Starting on July 1st, motorists in Indiana could be ticketed if they hold up passing traffic in the left lane.
Under the new law, officers can issue a $500 ticket to any driver that fails to leave the left lane when a vehicle is trying to overtake them, even if the passing vehicle is speeding.
Rep. Jud McMillin (R.) said he backed the bill in order to ensure that “individuals who are driving in the fast lane slowly are properly incentivized to get out of your way.”
The bill was not without opposition, however. Senator Karen Tallian (D.) said the bill was “the silliest, most unjustifiable proposal of the entire session.” She defended her statements by adding: “You can be driving down the road at 70 miles per hour, doing the speed limit, and some joker comes up behind you doing 90 and you’re the one who gets the ticket?”
The law will not apply during traffic congestion, bad weather, paying a toll, or when exiting on the left.
Several other states already have similar laws, including Georgia which has issued over 200 “slow poke” tickets to left lane drivers in the last year.