Virginia drivers caught lollygagging in the left lane are paying a high price for that slow ride.
Thousands of drivers have been fined since July, when Virginia began issuing $100 tickets for driving too slow in the left lane or committing similar violations such as failing to stay in the right lane except when passing, Washington-based WTOP radio reported.
Before the fine was adopted, such slow driving was technically illegal but drew no penalties. The get-tough effort is designed to ease traffic congestion — and road rage. It's also raked in more than $1 million in paid fines, with thousands more tickets still in the pipeline.
"It doesn't matter which corner of the commonwealth you come from," Virginia House Delegate Israel O'Quinn said in pitching the plan to the House of Delegates last year. "It doesn't matter which interstate or four-lane highway. ... I guarantee you are going to encounter this many times, even if you're on the highways for just a few minutes."
O'Quinn said he held discussions with law enforcement officials throughout the state and found universal agreement that so-called "left-lane bandits" can cause major traffic flow problems.
WTOP obtained data on the tickets through a public records request. From July 1 to April 3, more than 16,000 citations were issued for a series of related violations, primarily for going slower than the normal speed of traffic in the left lane and/or failing to stay to the right except to pass, the state figures show.
Neighboring Maryland has proposed fines of more than double what Virginia has adopted. But the legislation bogged down amid concerns that the change would give police an excuse to pull over drivers.