Left lane use for trucks is a topic at statehouses

Left lane use for large trucks continues to receive attention at statehouses from Colorado to North Carolina.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association believes that truck drivers are firsthand observers of the negative consequences of misguided traffic laws, and while perhaps not intended, efforts to restrict trucks from certain lanes pose serious challenges for truckers and jeopardize the safety of the traveling public.

Colorado

An amended bill on the Colorado House floor includes multiple truck-related provisions. One provision covers left lane use for trucks along multiple stretches of Interstate 70.

Trucks already are prohibited from traveling in the left lane along I-70 through Glenwood Canyon.

The current version of SB100 would bar trucks weighing at least 16,000 pounds from continuous travel in the far-left lane on Floyd Hill, Georgetown Hill, the Eisenhower Tunnel, Dowd Junction and Vail Pass. The restriction would apply on stretches with at least three lanes traveling in one direction.

Violators would face fines up to $100.

A revision made in the House would permit trucks to pass in the far-left lane.

Advocates have said revised truck rules that include lane restrictions are needed to improve safety.

Rep. Rick Taggart, R-Grand Junction, said the only thing the rules would stipulate commercial traffic not do is be in the left lane.

“When they pull out to be in the left lane, you can just watch the accordion happen and cars stack up and potentially accidents,” Taggart said during the bill’s initial House floor consideration.

Kentucky

A new Kentucky law singles out trucks from travel in the far-left lane of certain highways.

State law requires vehicles traveling below the posted speed limit on any limited-access highway with a posted speed limit of at least 65 mph to stay to the right. Exceptions are made for passing, for yielding to traffic entering the highway or for when it’s unsafe to use the right lane.

Previously SB107, the new law takes the extra step to prohibit a truck tractor, trailer or semitrailer from accessing the far-left lane. The rule would apply on highways with at least three lanes traveling in the same direction.

Exceptions would be made for entering or leaving a highway, for yielding to traffic coming onto the highway or for when traffic conditions exist that would prohibit safe use of the right or center lanes.

Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, previously told lawmakers the bill would prevent trucks from running down the road side by side.

The legislative action comes despite the concern of professional drivers.

The OOIDA Foundation reported that research has demonstrated truck lane restrictions are difficult to enforce, accelerate pavement deterioration, create speed differentials and increase merging conflicts and crashes.

The new law takes effect July 1.

Louisiana

One Louisiana Senate bill would prohibit commercial vehicles from traveling along a portion of state Highway 1019.

Sen. Valarie Hodges, R-Denham Springs, said the focus of her bill is a stretch of Highway 1019 between state Highway 16 and state Highway 64 in the Plainview Ridge area northeast of Baton Rouge.

“This is a stretch of highway that has hairpin curves on it and is very narrow without much shoulder,” Hodges told the Senate Transportation Committee. “Eighteen-wheelers hauling gravel barrel down that road with hairpin curves.”

She said many trucks take Highway 1019 instead of Highway 16 to save about one minute in drive time.

Hodges told the committee she expects to work with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and local law enforcement on possible solutions that would make her legislation, SB93, unnecessary.

Michigan

A Michigan House panel voted to advance a bill that covers left lane use for trucks.

Michigan law prohibits all vehicles from hanging out in the left lane. Left lane use is permitted along highways with two lanes headed in one direction for instances that include overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction.

Commercial vehicles with a gross weight exceeding 10,000 pounds also are prohibited from using the far-left lane on freeways with three or more lanes in the same direction.

The House Transportation, Mobility and Infrastructure Committee voted to advance to the chamber floor a bill that is described as clarifying that large trucks cannot travel in the far-left lane on freeways.

Rep. William Bruck, R-Erie, previously told committee members the Michigan DOT can only make recommendations. He said that signs say to stay right, except to pass.

“That is the enforcement that Michigan has on the books. This (bill) would clarify this so MDOT could actually restrict the heavy traffic to remain in the right two lanes,” Bruck testified.

He added that the intent of his bill, HB5304, is to promote safety and ease of travel.

An MDOT spokesperson told the committee that while the agency takes no position on the bill, it agrees there is a defect in the current law that needs to be corrected.

North Carolina

In North Carolina, a House bill singles out trucks from using the far-left lane of the state’s busiest highways.

State law already prohibits all vehicles from driving slower than the speed limit in the left lane “when doing so impedes traffic, except to turn left.”

H761 would prohibit vehicles with a gross vehicle weight exceeding 26,000 pounds from operating in the far-left lane of a controlled-access highway with six or more lanes.

The bill was introduced during the 2023 regular session. It did not receive consideration during the first year of the two-year regular session. The 2024 session convened April 24. The bill is in the House Transportation Committee.

Florida

One more bill would apply left lane rule changes to cars and trucks.

OOIDA and the National Motorists Association favor efforts to address left lane use. The groups believe that blocking the left lane, whether intentional or not, results in reduced road safety and efficiency.

A bill on the Florida governor’s desk would amend left-lane-usage rules for all highway users.

Florida law prohibits traveling in the far-left lane “if the driver knows, or reasonably should know,” that he or she is being overtaken in that lane by a driver traveling at a higher rate of speed. The rule applies to all travelers, even if they are driving the posted speed limit when the overtaking vehicle attempts to pass.

Nevertheless, large trucks are singled out in another rule to prohibit travel in the far-left or inside-travel lane along rural stretches of interstate with at least three lanes in one direction.

The bill, HB317, would forbid any vehicle from continuous operation in the far-left lane of roadways with a posted speed of at least 65 mph. Exceptions to the rule would be made for actions that include overtaking and passing another vehicle or preparing to turn left.

Included in the bill is a provision clarifying that if the far-left lane is a high-occupancy-vehicle lane, the lane immediately to the right of such lane or left-turn lane would be considered the far-left lane. LL

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