Left lane use topic of nine statehouse bills

Legislative action around the country to limit left lane use for large trucks has the attention of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. Elsewhere, legislation would apply left-lane-use rules to all vehicles.

OOIDA 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

A Colorado bill with multiple truck-related provisions includes truck lane-restriction language.

Sponsored by Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, SB100 would bar large commercial vehicles from the left lane on Interstate 70 between milepost 116 in Glenwood Springs and milepost 259 in Morrison. An exception would be made for passing a vehicle driving below the posted speed limit.

Trucks already are prohibited from traveling in the left lane through Glenwood Canyon.

Advocates have said revised truck rules that include truck speed limit enforcement zones are needed to improve safety. But Doug Morris, OOIDA director of state government affairs, argued the legislation lacks merit.

“There are no studies showing increased accidents in this area or where trucks are the main cause of these accidents,” Morris said.

He added that it is more likely the majority of the accidents are caused by passenger vehicles.

“When I read this bill, one thing comes to my mind, and that’s arbitrary and capricious,” Morris said.

The Senate Transportation and Energy Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the bill on March 6.

Kentucky

The Kentucky House unanimously approved a bill that also includes multiple truck provisions. One provision singles out trucks from traveling in the far-left lane of certain highways.

Statute 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.

Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, is behind legislation that would take 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.

During a recent committee hearing on the bill, Higdon said the bill would prevent trucks from running down the road side by side.

Multiple lawmakers shared their satisfaction with the intent to keep trucks out of the way.

“That’s my favorite part of the bill: Keeping trucks out of the left lane,” Sen. Phillip Wheeler, R-Pikeville, said.

The legislative action comes despite the concerns of professional drivers.

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

SB107 has moved to the House.

Michigan

In Michigan, a House bill also covers the topic of left lane use for trucks.

State 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.

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

Sponsored by Rep. Will Bruck, R-Erie, HB5304 would single out large trucks on limited-access highways, or expressways. Specifically, large trucks would be limited to the right two lanes when traveling on expressways with three or more lanes traveling in the same direction.

Bruck said in prepared remarks the bill would alleviate congestion on busy roadways by ensuring that large trucks do not impede traffic in the left lane.

He added that by ensuring trucks stay to the right, “we can keep traffic flowing smoothly in the left lanes, promoting safer and more efficient transportation for all drivers.”

The bipartisan bill has remained in the House Transportation, Mobility and Infrastructure Committee since it was introduced in November.

Left lane rule pursuits applicable to all vehicles

Elsewhere, left-lane-use revisions would apply to cars and trucks.

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

Arizona

The Arizona Senate narrowly defeated a bill to modify the state’s left lane law.

Arizona law states that drivers are required to drive on the right half of the roadway. Exceptions are made for actions that include overtaking and passing another vehicle.

Travelers driving slower than the flow of traffic also are required to stay to the right.

Sen. David Gowan, R-Sierra Vista, was behind SB1681, which would have added a penalty to the rule. Specifically, drivers traveling “less than normal speed” of traffic in the left lane would have faced $250 fines.

“This is putting a little teeth into (statute),” Gowan told his counterparts during the Senate floor vote.

Sen. Theresa Hatathlie, D-Coal Mine Canyon, said she travels more than six hours one way between her home and the capitol and is fed up with people driving well below posted speed of 65 mph or 75 mph in any lane.

“It just kills my goats that I have to drive 50 mph in the slow lane,” she added. “How come those people don’t get tickets?”

Sen. Sonny Borrelli, R-Lake Havasu City, said a fine is needed to address situations that are all too common on roadways that include Interstate 10.

“When you have a tractor-trailer in the right lane, and someone is pacing the tractor-trailer. All these people do is jam up everybody behind them, which causes other people to get road rage,” Borrelli said.

Sen. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale, countered that the state needs to stay out of people’s wallets. And Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, said he voted against the bill because a violation of the left lane law already incurs a citation that affects the offender’s insurance.

“For me, that’s good enough for now,” he added.

Senators voted 15-14 to kill SB1681.

Florida

In Florida, the state Legislature voted overwhelmingly to send to the governor a bill that would amend left lane rules for all highway users.

State law already prohibits traveling in the farthest left-hand 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.

Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, R-Fort Myers, is behind the bill to 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.

HB317 includes a provision that clarifies 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 farthest left-hand lane.

Persons-Mulicka recently testified that her bill is about a safer and more efficient flow of traffic on high-speed highways.

“It simply provides that the left lane is for passing only, with some commonsense exceptions,” Persons-Mulicka testified.

Iowa

One bill halfway through the Iowa statehouse also covers the topic of left lane travel for all vehicles.

Statute mandates slower traffic must stay to the right.

Sponsored by Sen. Mike Klimesh, R-Winneshiek, SF2116 would require a vehicle to be driven in the right-hand lane on a roadway with multiple lanes moving in the same direction. Limited exceptions would be included for overtaking another vehicle.

On roadways with three or more lanes for traffic moving in one direction, a driver would be required to drive in the center lanes, “such that the far-left lane can be used for overtaking and the far-right lane can be used to enter or exit the roadway.”

Police and state troopers would issue warnings for violations through June 2025. Starting July 1, 2025, violators would face $135 fines.

“Basically, this bill is an effort to prevent left-lane camping on multi-lane highways and improve traffic flow,” Klimesh testified during a recent committee hearing.

The Senate voted 38-8 to advance the bill to the House. SF2116 has moved to the House Transportation Committee.

Maryland

In Maryland, legislation would broaden roadways affected by the state’s left-lane-use rule.

The state already requires a driver of a vehicle traveling slower than the general speed of traffic on an interstate highway located in a rural area to stay to the right. Elsewhere, statute requires drivers to stay to the right if they are traveling at least 10 mph below the posted speed limit or slower than the flow of traffic.

SB768 would change the interstate-only rule to apply to all multi-lane roadways. Also included is a revision to statute that covers travel on roadways with at least three lanes of traffic moving in the same direction.

Sponsored by Sen. William Folden, R-Frederick, the bill would restrict left lane use on highways posted at a minimum of 55 mph to the overtaking and passing of another vehicle. Certain exceptions would apply.

Folden said the proposed changes would help the state address roadway congestion issues without needing to put more money toward the problem.

“There is the opportunity to provide a solution through fluid traffic flow, without requiring more money,” he testified at a recent Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee hearing.

An identical House bill, HB298, is in the House Environment and Transportation Committee.

Oklahoma

An Oklahoma House panel voted to advance a bill that would put a time limit on travel in the left lane.

Sooner State law already limits left lane use on highways with at least two lanes of traffic in the same direction. Drivers are required to stay to the right unless passing or preparing to turn left, or if safety requires otherwise.

HB3452 states that overtaking and passing another vehicle “shall be performed expeditiously.”

For large trucks, including a tractor-trailer, overtaking and passing another vehicle would be required to be complete within two minutes. Smaller vehicles would be given one minute to complete the maneuver.

Violators would face $250 fines.

The House Public Safety Committee voted unanimously to advance the bill. HB3452 awaits a possible House floor vote.

West Virginia

In West Virginia, the House shot down a Senate-approved bill to address left lane use for all travelers.

State law specifies that vehicles must stay to the right except to overtake and pass another vehicle traveling in the same direction.

SB441 sought to prohibit vehicles from driving “less than the normal speed of traffic” in the far-left lane. Certain exceptions would apply.

First-time offenders would have faced $25 fines. Subsequent violations would have resulted in fines up to $500.

House lawmakers killed the bill on a 48-46 vote. The action came a week after the Senate voted unanimously to endorse the pursuit. LL

More Land Line coverage of state news is available.