Is it illegal to drive slow in the left lane in Kentucky? Here’s what state law says
We’ve all been there. You’re on the interstate or some other highway and you want to move ahead, but someone is driving like a slug in the fast lane.
Up ahead, you can glimpse a group of cars and trucks weaving around the slowpoke, maybe even hear honking from a fed-up driver. But still, the left-lane hogger moves leisurely down the road, listless and unbothered.
Then, it’s time for you to dance around them, as well. You roll your eyes as you try to find your window around them, along with all the traffic behind you that will have to do the same.
If this hasn’t happened to you, there’s a good chance you may be this driver, but are you breaking the law? Is it illegal to drive slowly in the left lane in Kentucky? Here’s what the law says.
Can you drive slowly in the left lane in Kentucky?
Under state law, drivers are required to keep right while traveling on a highway.
This is laid out in the Kentucky Revised Statutes. Specifically, according to KRS 189.300, “the operator of any vehicle when upon a highway shall travel upon the right side of the highway whenever possible.”
There’s also language that makes it even clearer: “The operator of any vehicle moving slowly upon a highway shall keep his vehicle as closely as practicable to the right-hand boundary of the highway, allowing more swiftly moving vehicles reasonably free passage to the left, unless signage or markings indicate otherwise.”
The gist of the statute is drivers should only briefly occupy the left lane and only to pass another vehicle. Otherwise, they should keep to the right “whenever possible.”
Drivers should only enter the left lane if it is free of traffic or other obstructions and there is “sufficient distance ahead to permit the overtaking and passing of another vehicle,” either approaching from the opposite direction in the case of a two-lane highway, or the vehicle being passed, the statute reads.
The statute further adds, “the overtaking vehicle shall return to the proper traffic lane as soon as practicable.”
If the passing vehicle enters the oncoming traffic lane, according to the statute, the driver must return to the right lane before coming within 200 feet of any advancing vehicles.
So why shouldn’t you linger in the left lane? Well for one, it slows down traffic flow and it also makes other drivers unsafe. When you drive slowly in the left lane, it forces other drivers to make more lane changes to pass you, which research shows, increases the risk of an accident.
What’s the punishment for driving slowly in the left lane?
KRS 189.990 puts lingering in the left lane in a class of traffic violations subject to a fine of no less than $20 and no more than $100 for each offense.
So if keeping everyone (including yourself) safe on the road isn’t motivation enough, a habit of driving slowly in the left lane could end up hurting your wallet.
It’s hard to say what enforcement for this offense looks like across the state, given the leeway law enforcement have on setting the fine. However, one Kentucky legislator has been trying to standardize how the law treats this particular traffic faux pas.
In February, Rep. Ken Upchurch, R-Monticello, introduced a bill that would make the violation come with a standard $25 fine. The legislation was sent to the House Standing Committee for Transportation, where it died.
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