More Drivers Will Get Tickets for Driving Too Slowly

[Rogue One]

Grandmas in the left lane, you have been warned.
http://time.com/money/3915031/slowpoke- ... ne-ticket/
Brad Tuttle @bradrtuttle June 10, 2015

“SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT.” Signs like this and its closely related cousin (“KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS”) are posted on highways around the country. The messages might seem like mere suggestions to drivers, but increasingly they’re representative of traffic laws that can result in fines of up to $1,000 if they’re not obeyed.

MIT research indicates that most states already have laws on the books that ban slow-moving traffic from the left lane, also known as the passing lane. But such laws are often somewhat vague, and they’re rarely enforced.

This week, however, Indiana passed what’s known as a “slowpoke” law, which specifically permits law enforcement to pull over and ticket drivers if they are in the left lane holding up faster-moving traffic behind them. The fine for violating the rule maxes out at $500, though in most cases the penalty will be much less severe.

The rule in Indiana will start being enforced in July, exactly one year after Georgia police received the right to hand out tickets thanks to a similar “slowpoke” law. According to the Indianapolis Star, Georgia State Police have issued 310 tickets for slowpoke violations since last July. Drivers face a maximum fine of $1,000 for breaking the law, though authorities have discretion as to the exact amount. Generally speaking, a driver who is holding up a long line of traffic in the left lane for an extended period of time is more likely to be ticketed—and penalized more severely.

Police insist that the law doesn’t favor speeders over slower drivers. “If someone is going 75 (mph) and someone behind them comes up at 90, we are going after the guy going 90,” one Indiana state police captain told the Star.

Still, drivers can theoretically be ticketed if they are driving the speed limit while hogging the left lane. New Jersey’s stay-right law, which mandates that drivers get out of the left or middle lane to make way for faster-moving vehicles, resulted in more than 4,000 citations in 2012. The cost of fines doubled in 2013 in the Garden State as well, and now max out at $300.

Other states have slightly different slowpoke laws in which only drivers going well under the speed limit can be ticketed. In 2013, for instance, Florida passed a slowpoke rule that allowed police to issue fines of up to $60 to drivers who are in the left lane going 10 mph or more below the speed limit and fail to get out of the way of faster-moving traffic.

The goal of these and other slowpoke laws is to reserve the left lane for faster cars, so that traffic flows smoothly and vehicles have no need to rapidly switch lanes left and right to pass. The laws should hopefully ease road rage too: In a recent survey from Expedia, tailgaters and left lane hogs were tied for second place in terms of practices on the road that aggravated drivers most. Texting behind the wheel was the most aggravating habit of all, no matter what lane the driver is in.

[Q451990]

Ahh the old "left lane is for passing vs. those damn people that drive too fast need to slow down and follow me" argument. I've seen less intensity in people discussing abortion. As a car guy I'm glad the winds of traffic law might be shifting to my side for once. I wonder if the argument of "but officer I slowed down because I saw your a$$ in my rear view mirror" will be an excuse?

[Rogue One]

Cop Screws with Slow Driver in the Fast Lane

[txchamps]

Police insist that the law doesn’t favor speeders over slower drivers. “If someone is going 75 (mph) and someone behind them comes up at 90, we are going after the guy going 90,” one Indiana state police captain told the Star.

I don't believe it.

I'm not one of those guys that drives the limit while hanging in the left lane. In Texas, that's suicide. I do my passing and then get the hell out of the way so that I don't get creamed by those people "having fun" while driving.

I'm fine with the law, so long as they enforce speed laws and tailgating laws as well. I do find it hard to rationalize how I can be violating the law if I am traveling at the posted limit when the guy behind me speeds up and rides my tail until I find an opportunity to change lanes. I would be very upset if I got the citation in that situation.

Another issue is that such a law, in certain traffic conditions, forces a driver like me to stay behind a true "slow poke" who is traveling at, say, 50 MPH on the freeway, (which is not illegal BTW, according to this law, because he's in the right lane) just so that I don't inconvenience those who wish to violate the posted limit and travel at 85 (pretty much the average in Texas). Why is their inconvenience so much more important than mine?

Or, we could post a realistic speed limit, like 80MPH, and enforce it. Reserve the left lane(s) for passing. Period.

[Bubba1]

I'm also fine with the law as I don't personally do that. I have a family member that's one of those left lane vigilante's that will be annoyed. He's one of those, "I'm doing the speed limit, so there's no legal reason for anyone else to go faster, so I'm gonna stop them by driving in the left lane" kinda guys." Being a NJ native, where aggressive driving, with liberal use of the middle finger and horn is the norm, I've had many disagreements with him about his breaking one law (stay to right except to pass), to play left lane speed limit enforcer, which can be both dangerous and disruptive. Nice to be right once in a while.

[Dattebayo]

Too much regulation is going to confuse people. Why bring all that to a boil with new legislation?

Why are we giving police a new reason to pull people over? Slow driving usually doesn't cause accidents from what I've seen, it's usually the people enraged behind them who jump out of lane suddenly and unexpectedly and do something stupid to show said driver how it's done...

If we're going to start all this, then lets go completely nuts and keep big trucks off the road too because they drive slow also. Nevermind the reasons.

[Bubba1]

Too much regulation is going to confuse people. Why bring all that to a boil with new legislation?

Why are we giving police a new reason to pull people over? Slow driving usually doesn't cause accidents from what I've seen, it's usually the people enraged behind them who jump out of lane suddenly and unexpectedly and do something stupid to show said driver how it's done...

If we're going to start all this, then lets go completely nuts and keep big trucks off the road too because they drive slow also. Nevermind the reasons.

I think you might have answered your own question. The change is hardly a bold departure as there are already regulations on the books in many states (with big signs already up) saying "stay right except to pass". Slow driving in the left lane can and does cause accidents as it encourages weaving to get around the rolling chicanes, and as you noted, folks tend to get angry/frustrated when encountering such slow pokes. And given how poorly trained the average American is for driving, that combo is not a good thing.

We are on the opposite side of the fence about trucks as I drive them frequently. The biggest problem truck drivers encounter are poorly trained, distracted idiots in cars cutting 'em off, and trucks can't handle or brake as well as cars. Many car drivers are blissfully unaware. It's gotten so bad, that I've actually installed an insanely obnoxious air horn in my flatbed (which is a 35' long truck) to wake up those idiots when (not if) they do something stupid in front of me.

Also, consider for a moment that many interstate highways do not allow trucks in the left lane, yet the left lane keeps getting clogged by slow pokes. Gee, what kinda vehicles are causing those left lane clogs?

Could the police abuse it? Perhaps. Will the law be ignored by many folks like they do for DUI, seatbelts or Cell phones? Very likely. But that doesn't mean the law should not be implemented. it's a shame that it requires many people to get cited for the offense before they take it seriously.

[txchamps]

We are on the opposite side of the fence about trucks as I drive them frequently. The biggest problem truck drivers encounter are poorly trained, distracted idiots in cars cutting 'em off, and trucks can't handle or brake as well as cars. Many car drivers are blissfully unaware.........

........Could the police abuse it? Perhaps. Will the law be ignored by many folks like they do for DUI, seatbelts or Cell phones? Very likely. But that doesn't mean the law should not be implemented. it's a shame that it requires many people to get cited for the offense before they take it seriously.

^^You echo my sentiments exactly. If it's on the books, then enforce it.

I respect the big rig drivers, but KIM that sometimes they can be the worst drivers on the road (but not our Bubba!)

[Dattebayo]

Okay, opinion noted, but I do add a note that defensive driving saves lives.

If you get angry because someone is driving slow, you should NOT take matters into your own hands and dart out and pass on the right, possibly endangering others and yourself with a stupid display of road rage. This law is only addressing that failure of human judgement, not present in most people I am aware of... it like tailoring a law to accommodate the few with issues, again, IMO. I'm more in favor of a mandatory re-education driving class every few years instead of giving the law ANOTHER reason to pull people over...

Also, I am reminded of the comedian who came up with the idea of the "as$hole darts"...