2009-19
NEWS RELEASE: June 30, 2008
FROM: The Kansas Highway Patrol
CONTACT: Captain Art Wilburn (785) 296-6800
Lieutenant Robert Baker (785) 296-6800
July 1, 2009 marks the effective date for many new laws, including new traffic laws for drivers. The "Right Lane Law", "Move It Law", and amendments to docket fees for citations will all affect motorists on Kansas roads beginning this week.
"These new laws are vital to the safety of motorists on our roads and it is important that drivers are aware of the changes that will become effective this week," Kansas Highway Patrol Superintendent, Colonel Terry Maple said.
The "Right Lane Law", or Senate Bill 145, prohibits vehicles on highways outside the corporate limits of any city, divided into two or more lanes of traffic proceeding in the same direction, from being operated in the far left lane, except when:
These provisions do 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 are also exempt from this legislation.
Another new piece of legislation, House Bill 2147, referred to as the "Move It Law", is an important new rule for motorists. HB 2147 mandates that drivers of non-hazardous materials transporting vehicles involved in non-injury crashes on interstate, U.S. highways, or any divided or multi-lane roadways in the state move vehicles out of the lane of traffic. This is intended to help keep drivers and passengers safe by getting them out of the lane of traffic, and away from oncoming vehicles.
If vehicles can be driven, move them to a safe location such as a shoulder or the nearest exit, to exchange information or to contact law enforcement. Law enforcement should always be called if:
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.
Another change on July 1, 2009 will affect any driver receiving a citation for a traffic violation. In an effort to alleviate the $15.9 million cut from the Judicial Branch�s Fiscal Year 2010 maintenance budget, the Kansas Supreme Court, as authorized by 2009 Senate Bill 66, will impose an emergency surcharge of $10, which will be added to court costs in all cases. Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Davis signed the order June 3, 2009. Should a traffic citation be issued to you, the total docket fees (court costs) will now be $86. The $10 surcharge is effective until June 30, 2010, unless rescinded or otherwise amended by the Kansas Supreme Court.
KANSAS MOVE OVER LAW
Chapter 8.--AUTOMOBILES AND OTHER VEHICLES
Article 15.--UNIFORM ACT REGULATING TRAFFIC; RULES OF THE ROAD
8-1525. Regulation and restrictions on use of controlled-access highways and facilities; misdemeanor. (a) The secretary of transportation, by duly adopted resolution or order, and local authorities by ordinance or resolution, may regulate or prohibit the use of any controlled-access highway or facility within their respective jurisdictions by any class or kind of traffic which is found to be incompatible with the normal and safe movement of traffic.
(b) The secretary or the local authority adopting any such prohibition shall erect and maintain official traffic-control devices on the controlled-access highway or facility on which such prohibitions are applicable, and when in place no person shall disobey the restrictions stated on such devices. Violation of this subsection (b) is a misdemeanor.
TIPS ON PUMPING GAS
1. Fill up your car or truck in the morning when the temperature is still cool. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground; and the colder the ground, the denser the gasoline. When it gets warmer gasoline expands, so if you're filling up in the afternoon or in the evening, what should be a gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and temperature of the fuel (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products) are significant. Every truckload that we load is temperature-compensated so that the indicated gallonage is actually the amount pumped. A one-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for businesses, but service stations don't have temperature compensation at their pumps. |
2. If a tanker truck is filling the station's tank at the time you want to buy gas, do not fill up; most likely dirt and sludge in the tank is being stirred up when gas is being delivered, and you might be transferring that dirt from the bottom of their tank into your car's tank. |
3. Fill up when your gas tank is half-full (or half-empty), because the more gas you have in your tank the less air there is and gasoline evaporates rapidly, especially when it's warm. (Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating 'roof' membrane to act as a barrier between the gas and the atmosphere, thereby minimizing evaporation.) |
4. If you look at the trigger you'll see that it has three delivery settings: slow, medium and high. When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to the high setting. You should be pumping at the slow setting, thereby minimizing vapors created while you are pumping. Hoses at the pump are corrugated; the corrugations act as a return path for vapor recovery from gas that already has been metered. If you are pumping at the high setting, the agitated gasoline contains more vapor, which is being sucked back into the underground tank so you're getting less gas for your money. Hope this will help ease your 'pain at the pump' |