driving in the left lane when there's hardly any other cars?!? And 5 other lanes?!? The left lanes are for overtaking vehicles. Slower traffic to the right. You don't know the extent of the emergency, could be a heart attack, get the hell out of the way.

there are only certain roadways here in florida where that rule applies, and those are usually marked, 2-lane highways - the turnpike for example used to operate under the 'cruise right, pass left' rule back in the '70's - it no longer does in most areas due to increased usage and the fact that that rule really can't be enforced on roadways with more than 2 lanes - and the 'pike now has 3 or more lanes in most areas of south florida - it makes no sense to. down here it is more along the lines of left=overtaking and high speed cruising (except during rush our when its HOVcity), middle=trucks and mid-speed cruising while right=on and off-ramp access (slower traffic). just because there isnt any other traffic doesnt mean you have to use the right lane anymore. as for the rest, like i said, the approaching cruiser could have gone *anywhere*, and moving out of the lane we were in would likely have put us right in his way. rock and a hard place... go figure.