6/24/04-A bill that would have allowed prosecution of such offenses as tailgating and making obscene gestures while driving is dead.
SB1871, sponsored by Sen. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, was rejected by a 5-3 vote in the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee.
The bill sought to make it an offense for a driver to do a variety of things “with the intent to harass, intimidate, injure or obstruct another person,” Ramsey wrote.
Violators would have faced a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $500 fine. If the offending driver intended to injure another person, the offense would have carried a maximum penalty of 11 months, 29 days in jail and a $2,500 fine.
The bill’s House version – HB1959 – also failed passage.