You're cruising along your local interstate, passing folks who choose to go a bit slower than you. You're driving responsibly by passing on the left, and then ducking back into the middle or right lane when it's open.
This is how it should be, and it shows you understand the rules of the road. There comes that time, however, when you again need to pass a few cars so you head back out into the far left lane. There's that car... the one plodding along and not moving over no matter what the traffic conditions looks like.
This person is a left-lane loser, and they are the bane of many a motorist's existence. Thankfully there are a few states where this type of behavior is not tolerated, and now Florida can be added to that list.
A new law goes into effect starting in Florida today, July 1st, that will allow police officers to pull over and ticket folks going below the speed limit in the left lane. The offending driver must be going at least 10 miles per hour below the posted speed limit in order to catch the wraith of the local 5-0. The infraction will be $60 and three points. We also think the offending drivers should be forced to attend a class explaining why they're terrible people, but perhaps we get a bit worked up regarding this matter.
Since it's a new law, there will be a three- to six-month period where cops can issue warnings instead of tickets. Additionally, if the driver is speeding and hogging the left lane, the speeding ticket will take precedence over simply being planted in the left lane and not getting over. That's fine with us, we're just happy that cops will be paying attention to folks who think the passing lane is actually a cruise-control, non-mirror-using, all-that-matters-is-me, um, lane.
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