State Patrol troopers in King County stopped 223 left-lane travel violators and gave warnings to 199 in an April emphasis to improve the safe flow of traffic on freeways and highways.
Troopers participated in an emphasis to educate drivers of the importance of the left lane travel law, according to a May 10 State Patrol media release.
Troopers were asked to stop vehicles that were in violation of the left lane law. Slower traffic should travel in the right lane to achieve the purpose of the law, keeping traffic flowing in a safe and orderly fashion.
Slower moving vehicles traveling in the left lane create unsafe conditions for multiple reasons which include:
• Other drivers passing on the right side and following too close congestion
• Frustration with the left lane drivers
• Slower response time for emergency vehicles going to scenes
• Increased risk of head-on collisions with wrong way DUI drivers who think they are in the right lane
Drivers stopped for continually driving in the left lane often are in the habit of traveling in that lane and often state, “I didn’t realize it was against the law.”
Troopers explained that they should stay out of the left lane if traveling beneath freeway speeds and not travel continuously in the left lane for no reason.
Allowing faster moving traffic to pass is always the best choice. Frustrated drivers that travel in an aggressive manner often choose to weave in and out of cars that travel “too slow” by their standards. If a driver chooses to exceed the speed limit in the left lane it is much easier to stop them for the violation if the slower moving vehicles are not in the left lane.
The law for left lane travel (RCW 46.61.100 – Keep right except for passing) states it is a traffic infraction to drive continuously in the left lane of a multi-lane roadway when it impeded the flow of other traffic. The left lane does not including HOV lanes.
The fine for failure to keep right except for passing is $124.
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