Posted on 03/27/2017 12:37:25 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — A bill that has already passed the Maryland House of Delegates would fine drivers up to $250 for lingering in the left lane of a highway after passing another vehicle.
House Bill 1451 was sponsored by Frederick County Republican Delegate William G. Folden and is now pending in the Senate.
Folden says the aim of the bill is to prevent traffic congestion.
When it passed in the House last week, he posted the following statement on his Facebook page:
“By the slimmest of margins and probably the most bi-partisan voting sheet I’ve seen, my bill for “Left Lane Passing Only” on highways with 3 or more lanes has just passed the House Chamber 73-66…. Now it’s off to the Senate! This bill will bring Maryland in line with 39 other states that have similar traffic strategies to encourage a more fluid traffic movement without bottlenecking what is already the second worst traffic congestion in the country!! Proud to be sponsoring an effort to get commuting parents home a little sooner to their loved ones….”
The bill’s summary says it “restricts the use of the far left lane of a roadway by a driver to only the overtaking and passing of another vehicle if (1) the roadway has a posted speed limit of at least 55 miles per hour and (2) the roadway has two or more lanes of traffic moving in the same direction.”
“After overtaking and passing the other vehicle, the driver must return to the right lane as soon as it is reasonably safe to do so,” it goes on to say.
The left lane restriction would not apply to vehicles in the far left lane preparing for a left turn, vehicles that are in the HOV lane during the HOV use period, or in traffic conditions “that require the use of all roadway lanes.”
A violator would be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of $75 for a first offense, $150 for a second offense and $250 for a third or subsequent offense.
You are still breaking the rules, and what you describe is unsafe for others
I hate it when road hogs keep me from going 30mph over the speed limit!
http://www.mit.edu/~jfc/right.html
7 States already have this law.
My state has it, I’ve never seen it enforced but I constantly see electronic highway signs telling everybody about the law...that no one follows.
My sentiments as well!!!!
It probably won't. It's actually pretty subjective. If I'm going 0.1 mph faster than the car on my right, I'm passing.
Disclaimer: I am UBER conscious of passing rules. I only move over to pass. I pass quickly. I get back to the right quickly and I STILL get assholes losing their friggin mind from time-to-time.
Part of the problem is that the speed limits are often unrealistic and meaningless. The tollways around Chicago are posted at 65, but the speed in the left lanes is typically 80 to 85 (with the real cowboys even blazing past that). The state troopers rarely pull over anybody in the 75 to 80 range, which isn’t surprising, because the majority of the traffic is moving at that speed all across the tollway (if they can).
So all it takes is some moron in the left lane going 5 to 10 over the limit to disrupt traffic flow over an entire four lane width of highway - and of course since that bozo is running well over the limit, he’s totally self-righteous about sitting in the far left lane, even if there’s a half-mile gap between him and the person ahead of him in that lane.
I typically speed up by 5 mph when passing so that I actually pass the other vehicle, except when I come up behind one of the left lane hogs, of course. :-)
You are right about all lanes being packed and crawling in urban areas, high volume traffic times. I don’t think the law proposed is a good one or necessary. And, who gets to define “left lane lingering”? How long is “lingering”? How do they take into account the other traffic issues? How does this affect the person who got into the left lane due to an accident or breakdown on the far right?
I get annoyed as the next person about those who will stay in the passing lane longer than necessary, but do not think that this is solved by legislation. JMHO
Man, I HATE that when it happens.
Especially since it's up to me to determine that distance.
What’s your point?
That YOU should get to control how fast someone else drives?
CO passed a similar law some years back, and even though I’ve never seen it actually enforced, it has changed the attitudes of most drivers, making everything more pleasant.
One of the toll roads has on it’s informational signs:
Be Polite
Keep Right
.....
It’s The Law
“It’s really very simple: if you’re not passing someone, stay in the right-hand lane.”
Tell that to people trying to merge onto the freeway.
If that happened here, traffic would be backed up for miles. We usually have a right turning lane, a left turning lane and 2 center lanes for normal traffic. Even then it is bumper to bumper. I absolutely detest driving during rush hours although it is getting that way all day. We need more roads to handle our growing traffic needs. I know growth is supposed to be progress but enough is enough.
IMO the worst left lane hog is an eighteen wheeler who pulls out to pass another truck while approaching an incline, which slows them both down, so the two dumbos just ride alongside each other for miles well below the speed limit.
“As a matter of fact, I DO own the road!”
So you’re one of those dickheads who knowingly, willfully and joyfully impede the proper flow of traffic by not following the rules of the road, I see.
Are you actually passing? You are supposed to only be using the left lane to actually pass. It's not a "fast lane" or any other cute term, it is the PASSING lane.
Wrong.
Could be!
"The left lane restriction would not apply ... in traffic conditions 'that require the use of all roadway lanes.'" I'm unsure about what that language means, but I wonder if it describes what you mentioned.
Great - NJ has signs all over the place “Left Lane For Passing Only” - never enforced and drivers dead to the world get in the left lane, drive side by side with someone on the inside lane and hold up traffic for miles - for once Maryland gets it right....
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