Drivers who insist on puttering along in the passing lane instead of staying right could face tougher laws this year.

Transportation Minister Todd Stone plans to introduce amendments to the Motor Vehicle Act this spring that will make it easier for police to crack down on left-lane squatters.

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Stone said government got an earful on the issue while asking the public about rural speed limits in 2013-14.

Besides speed, “the No. 1 theme that came across in every region of the province was this whole issue of left-lane hogs — people camping out in that left lane when they need to get over,” Stone said.

“So we’re committed to strengthening the language in the act to give law enforcement better tools so they can actually crack down on left-lane hogs.”

Stone declined to provide more details, but the Rural Highway Safety and Speed Review, released last year, stated that motor homes and other slow vehicles, including those in the left-hand lane, increase driver frustration, “which can result in erratic, unsafe passing behaviour.”

The issue of slow-moving vehicles in general was particularly acute along the corridor between Parksville and Tofino.

The report found that the public was “generally divided across all regions on the degree to which slower-moving vehicles were a safety concern.”

But it was a bigger issue on certain roads where people demanded more passing lanes and more “Keep Right Except to Pass signs,” the report said.

“In particular, the Highway 4 corridor between Parksville and Tofino stood out with 70 [per cent] of respondents expressing a concern with slower-moving vehicles on that route.”

Sixty per cent of respondents also voiced a concern about slowpokes on the road to Nanaimo from Victoria.

The report suggested that some drivers simply “do not recognize that they are an impediment or that they are contributing to an increased crash risk for themselves and those around them.”

Others choose a slow speed through windy sections then speed up when the highway straightens and people can pass. “This behaviour limits other drivers’ opportunities to pass, and increases those drivers’ frustration.”

The ministry, as part of the report, reviewed the best practices in other jurisdictions for dealing with slow-moving vehicles and came up with a list of recommendations.

The suggestions included:

• better signs emphasizing that drivers need to let others pass;

• updated pavement markings that direct drivers to the right lane;

• legislation to clarify the “Keep Right Except to Pass” requirements; and

• pilot signs on the Parksville-to-Tofino corridor that would say “Slow Traffic Delaying Five Vehicles Must Use Pullout.”

The report noted that Washington, Oregon and California already have legislation that makes clear that, on a two-lane highway, a slow-moving vehicle has to use a pullout if it has five or more vehicles stacked up behind it.

Stone told reporters Monday that officers already have some powers under the Motor Vehicle Act to deal with slow-moving vehicles and left-lane laggards, but they lack confidence that the tickets will stand up in court.

“We’re confident the changes that we’ll be proposing later this session will strengthen those rules considerably,” he said.

Stone added that he’s mystified as to why people still insist on clogging up the left-hand lanes, instead of sticking to the right.

“There are lots of signs out,” he said. “Perhaps people are [de]sensitized to the old signs that we’ve had around the province. Perhaps because the enforcement tools that have been available … have not been as strong as they could be.”

Stone said government plans to fix the law, then complement that with education and new signs.

lkines@timescolonist.com