By Scott Tibbs, June 10, 2015
We have all been there. We are driving down the highway and we want to pass, but the person in front of us is hanging out in the left lane. This either leads to a backup of traffic behind him, or someone illegally passing on the right. Thanks to a new law, passed 97-0 with unanimous support of both Republicans and Democrats in the Indiana House, the slower driver will now be ticketed for not moving over - even if the driver behind him is exceeding the speed limit.
This is a good, common sense law. People who are blocking faster traffic by stubbornly sticking in the left lane are a safety hazard and the state has an interest in protecting public safety by forcing these people to get out of the way. While some may see it as unfair that someone doing the speed limit could be ticket for not moving out of the way of someone driving faster, the interest in preserving public safety and preventing road rage is a good enough reason to pass this law.
That said, people need to have patience. I cannot count the times I have passed a slow driver, only to have some maniac whip around me on the right before I have a chance to merge back into the right lane. I do not expect him to be there, so I could easily merge into his path and cause an accident. By not giving me a few seconds to get out of the way, the right-lane-passer is also creating a safety hazard in addition to exposing his character.
This is not a perfect law, but this is not a perfect world. The legislature has identified a problem and moved to solve it (or at least make things better) and that is all we can ask.
