Bill would put limits on left-lane driving
Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
It’s amazing the small details that lawmakers will address during the legislative process. Case in point, a proposed bill that would amend current traffic laws to ensure that motorists don’t travel indefinitely in the left lane.
Senate Bill 464, last referred to the appropriations committee on transportation, tourism and economic development, would make continuously operating a motor vehicle in the furthermost left-lane of certain roadways a moving violation subject to penalties, except under certain circumstances.
As proposed, SB-464 would add or revise subsections of section 316.0081 of state statutes to say that drivers may not drive indefinitely in the uttermost left lane of highways that have two or more lanes going in the same direction and that have a minimum posted speed of 65 mph.
The exceptions are if it’s to overtake and pass another vehicle, prepare to exit the road, street or highway, or when otherwise directed by an official traffic control device. Emergency vehicles, of course, are exempt from the rule, as are highway maintenance or construction operations.
The change, if approved, would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
Bill would make 911 dispatchers first responders
Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
A proposed bill that seeks to redefine the term ‘first responders’ to include 911 public safety telecommunicators has the strong support of local law enforcement officials and other local emergency responders.
Senate Bill 436, which has a matching bill in the House, would amend the current state statutes to make 911 dispatchers eligible for the benefits of first responders, which are currently defined as emergency medical technicians (EMTs), paramedics, firefighters and law-enforcement officers.
The proposed bill would expand the list of first responders to include 911 public safety telecommunicators, whether they work for the state or a local government, in both a paid or voluntary capacity.
The inclusion would make 911 public telecommunicators eligible for workers’ compensation benefits for work-related accidents and injuries, including exposure to toxic substances, posttraumatic stress disorder and mental or nervous injuries arising from the employment, provided a direct connection can be
established.
The measure would also increase the number of required training hours and specify the nature of the additional training.
If approved, the bill, which was last in committee, would become effective on July 1.
During the recent legislative delegation here, Sheriff Mac McNeill, Police Chief Fred Mosley, Fire Rescue Chief Derrick Burrus and Cricket Edwards, with civil, felony and misdemeanors in the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO), spoke in favor of the bill.
“We can’t do our jobs without the dispatchers,” McNeill said, urging the legislators to support the bill.
Edwards, herself once a dispatcher at the JCSO, said it was time that dispatchers received due recognition for the work that they performed. Like first responders, she said, dispatchers experienced the tragedies firsthand and were subject to the same stresses and aftereffects as deputies, medics and other first responders.
In 2022, she noted, dispatchers had responded to 239 calls for Fire Rescue alone, a number that she called a significant for a county with a population of 14,000 or so.
Yet, under the current rules, she said, dispatchers weren’t eligible for bonuses, loans or other benefits that first responders enjoyed.
“It’s not fair,” Edwards said. “They deserve to be recognized.”
Fire Rescue Chief Derrick Burrus likewise expressed support for the bill.
“If they don’t take the information,” he said of the dispatchers, “nothing gets done.”
Police Chief Fred Mosley concurred.
“I thank God for our dispatchers,” Mosley said. “They are our first line of defense. They provide a lifeline to those calling, keeping people calm until we arrive. I’m very much in support of the bill.”
On a related matter, SB-184, also currently undergoing review in various committees, would expand the homestead exemption available to first responders and their surviving spouses to certain federal law-enforcement officers, provided that the latter are Florida residents and died in the line of duty.