NY Senator Wants Slow Drivers Out Of Passing Lane [POLL]

Consider some of the legislation the men and women of the state Senate and Assembly have brought to the table and successfully passed: marijuana decriminalization, early voting and other election reforms, banning cat-declawing, strengthening anti-harrassment laws. Now one senator has proposed a bill to get you slow drivers out of the way — at least on the interstate.

Senate Minority Leader Joseph A. Griffo, a Republican from Rome, Oneida County, recently introduced a bill that "Establishes the failure to pass act restricting driving in a passing lane without overtaking or passing a vehicle."

Senate bill S6675A, which is currently in the rules committee, specifies that the purpose of the legislation is to keep drivers from occupying the passing lane of an interstate highway for no more than 1.5 miles if they are not passing other vehicles.

At 65 mph, that would be one minute, 23 seconds, according to Time Calculator.

Griffo said that "coasting" in the passing lane poses a safety risk to other vehicles and disrupts the flow of traffic, leading to road rage.

He said the law, if enacted, would make it easier for drivers to comply with the state's Move Over law.

"In doing so, traffic will be allowed to move more efficiently and safely," Griffo said in the bill's "Justification" section.

A first-time violation of the law would yield a fine of $50. All subsequent violations would cost you $100.

The senator said that similar laws have been in enacted in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia and Washington.

So what do you think about this proposed law. Vote in our unscientific poll and tell us what you think in the comments.