Indiana officer goes viral after pulling over driver going too slowly in left lane

Courtesy: Sgt. Stephen Wheeles/Twitter

An Indiana State Police officer has received a lot of attention after pulling over a driver who was cruising in the left lane.

Sgt. Stephen Wheeles is the public information officer with the agency, and on Saturday he noticed a driver causing a major back-up on Interstate 65. He tweeted a photo during the traffic stop writing, “I stopped this vehicle today for a left lane violation on I-65. The driver had approximately 20 cars slowed behind her because she would not move back to the right lane.”

One user tweeted him back asking if the rule applies to drivers obeying the speed limit in the left lane.

“The spirit of the law is that since many people drive well above the speed limit, it creates an 'accordion effect' as traffic starts backing up behind the slower vehicle. This is where many of our crashes occur on the interstates. It’s all in the name of safety,” Wheeles responded.

Wheeles said if there are vehicles behind you while you’re in a left land, you must move over to the right lane to allow those drivers to pass.

According to Florida law, drivers going too slow in the left lane, and clogging up traffic, can be fined. The law, which was implemented in 2014, makes it mandatory to let faster drivers get by. The full statute can be read here.