MATTHIESEN, WICKERT & LEHRER, S.C. Hartford, WI ❖ New Orleans, LA ❖ Orange County, CA ❖ Austin, TX ❖ Jacksonville, FL Phone: (800) 637-9176 [email protected] www.mwl-law.com SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT: A Summary of “Keep Right” Traffic Laws in All 50 States It is the universal trigger and a pet peeve of millions of drivers. You’re making good time traveling 75 MPH in the left lane of a freeway with a 70 MPH posted speed limit. You tap your brakes, turning off the cruise control, because a midnight blue 2012 Buick Regal is firmly ensconced in the left passing lane, traveling at 65 MPH and staying abreast of a Kenworth tractor pulling a 53-foot trailer. Fifteen minutes later traffic is bumper to bumper behind you as far as you can see, and you resort to flashing your lights, to no avail. The driver of the Buick Regal believes that traveling at or near the speed limit in the fast lane is acceptable—and that they are teaching the impatient drivers behind them a valuable lesson in driving safety. In a perfect world, a sheriff’s deputy would suddenly appear and pull the Buick Regal over for unsafe driving and violation of state driving statutes. Far too often, however, instant karma doesn’t occur, but an accident does. All states allow drivers to use the left lane (when there is more than one in the same direction) to pass. Most states restrict use of the left lane by slow-moving traffic that is not passing. A few states restrict the left lane only for passing or turning left. Some states have “yield laws” which require drivers to move into the right-hand lane if they are blocking traffic in the left lane. Most states follow the Uniform Vehicle Code and require drivers to keep right if they are going slower than the normal speed of traffic (regardless of the speed limit). A handful of states either do not require vehicles to keep right or permit vehicles moving at the speed limit to drive in the left lane regardless of traffic conditions. All states have “Keep Right Laws” which require vehicles travelling slower than the normal speed of traffic (defined differently in each state) to travel in the furthest right lane. A growing number of states, however, designate the far-left lane as a “passing only” lane, making it illegal to travel in that lane other than to pass another vehicle. Driving in the left lane for anything other than passing is not only illegal in a growing number of states, its unsafe and results in thousands of accidents annually, according to a study by the Traffic Operations & Safety Laboratory within the engineering department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. When looking for deeper pockets or additional defendants in automobile collision litigation, don’t look past the driver who may have put the entire sequence of events into action. If a driver is parked in the left lane on a four-lane highway and is not passing someone or making a left turn, he or she is breaking the law in a majority of states and can be ticketed. A growing number of U.S. states are passing traffic laws that regulate driving in the left lane. Some allow it only for passing and others require slower traffic to yield the left lane if a faster vehicle is approaching. In Texas, for example, signs on Texas multi-lane highways that read “Left Lane For Passing Only” indicate that the left lane on a divided highway is not a “fast” lane; it is a passing lane only. After passing someone and safely clearing the vehicle passed, a driver must move back into the right lane. In Texas, impeding the flow of traffic by continuing to drive in the left lane is punishable by a fine of up to $200. WORK PRODUCT OF MATTHIESEN, WICKERT & LEHRER, S.C. Page 1 Last Updated 1/5/21 There are two types of drivers: (1) those who get upset when somebody is illegally hanging out in the left passing lane, and (2) those who are blissfully ignorant that hanging out in the passing lane is both illegal and dangerous. When slower drivers are scattered between the right and left lanes, faster drivers must weave back and forth, slowing and speeding up repeatedly. For those who believe that they shouldn’t have to move over if they’re driving the posted speed limit, not only are they driving illegally, but evidence shows that slowing down and changing lanes is more dangerous than speeding. A car going 5 MPH slower than the speed limit has a greater chance of causing an accident than one going 5 MPH faster than the speed limit. That is why every state has some law on the books restricting the use of the left passing lane. In 29 states, any car traveling slower than surrounding traffic must be in the right lane. In 11 states, the laws are even stricter—reserving the left lane only for turning or passing. In a growing number of states—especially Texas, Washington, and Ohio—police are engaging in an aggressive program to ticket violators. In Germany, the autobahn has a lower accident rate than American highways, despite there being no speed limit. The reason for this is that German drivers stay to the right unless they are passing. The law in many states provides that a driver may use the left lane only when passing another vehicle, moving over to let merging traffic on to the road, moving over because there is an emergency vehicle on the shoulder (law in some states), or because he or she will soon make a left turn/take a left exit. Driving in the left lane makes other cars slow down and creates a traffic backup. Researchers have found that a few slow cars can create traffic jams, such as when there is a slow driver in the left lane next to an equally slow driver in the right lane. Traffic experts confirm that driving slower than surrounding traffic is more likely to cause an accident than speeding. Do-gooders and know-it-alls driving the speed limit in the left lane, albeit slower than the flow of traffic, believe they are teaching faster drivers a lesson. In fact, they are breaking the law and endangering those around them. Many states with “left-lane laws” provide for certain exceptions in a variety of circumstances, including bad weather, traffic congestion, and when exiting on the left in a short distance. In other states, this statutory duty of slower traffic to keep right applies “notwithstanding the prima facie speed limits.” For example, in California, Cal. Vehicle Code § 21654 requires “any vehicle proceeding upon a highway at a speed less than the normal speed of traffic moving in the same direction” to drive in the right-hand lane, “notwithstanding the prima facie speed limits.” Laws such as this refer to the “normal” speed of traffic, not the “legal” speed of traffic. Colorado is another state that takes its “Left Lane Law” seriously. C.R.S. § 42-4-1013(1) of the Colorado statutes makes it illegal for a person to drive in the left lane (passing lane), where the speed limit is 65 MPH or more, unless they are passing another vehicle, or the volume of traffic does not permit them to safely merge into a non-passing lane. Before it passed its Left Lane Law, Colorado drivers could proceed in the left-hand lane if they were traveling at the posted speed limit. What sense did it make to cite a driver for impeding traffic, when simultaneously the driver was obeying the posted speed limit? Impeding statutes were only enforceable when a vehicle was traveling below the posted or prima facie speed limit. New approaches to driving safety, combined with higher posted speed limits, now simplify the issue and allow law enforcement to take appropriate enforcement action to enhance the flow of traffic. The new approach acknowledges that by mitigating traffic-flow conflicts caused by slower-moving drivers, accidents resulting from the confluence of slow driving and aggressive driving would likely be reduced. If a motorist is stopped by a Colorado State Trooper for violating the Left Lane Law, the driver may receive a citation. The penalty for the citation is $35.00 with an additional $6.20 surcharge bringing the total to $41.20. The violation includes three points against the violator’s Colorado Driver’s License. If the citation is issued by a state trooper, the points can be reduced to two points if the penalty is mailed in within 20 days. A growing number of states now require drivers in the left lane to move to the right, even if they are driving at or exceeding the speed limit. The speed of their vehicle is irrelevant. There is a duty to keep right and use the left lane for passing only. This is the case in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. This type of statute, such as Wisconsin’s Wis. Stat. § 346.05(3), which ostensibly condones speeding, usually contains language such as: WORK PRODUCT OF MATTHIESEN, WICKERT & LEHRER, S.C. Page 2 Last Updated 1/5/21 (3) Any vehicle proceeding upon a roadway at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions then existing shall be driven in the right-hand lane then available for traffic, or as close as practicable to the right-hand edge or curb of the roadway, except when overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction or when preparing for a left turn or U-turn at an intersection or a left turn into a private road or driveway, and except as provided in s.