Have you ever tried to get anywhere on I-80, and you get stuck in that long line of people waiting for some jerk going the speed limit in the passing lane who's in a slow-motion drag race with a semi a mile ahead of you? Well, that inconsiderate jerk might finally be having to pay a price for their actions.

Changing Iowa Laws

It's a carryover from the 2021 regular session, which covers travel in the left lane. State law already mandates slower traffic stay to the right, and any violators face a $50 fine.

Rep. Gary Worthan, R-Storm Lake, is just as sick and tired as the rest of us as the people who won't just move over

What's The Problem?

His sponsored bill, HF494, specifies that drivers who “reasonably should know” another vehicle is attempting to overtake them would face escalating fines for failure to merge right.

What's Changing?

The bill doesn't change the law itself but rather increases the fine. As I said before, the current fine is $50, and that's obviously not enough for people to learn from each other. So, the proposed increase is 170% to $135.

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If inaction results in serious injury, violators would face $500 and/or a 90-day suspension. Incidents that result in the death of another driver would carry a $1,000 fine and a loss of driving privileges for 180 days.

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Rep. Gary Worthan cites his family's trucking business for the fine increase, saying the left lane rule change would help out all professional drivers by eliminating the "rolling roadblock" by not passing and getting out of the passing lane.

Let's make Iowa better. Tell your representative you want higher left-lane fines.

Read more at Land Line

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.

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