Slow Drivers Can Be Punished for Hanging Out in the Fast Lane in Minnesota

"Slower motorists in Minnesota best stick to the right lane — or face a possible fine come Aug. 1," reports Janet Moore.

The Minnesota State Legislature approved a law in May that makes it illegal for drivers to liner in the farthest left lane, also known as the passing lane or the fast lane.

While every state has a law requiring slower vehicles to move to the right lane, only about a dozen have full-fledged edicts that involve a financial penalty, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Fines vary across the country, from as little as $20 to more than $250.

Moore's description checks out with previous coverage of passing lane cloggers, and a trend toward increasingly punitive response to the practice, picked up by Planetizen in both 2014 and 2017. The article from 2014, for instance, digs into the complicated question of whether making room for drivers to speed in the left lane is actually safer than allowing slow drivers to clog the lane, thus force faster drivers to slow and merge.

One big remaining question for Minnesota, now that it's passed the new law, is how to enforce the standard. "The law doesn’t quantify how slow a vehicle must be traveling in the left lane in order to be cited," according to Moore. "It just states, 'a person must move out of the left-most lane to allow another vehicle to pass' when practical."