My dad always tells me a joke by George Carlin when we go on family road trips: “Anyone driving faster than you is an idiot, and anyone driving slower than you is a moron.” If you have ever taken a road trip on a major U.S. highway then you have seen this somewhere before: 50 cars all less than a car length away from the other’s bumper, going 60 mph in the left lane, and all because of one 70 year-old woman in a Buick who no longer has any concept of time. Introduce the new “slow-poke law” about time. Designed to eliminate the bottleneck effect and congestion, consistent with traffic coming out of Columbia, it became law on Feb. 24.

A “slow poke” is considered anyone going five mph, or more, under the speed limit in the furthest left lane who does not move over for an approaching vehicle. The penalty? A fine and two out of twelve points off your license. Sounds kind of harsh, but when you consider the effects that a slow left lane driver has on other drivers, it makes sense.

As a frequent driver down I-26 on my way back to Charleston, I know how painful it can be to sit behind someone running the speed limit in the left lane, or even worse -- on their phone going under the speed limit in the left lane. That is about the only time I will actually get road rage, unless I am caught in standstill Columbia traffic. This is why lawmakers have been pushing this bill, because a slow driver in the left lane is dangerous to the people around them. One of the leading causes of wrecks is tailgating, and they tend to be rear ends. It is a domino effect, too, so multiple cars are usually involved. Since July of last year, this law has been in effect in Georgia on the premise that it is a “good law for the overall safety of the public.”

The most important idea behind it, however, is that people have become distracted on highways. Long drives and cell phones make it difficult for many people to focus on their driving, causing them to sit in the left lane, messing with music and text messages while forgetting about the cars behind them. Now, considering there are separate laws for both left lane-ing and texting while driving, hopefully these drivers will be more focused. If not, let’s hope they get a hefty fine before they cause a bad wreck. People need to focus on what they are doing while they are driving at any speed, let alone 70 plus mph. We also need to pay attention to those around us and behind us. 

I was riding home with a good friend of mine several weeks ago and I am a really annoying backseat driver, meaning I tell the driver how to drive, but I had to keep reminding her to get over for cars that were trying to pass. So, for those of you who did not know the left lane rule from driver’s ed, and I know there are a lot of people who don’t, now you know. Don’t get caught violating that rule, either.