Virginia and Missouri bills call for left lane truck rules
Transportation leaders in multiple statehouses are pursuing changes to keep trucks out of the left lane.
In Virginia, Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Dave Marsden, D-Fairfax, has introduced a bill that would require trucks to stay to the right on highways during winter storms.
Marsden’s pursuit follows a winter storm early this month that resulted in jammed traffic that left some travelers on Interstate 95 in Virginia stranded for more than 24 hours.
He said a crash involving multiple large trucks played a role in the backup along a 50-mile stretch of I-95 outside Washington, D.C. As a result, Marsden wants to keep trucks to the right when the weather turns bad.
Critics say a jackknifed truck in the right lane would still end up blocking multiple lanes of traffic. Instead, responses on social media have encouraged him to pursue other actions to address safety concerns.
Bill details
The bill, SB706, would require truck drivers traveling “in certain weather conditions” to stay to the right on any highway with two or more lanes in each direction.
Additionally, truck drivers would be prohibited from using cruise control or compression engine brakes when driving in snow, sleet, or freezing rain, or other inclement cold precipitation.
The bill is in the Senate Transportation Committee.
H3: A bad idea
Mike Matousek, director of state legislative affairs for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, said if Sen. Marsden is interested in improving highway safety, he should oppose his own bill.
“SB706 might look good on paper to those who don’t know any better, but in the real world it’s dangerous,” Matousek said. “While most truckers would never use cruise control when the roads are slick, there are situations when a blanket prohibition against engine braking would take tools away from the driver to stay safe.
“It just depends on a number of variables, but the last thing we need is people in Richmond making these decisions for millions of professional drivers.”
Matousek adds that restricting trucks to the right lane is a bad idea regardless of weather conditions.
“Lane restrictions totally ignore the need to move over for merging vehicles, avoid a hazard on the shoulder, or to use another lane that might actually be clear of snow and ice. It’s possible VDOT might clear the far left lane first, but technically trucks would still be required to operate in the right lane.
“Should we also expect the Virginia State Police to pull trucks over during the middle of a snow or ice storm? Of course not. So not only is this a bad idea, it’s not practical to enforce.”
Missouri left lane use
A Missouri bill would expand the state’s rule on left lane use for professional drivers.
State law already prohibits trucks with a registered gross weight in excess of 24,000 pounds traveling in the Kansas City or St. Louis areas from driving in the far left lane of roadways with at least three lanes of traffic in each direction.
House Transportation Chairman Jeff Porter, R-Montgomery City, is behind a bill to remove language in current law that limits application to highways in the Kansas City and St. Louis areas. Instead, HB2084 would make the rule applicable to any county in the state on roadways with at least three lanes of traffic in each direction.
OOIDA opposition
Matousek says 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.
“While we’re still trying to figure out exactly what this bill would do, we’re opposed to lane restrictions of any kind,” Matousek said. “Missouri should repeal its existing lane restrictions, not potentially expand them.” LL
More state trends
Keith Goble, state legislative editor for Land Line Media, keeps track of many trends among statehouses across the U.S. Here are some recent articles by him.
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