Policy Analysis | February 2009
Left-Lane Campers
Background: What Is Lane Courtesy?
The National Motorists Association (NMA) strongly supports the concept of slower traffic traveling in the right lane of multi-lane highways and vehicles in the left lane yielding that lane to faster traffic. The NMA calls this concept "lane courtesy". Recently, there have been several articles on the "left-lane camper", the driver who drives in the passing lane and bars faster drivers from easily passing. States are cracking down on left-lane campers, both to keep traffic moving and to tamp down the road rage that goes from zero-to-60 faster than ever before. Proper lane usage and common courtesy go hand in hand in helping lower incidents of road rage along with helping with traffic issues that clog our highways. In short, there is an acknowledgement that our highways are used improperly and the solution is not more highways, but rather in developing proper usage of the highways we already have.
In the SLC, only Kentucky requires drivers to move right 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; see below). These states are listed as "slower", with an asterisk and an explanation if vehicles lawfully using the left lane must yield to overtaking traffic. A few states either do not require vehicles to keep right ("no"), or permit vehicles moving at the speed limit to drive in the left lane regardless of traffic conditions ("less than SL").
The color coding in the "keep right" column is red if the state has no restriction on slow vehicles in the left lane, yellow if vehicles moving at the normal speed of traffic are permitted in the left lane even when they are unnecessarily obstructing other traffic, green if use of the left lane is limited to passing, and grey otherwise.
| State | Keep Right? | Law | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | slower | 32-5A-80(b) | |
| Arkansas | no | 27-51-301(b) | Law prohibits obstructing traffic by driving continuously in the left lane. |
| Florida | slower | 316.081(2) | Governor Bush vetoed 2005 SB732, which would have reserved the left lane for passing, saying that drivers blocking the left lane are "cautious and careful." |
| Georgia | slower * | 40-6-40(b), 40-6-184(a)(2) | If below speed limit in left lane and blocking overtaking traffic, must move right. |
| Kentucky | yes | 189.340(7) | Only where the speed limit is 65 or 70 |
| Louisiana | slower * | R.S. 32:71 | Must move right if blocking overtaking traffic. |
| Maryland | less than SL | 21-301 | If driving 10 MPH under speed limit, or slower than speed of traffic if conditions require speed below limit. |
| Mississippi | slower | 63-3-603(d) | |
| Missouri | slower | 304.015(3) | 304.151 prohibits "obstruct[ing] the regular flow of traffic on...any state highway" |
| North Carolina | less than SL | 20-146(b),(e) | Keep right if below speed limit. |
| Oklahoma | slower | 47-11-301 | |
| South Carolina | slower | 56-5-1810(b) | |
| Tennessee | slower | 55-8-115(b) | |
| Texas | slower | 545.051(b) | DOT may post "left lane for passing only", 544.011. Passing on right prohibited except on one-way roadways, 545.057. |
| Virginia | slower * | 46.2-804(1) | 46.2-842.1 requires vehicles in the left lane to yield to faster traffic; State Police say this applies even when faster traffic is speeding. |
| West Virginia | slower | 17C-7-1(b) |
The Uniform Vehicle Code, prepared by National Committee on Uniform Traffic Laws and Ordinances, states:
"Upon all roadways any vehicle proceeding 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 ..."
Note that this law refers to the "normal" speed of traffic, not the "legal" speed of traffic. The 60 MPH driver in a 55 MPH zone where everybody else is going 65 MPH must move right.
Enforcement for failing to keep right while at or above the speed limit is variable. Police looking for criminal activity are aware of the "keep right" law and will use it as an excuse to stop a suspicious car. On the other hand, most police find speeding easier and more profitable to enforce.
Sources:
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance/InsureYourCar/left-lane-slowpokes-drive-you-crazy.aspx
http://www.driverightpassleft.com
http://www.mit.edu/~jfc/right.html
http://www.motorists.org/lanecourtesy/