Left-lane laggards, this bill’s for you.

Gov. Christie on Wednesday signed into law a bill that could double fines for motorists who fail to stay to the right on New Jersey highways.

Lane hogs who clog the left or center lanes instead of using them to pass another vehicle will see fines increase from between $50 and $200 now, to between $100 and $300. The measure calls for $50 from each violation going toward signs reminding motorists who enter New Jersey about the state’s keep-right law.

New Jersey has one of the stricter stay-right laws, but the rules vary across America.

One state over, for example, Pennsylvania allows motorists traveling at a speed greater than the traffic flow to remain in the left lane.

Motorist Tom Van Nostrand, who carpools daily on the New Jersey Turnpike, sees other vehicles, particularly buses, acting like they own the left lane.

"This aggravates a lot of drivers and forces them to pass on the right — and the situation becomes very dangerous," he said.

Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth), a co-sponsor of the legislation, said that besides drinking and driving, failure to stay right is perhaps the most hazardous action on roadways — and also a trigger for road rage.

"It’s extremely frustrating to be stuck behind someone who is not practicing proper lane discipline, keeping to the right," said O’Scanlon, who co-sponsored the measure with Assemblyman Gilbert "Whip" Wilson (D-Camden). "If you are not passing, you should not be in the left lanes of any highway. If you drive on the (Garden State) Parkway for longer than 5 or 10 minutes, you see people just blatantly ignoring this most decent principle of highway driving."

There were 4,233 tickets written last year for violations of New Jersey’s stay-right law, according to the state judiciary. It is a 2-point violation.

O’Scanlon said he recently drove in Ireland, where there were generally two lanes of travel in each direction, but drivers know how to practice lane discipline.

"Traffic there, despite a lot of traffic and despite fewer lanes, moves much more efficiently and safely than it does on many of our highways," he said. "That shouldn’t be the case."

State Sen. Donald Norcross (D-Camden), who originated the bill in the Senate, runs across "completely oblivious" left-lane bandits during his frequent trips on the Atlantic City Expressway. State Police told him drivers usually aren’t cited for failure to keep right unless they hang out in the lane for 3 miles, he said.

O’Scanlon said that for him, the education of drivers regarding New Jersey’s keep-right law is more important than the increased fines.

"It might seem like it’s not that big of a deal, but it is," he said. "It’s a safety issue. It’s a highway efficiency issue. This is not brain surgery. If you’re on the highway, you know the right place to be when you see it."

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