Poking along in the left lane? Prepare to pay

Poking along in the left lane? Prepare to pay

Story Updated: Jun 23, 2008 at 1:07 PM PDT
By Jenni Hogan
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SEATTLE -- Even if you're going the speed limit it might not be enough to prevent you from getting a ticket if you're holding up traffic in the fast lane.

State troopers are on a mission to make sure the left lane on area freeways is used for its intended purpose: passing.

"We're doing 58, 59 miles an hour and they are just sitting there, traffic's passing them on the right hand side," Trooper Keith Leary said while pointing out a car in the left lane of Interstate 5. "That's exactly what we don't want to see happen."

The driver, Brasta Bonifcho, said he was surprised what he was doing was illegal.

"I didn't know that, I really didn't know that," he said. "I am guilty, no question about it."

Leary reminded Bonifcho that drivers need to stay in the right lanes unless they're passing another vehicle.

Everyone pulled over during Leary's patrol said they thought it wasn't a problem as long as they were going the speed limit. But the law says otherwise.

"It is a traffic infraction to drive continuously in the left lane of a multilane roadway when it impedes the flow of other traffic," the statute reads.

The reason for the law is to help keep traffic moving and to diffuse potential road rage situations.

"It just takes one thing to set them off," Leary said of frustrated drivers stuck behind slower moving vehicles. "If we can alleviate one of those things, maybe we can avoid an assault."

The State Patrol said several recent collisions caused by slow vehicles in the passing lane have prompted increased enforcement of the law along area interstates.

Drivers in the HOV lanes are exempt from the rule, but anyone else could be facing a $124 ticket.


https://www.komonews.com/news/20656789.html


Good.

WOOT!!!! GOOD! I was just fuming about this, this morning!

Wish they would do that here...

It would be nice if they would inforce that down here. I get so mad when you have a car driving the same exact speed in the passing lane as the car they are attempting to pass. Let off the gas and get over or speed up and get past.

Good. About time somebody enforced it. It irritates me like crazy when I'm trying to pass somebody and can't because there's somebody going the exact same freakin' speed in the left lane

Wingsy-I hear ya~ that annoys me like no other... around here it tends to be a lot of Semi-trucks that pull that crap.. makes me want to pull my friggin hair out!

That's the same problem we have. It's a two lane expressway and when a Semi decides he wants to pass another truck he waits until I'm about 5 feet behind him and he cuts me off.

Then he slowly passes the other truck......and eventually gets back into the other lane. What's really fun is when they're passing more than one truck at a time.

Makes me wish I had some hammers and flood lights. lol

Yep...I know that feeling well. That's why I love the "TRUCKS! DO NOT PASS!" signs

Great! Now what about the jerks who crowd all into intersections because they're determined to get through a green light...and so instead of having to sit through one light, you get stuck waiting through 2 or 3 That should be punishable by death.

Wish they would enforce that here.

Well we in AUS get the same thing the sign say"Keep left unless overtaking".Now here's my point,the speed limit is 110klms an hour IF your in that lane ,you get booked ,the same as you do,But if your in that lane and doing 117klms an hour overtaking you get booked for speeding.
The question is HOW do you overtake when the speed limit is set at 110 and all the other cars are doing the same speed,where do they draw the line on driving in that lane and overtaking in that lane.In all honesty someone should contest this law in court and see if they can come up with a solution to the law??????

I wish they would enforce that here too. And why is it here, it's always either minivans or elderly drivers in the left lane. I realize both have a right to be on the road, but if you are going to go slow, move to the right lane please.

If your driving 110 and all the other drivers are driving the same speed I guess there would be no reason to pass. Maybe I'm confused, but is sounds like you just want to be in the front of the line??