A retired state trooper who is now a state lawmaker wants to put a limit on how long a driver can stay in the left lane on interstates without passing vehicles.

Rep. Phillip Pettus, a Republican from Lauderdale County, said he believes his bill can improve traffic flow and help prevent incidents where anger about a slow left-lane driver boils over into violence. He has dubbed his bill the “Anti-Road Rage Act.”

“People just get so irritated with people holding up traffic in the left lane,” Pettus said.

His bill would prohibit a driver from staying in the left lane on an interstate for more than a mile and a half without completely passing another vehicle.

It would allow exceptions for conditions that make staying in the left lane necessary, such as traffic congestion, road construction, inclement weather and approaching a left lane exit.

Pettus said other states have similar laws and he borrowed heavily from a law in Texas. He said a mile and a half is the allowed distance because that’s about the distance tractor-trailers need to pass a slightly slower moving truck.

Pettus retired as a captain in the Alabama State Troopers in 2013 after a 25-year career. He was elected to the House the next year. He said slow drivers blocking traffic flow in the left lane cause hazards because faster drivers resort to passing them in the right lane.

“And if they can’t get around them, it causes traffic to back up,” Pettus said. “The interstates were made for you to drive in the right lane and for you to get over in the left lane to pass.”

If the bill becomes law, law enforcement officers could issue only a warning citation for the first 60 days it is in effect.

Pettus said he has proposed his bill previously but it has not received enough votes to pass the House.

Lawmakers return from spring break on April 2.

Alabama and national politics.