It’s happened to anyone who’s driven a metro Atlanta interstate: The slowpoke loitering in the left lane.

Legislation introduced Monday in the state House would make it illegal to linger in what’s supposed to be the fast lane.

Rep. Bill Hitchens, R-Rincon, has introduced House Bill 459, which would make it illegal to drive in the left lane except for overtaking and passing another vehicle. The new measure would only apply if another car is trying to get by.

If busted, the offender could be ticketed for impeding traffic flow.

Hitchens, a former head of the state Department of Public Safety, wants to make it illegal, essentially, to drive in the left lane on all controlled access highways at all, except:

• Passing another vehicle.
• When no other vehicle is directly behind the vehicle in the left lane.
• When traffic make it impractical to drive in the right lane.
• When weather conditions make it necessary to drive in the left lane.
• When obstructions or hazards exist in the right lane.
• When a vehicle changes lanes to comply with other laws.
• When exiting on the left.
• To pay tolls or use a toll pass.
• When driving in the left lane comply with traffic control.

The proposal also would not apply to police, paramedics, firefighters, other emergency vehicles, or to highway maintenance and construction traffic.