If you often commute on the highways around major cities, this might be a common situation you find yourself in.
You pull into the left lane or the passing lane to speed up and overtake the car moving a bit slower in front of you, but in that lane, someone is using it as just another lane.
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We all have different names for these kinds of drivers, but whether you call them left lane hogs, left lane slowpokes, or left lane campers, they are a nuisance to other drivers and can lead to frustration, additional congestion, or cause accidents.
In all 50 states, there are enforceable traffic laws that institute some rule that can be boiled down to "keep right, except to pass." In a perfect world, attentive highway patrol officers will issue tickets to those who keep themselves planted in the passing lane.
However, Japanese automaker Nissan (NSANY) is aware of the trials and tribulations that drivers face and is taking on the issue head-on with a new piece of technology.
Nissan
Keep Right, Except to Pass
Nissan's ProPilot Assist is a driving assistance system that offers technological features that are designed to make highway driving easier for drivers.
The system is available as an option on several Nissan models, but the new 2025 Nissan Rogue will be the first to offer its latest iteration: ProPilot Assist 2.1. According to Nissan, ProPilot version 2 already offers "hands-on guided lane changing abilities," designed to help drivers confidently pass other cars.
However, the new version offers a key feature that might help drivers pass other cars courteously. In essence, Nissan drivers who pass a car while ProPilot 2.1 is activated will receive a visual warning to get back in the right lane if it detects that they are riding the left lane.
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Though this clever feature can affect the way some people drive on the highway, it has some pretty drastic caveats. First, the friendly "lane-change courtesy" reminder only works when the system is turned on, which can already be a hazard to other road users.
According to a new study conducted jointly by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and MIT, drivers who find themselves to be very comfortable with 'hands-free driving assists' like Tesla Autopilot and copycat systems such as Volvo's PilotAssist and Nissan's ProPilot system are much more likely to be distracted behind the wheel.
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To make matters worse, Nissan's ProPilot 2.1 is not available on Nissan's entire lineup of cars. It is currently available on the 2025 Nissan Rogue as a $3,200 option on the $36,090 SL trim level and above.
In a statement to Motor1, a Nissan spokesperson confirmed that the system will be on the larger Nissan Armada SUV, as well as the seven-seater Infiniti QX80 luxury cruiser.
Shares of Nissan Motor Co. (NSANY) were up 0.53% at $5.73 at last check.
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