It's happened to all of us: You move over to pass a line of cars on the highway doing 52 in a 55 zone, and you wind up stuck behind a car in the left lane driving 52.1 miles per hour. Traffic backs up for miles, and road rage ensues. Many highways have signs that say "Keep right except to pass," but they seem to be about as useful as a screen door on a submarine.
But Nevada has gotten serious about clearing the left lane. KTNV 13 reports that a new law went into effect July 1 making it illegal to drive slower than the speed limit in the left lane.
"It's law here that if you're gonna be in that lane, you need to be going at least the speed limit," trooper Jason Buratczuk told KTNV 13. The law is reportedly not intended to encourage speeding, but to keep traffic flowing smoothly and prevent road rage incidents, many of which are caused by these so-called "left lane hogs" that clog up the road.
During the month of July, three people have been cited in Nevada for driving too slowly in the left lane, according to KTNV 13. That doesn't sound like a lot, but it's unclear whether that also counts the number of traffic stops where a simple warning was issued for the offense—something likely to happen often for any new traffic aw that has just taken effect.
The first offense will cost the driver $50, the second one $100, and the third $250. It will be interesting to see if this law has a positive effect on traffic flow...and whether more populated states with more traffic will follow suit.