Freeways and "passing lane" question.

Factual Questions
1

NOTE: This is not a thread inviting rants about passing lanes, speeding, slowpokes, road rage, etc. If you want to rant or argue, go over to the Pit; there is a thread open at this moment where you may vent your spleen.

I opened this thread because I want to settle, once and for all, the actual question of whether THE LAW states that the left-hand lane on a freeway is a passing lane, and everyone should stay out of it unless they are passing other traffic. I’m not talking about the temporary passing lanes provided on narrower mountain roads which enable one to pass slower traffic; I’m talking about the concept of a passing lane on multi-lane freeways. I am also aware that laws may vary from state to state.

I’m trying to Google this myself, but so far am just coming up with the addresses of other message boards wherein the posters continue the same rants we find in our Pit. I did find this page, which stated that in California “‘Passing lane’ is not defined in the Vehicle Code. But such lanes are marked by highway signs.” I presume this refers to the “mountain road” passing lanes I discuss above.

Please only post to this thread if you are able to provide actual cites. I’m really very curious to get this settled.

2

It depends on the state. In California you can drive in any lane. In other states only trucks might be restricted to the right lane, and in others all vehicles, except when passing.

Of course California has the motorcycle’s passing lane, which is totally cool. :smiley:

3

this link shows some of the laws and how they vary from state to state. I have always believed that you could be ticketed for drving in the left lane, not that it changes the way I drive, it is a courtesy thing… ok, turning off the rant before it starts 8-).

http://www.mit.edu/~jfc/right.html

4

I my state one may be ticketed for failing to obey a signal. This includes road signs. There are plenty of signs that say SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT. The signs do not add unless you are already going the speed limit or some pace that you have determined is good enough.

A neighboring state has signs that say keep right except to pass.

5

I often drive in the passing lane because the pavement in the travel lane is so damned miserable. If the Highway Department ever fixes it, I’ll go back to the travel lane.

(What’s big and orange and sleeps three? A State Highways truck!)

6

Yeah me too Brother, but if I see somebody comming - I’m out of there.

7

DiLLiGaF’s link says it best. For the vast majority of states, you may drive in the left-most lane, as long as you are not impeding traffic. Some states add the caveat of “impeding traffic from going a reasonable speed”, but many do not.
Brother, when the OP in GQ specifically asks for laws instead of opinions, the moderators tend to frown when people post their opinion, as we have other forums for that.

-lv

8

So, puglvr, it would help if you added your State of origin. But basicly- no. It is a hang-over form the old days of two lane (each way) highways, where such, if not the law, was courtesy.

9

I’m not sure of the cause of this disrepancy, but about 5 years ago I got pulled over by a State Highway Patrol officer for driving in the left lane while not passing someone. His exact words:

“Did you know it is illegal, in the state of Missouri, to drive in the left lane unless you are passing a vehicle?”

This conflicts with the webpage from MIT that DiLLiGaF posted.
LilShieste

10

It is the law in California to keep to the right except to pass if you are traveling at less than the normal speed of traffic. See CVC § 21654(a) below.

Here is a thread debating the meaning of these laws.

11

Here in Texas, it is now a matter of law that the left lanes on most major highways are for passing only. Signs along the interstates announce the rule regularly.

Does anyone pay attention? Not yet. Has anybody I know gotten a ticket for staying too long in the left lane? Not so far. I’ll keep you posted.

12

Most jurisdictions in Texas have chosen not to enforce the “Left Lane for Passing Only” signs, and the law for them seems to be written not to encourage all drivers to stay out of the left lane, but rather to enable officers to ticket drivers who create unsafe situations by driving in the left lane at a speed below that of the pravailing traffic flow.

13

Thank you, ** DiLLiGaF ** and BearFlag70, for finding and posting the relevant laws. I was not as successful as you at tracking them down. That link to the comparative laws between states was especially interesting.

DrDeth, I’m a Californian, so the sections from the California Vehicle Code are relevant for me. My reading of them indicates that California does not support a “passing lane” law, only that traffic traveling slower than the normal flow of traffic should keep to the right. This is right and proper, and I have no problem with it. According the site linked by ** DiLLiGaF**, only Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington have laws stating positively that the left lane is to be reserved for passers only. LilShieste, maybe Missouri’s law has changed in the last five years.

I don’t know about other areas, but here in the bay area of California, at least, the extreme left lane is usually a commuter’s diamond lane. If one assumed that the next to the extreme left lane were to be set aside for passers only, that would leave just 1 or 2 lanes for normal non-passing driving. We’re congested enough here as it is!

14

Ahhh… but if you look into that thread I posted, the question becomes interesting when the “normal flow of traffic” exceeds the posted speed limit.

Does a person who is driving at or below the speed limit in the fast lane of a multi-lane freeway have to yeild (by moving to the right) to a speeding driver who comes up from behind if the speeding driver is driving with “normal flow of traffic” which is also above the posted speed limit?

You don’t have to answer… just an interesting question.

15

BTW, www.findlaw.com

16

About 10 years ago I got a ticket on the New Jersey Turnpike (“NJT”) for riding in the left lane.

Actually, I was doing about 78mph (slightly faster than the flow of traffic on the NJT), and the cop was going to give me a speeding ticket. I talked him down from the speeding tix (4pts on my license) to the left lane tix (2pts).

Either way it was BS since the whole NJT was doing approx. 70.

17

In New South Wales, Australia, this would not seem to be the case. For decades, it seemed that you could be in any marked lane so long as you were not discourteously blocking traffic, and there was no legal requirement to keep left (we drive on the left). Only in the last ten years or so have signs appeared on freeways saying “KEEP LEFT UNLESS OVERTAKING. FINES APPLY”. These were previously only used for overtaking lanes, which are the temporary extra lane on otherwise two lane blacktop, as noted above. Now, on freeways, where the multiple lanes extend for many miles, most people still ignore these, and it doesn’t seem to be enforced terribly strongly.

It becomes a bit more complicated when the two lanes (left=slow, right=overtaking) become three or four. Then you might have (left to right) Lane One= slow (heavy vehicles), Lane Two=“normal”, Lane Three=overtaking, Lane Four=“Transit Lane”(vehicles with a specifies number of occupants only [to encourage ride sharing]). I kinda wing it in these situations. If there are only one or two cars going slowly on the extreme left, I’ll do the right thing and merge back to the left after I pass each one. If there are quite a few, I’ll rely on the common sense of any highway patrol cops who may be around, and stay in the next lane across the whole time.

18

As the quoted link shows, NJ is definitely a “don’t even go into the left hand lane unless you plan to pass, and when you do pass, get back out of it.” I know someone ticketed for driving in the left lane even though there was practically no one else on the road very late at night. (While that kind of ticketing is unusual, an officer can still cite someone for it just because they feel like it – it is the law, after all.)

In general, the trafic in NJ is so heavy most of the time throughout the entire state that the rule is ignored. IOW, all lanes are almost always occupied.

However, it is still expected that if you’re in the left lane, and someone gets behind you, then you move over first chance you get to let them pass. NJ drivers will turn on their high beams and honk if you don’t.

Oh, and in NJ, it’s illegal to pass on the right, even in a multi-lane road. You only pass on the left.

Peace.

And they’re damned good laws, too, IMO.

19

I’m fascinated (but not surprised or upset) to discover from Bearflag70’s post that passing on the right appears to be perfectly legal on many California roads.

The law basically says that passing on the right is allowed ONLY WHEN…, and then proceeds to describe just about every road that’s not two-lane.

20

Here in the suburbs of Washington, DC, home to perhaps the worst drivers in the world, most people won’t keep to the right when they’re not passing. In fact, many won’t even move right when a faster car is coming up behind them and the lane on their right is empty, thus forcing the rest of us to pass them on the right.

We even have a word for sitting in the left lane and going at the speed limit: nestoring. From this site:

(This was written by someone who worked with Nestor at the FDA.)

This selfish, self-righteous, and downright dangerous attitude remains rather common on the roads around the metro DC area.

In fact, the attitude that I can do whatever I want, despite its illegality, despite what anyone else thinks, despite the obvious risks to public safety, has been quickly adopted by recent arrivals from other areas, like Texas.