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.
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
Left lane Nanny State PING!
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
GOOD! Get the hell out of the left lane unless you are passing. It should be legal to shoot people that hog the left lane when not passing.
Long overdue!
The left-lane Richards law?
The left-lane Richards law?
Maryland can make a billion dollars per rush hour with this idea.
Now this is a law I could get behind and honk for! Get out of the way! :-)
stupid.
Actually, I am 100% in support of this. There are few things more irritating as a driver than being blocked behind a phalanx of slow moving vehicles on a multi-lane highway. Left lane cruising also leads to people passing on the right. These same passing-lane-cruisers will often slow down if you flash them as a signal to move aside.
If drivers won’t follow basic rules of road, book ‘em!
The law’s good, but the punishment should be having one of their fingernails ripped out. Left lane lollygags are the worst.
Agree. Totally over the left-lane vigilantes.
No one should go faster than them, because they know what’s best for everyone.
I'm in the process of passing the next car as well ... it's not my fault that it's still a mile ahead of me.
left-lane vigilantes = Self Appointed Speed Regulators (SASR)
Stay right except to pass.
Left lane, left (or right) turn signal on, ten MPH below speed limit.
It will happen, continually, regardless of the law.
As politicians remove lanes for HOV and toll lanes traffic is forced into smaller and smaller streams. Now they want to thin it even more for passing lanes.
Pretty obvious that the pampered princes do not actually drive in traffic during work hours, or they would know that in rush hour all lanes are packed full and crawling.
“I’m from the government and I am here to help...”
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