Indiana: State prepares to enforce 'move over' law

Only weeks after the eyes of the racing world were focused on Indianapolis and its famous 500 mile Indy-car race, motorists and truck drivers will want to acquaint themselves with a new requirement on the state’s highways. On July 1, law enforcement officials will begin enforcing a newly adopted part of state law that requires drivers operating a motor vehicle in a multilane highway’s left lane to move over for a vehicle traveling at a faster speed – regardless of the speed. Anyone cited for violating the law is subject to a $500 fine. House Bill 1305 was authored by Rep. Jud McMillin, R-Brookville, and passed the state House on a 97-0 vote.The new law was approved by the Senate 29-20 and was signed into law by Gov. Mike Pence on May 5. The law exempts drivers who can’t pull over due to poor weather or heavy traffic or who are preparing to exit to the left, pay a toll, or pull over for an emergency vehicle. Previous Indiana law required drivers traveling slower than the speed limit to use the right lane on highways with multiple lanes. State Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Portage, opposed the new law, reportedly calling it the “silliest, most unjustifiable proposal of the entire session.” “It really doesn’t make sense to put law-abiding citizens as the criminal here,” Tallian said, according to The Indianapolis Star. “You can be driving down the road at 70 miles per hour, doing the speed limit, and some joker comes up behind you doing 90 and you’re the one who gets the ticket?” McMillin said the law doesn’t require anyone to be in the right-hand lane all the time – only when drivers can safely move over, the Star reported.