Senate amends 'move over' requirement; Senate Bill 16 reported favorably to Rules and Reference

The Ohio Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday amended Senate Bill 16 to alter enforcement of the state's move-over requirement and then voted to report the bill favorably to the Committee on Rules and Reference.

Senator Reineke moved an amendment (referred to in the hearing as amendment "908") that "reduces the speed" requirement and "requires that a driver reduce the speed of a motor vehicle in circumstances in which the driver is unable to safely change lanes under the move over law," and that the driver must "reduce the motor vehicle speed to below the posted speed limit," as read into the record by the sponsor.

With no objections, the amendment was made part of the bill. Vice Chairman Schafer then moved to report Senate Bill 16 favorably to the Committee on Rules and Reference.

The clerk conducted a roll call. Members recorded in the transcript as voting "Yes" on the motion included Chairman Patton, Vice Chair Schafer, Senator Chavez, Senator Reineke, Senator Smith and Senator Timken. The chair said the roll would remain open until noon for members who were checked in but not present; the bill had received the required number of votes and was referred to Rules and Reference.

No further debate on the merits was recorded during the committee session.

The amendment changes the bill's operative behavior under the move-over law by adding a required speed reduction below the posted limit when a lane change is not safely possible; the committee's favorable report sends the amended measure to the Rules and Reference Committee for further consideration.