The Garden City Telegram
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New driving laws take effect today
Published 7/1/2009 in Local News
By SHAJIA AHMAD
New traffic laws across the state and higher court costs for motorists who are issued citations take effect today.
Officials expect the new laws — the Right Lane Law and the Move It Law — to improve safety and traffic flow for public motorists, said Ron Knoefel, a public resource officer with the Kansas Highway Patrol.
Under the Right Lane Law, on highways divided into two or more lanes of traffic proceeding in the same direction outside city limits, vehicles may not travel in the far left lane except during the following situations — overtaking and passing another vehicle; preparing to make a proper left turn; being otherwise directed by official traffic-control devices; or being otherwise required by other provisions of the law such as stopped emergency or maintenance vehicles.
"If you're going down an interstate system and there's a vehicle going 5 mph under the speed limit in the left hand lane, what could happen is that traffic could get bottled up in both lanes — this way the left hand lane will stay open for passing vehicles," Knoefel said. "We've had confusion with motorists before, but this law makes it very black and white."
The Right Lane Law does not apply to authorized emergency vehicles, including those operated by law enforcement officers, Kansas Turnpike Authority and Kansas Department of Transportation vehicles performing construction or maintenance work.
Another new piece of legislation, the Move It Law, is a new rule for motorists that mandates drivers of vehicles not transporting hazardous materials involved in non-injury crashes on interstate, U.S. highways, or any divided or multi-lane roadways in the state must move vehicles out of the lane of traffic.
Knoefel said the rule is intended to help keep drivers and passengers safe by getting them out of the lane of traffic and away from oncoming vehicles.
"In some cases, people involved in an accident can take something fairly minor and turn it into a major traffic situation," the KHP trooper said. "This is a safety issue, and it'll also help with the flow of traffic."
If vehicles can be driven following an accident, they should be moved to a safe location such as a shoulder or the nearest exit, and law enforcement officials should be called in the following situations: if there are injuries; a vehicle cannot be moved; one of the drivers appears to be intoxicated; damage exceeds $1,000; one of the drivers has no insurance; or one of the drivers leaves the scene of the crash.
For violations of both the Move It Law and the legislation mandating driving in the right lane of traffic, warnings will be issued within the first year in effect. After June 30, 2010, violators can receive a $60 citation for violations of these laws, according to the KHP.
In addition, beginning July 1, any driver receiving a citation for a traffic violation will see a $10 increase in court costs. Should a traffic citation be issued to an individual, the total docket fees will now be $86.
The State Legislature imposed the new charge to alleviate a nearly $16 million budget shortfall during this fiscal year in the Kansas courts system, and Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Davis signed the order June 3.
The $10 surcharge is effective until June 30, 2010, unless rescinded or otherwise amended by the Kansas Supreme Court, according to the KHP.
On the Web:
Kansas Highway Patrol: http://www.kansashighwaypatrol.org/
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