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Md. Bill Would Punish Left Lane Lingering With Fine Up To $250
CBS Baltimore ^ | March 27, 2017 | WJZ

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.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Politics/Elections; US: Maryland
KEYWORDS: highways; infrastructure; leftlanehogs; legislature; lingering; loitering; maryland; nannystate; passing; roads; safety; transportation
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To: Big Red Clay

You are still breaking the rules, and what you describe is unsafe for others


41 posted on 03/27/2017 1:10:25 PM PDT by SecAmndmt (Arm yourselves!)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

I hate it when road hogs keep me from going 30mph over the speed limit!


42 posted on 03/27/2017 1:12:45 PM PDT by Born to Conserve
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

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.


43 posted on 03/27/2017 1:13:09 PM PDT by libertarian27 (FR Cookbooks - On Profile Page)
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To: Travis T. OJustice

My sentiments as well!!!!


44 posted on 03/27/2017 1:15:13 PM PDT by A message
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To: newnhdad
How will they enforce it?

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.

45 posted on 03/27/2017 1:18:44 PM PDT by TankerKC (If Mitt Romney is elected, everyone in the US will die!)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

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.


46 posted on 03/27/2017 1:32:26 PM PDT by Stosh
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To: TankerKC

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. :-)


47 posted on 03/27/2017 1:33:05 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (April 2006 Message from Dan: http://www.dansimmons.com/news/message/2006_04.htm)
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To: American in Israel

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


48 posted on 03/27/2017 1:37:22 PM PDT by NEMDF
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To: VietVet876
with traffic close ahead of you.

Man, I HATE that when it happens.

Especially since it's up to me to determine that distance.

49 posted on 03/27/2017 1:39:04 PM PDT by Balding_Eagle ( The Great Wall of Trump ---- 100% sealing of the border. Coming soon.)
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To: PJBankard

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


50 posted on 03/27/2017 1:45:35 PM PDT by Balding_Eagle ( The Great Wall of Trump ---- 100% sealing of the border. Coming soon.)
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To: jonno

“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.


51 posted on 03/27/2017 1:46:22 PM PDT by Darnright (If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing. Anatole France)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Could it be I agree with Demon Rats on this one? I hate it when road hogs go slow in the passing lanes! 😨
52 posted on 03/27/2017 1:53:43 PM PDT by SoFloFreeper
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

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.


53 posted on 03/27/2017 1:54:48 PM PDT by MamaB (Heb : 13:2)
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To: mc5cents

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!”


54 posted on 03/27/2017 1:57:02 PM PDT by elcid1970 ("The Second Amendment is more important than Islam. Buy ammo.")
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To: MrEdd

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.


55 posted on 03/27/2017 1:58:37 PM PDT by Travis T. OJustice (<---Time Magazine's 2006 Person of the Year)
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To: VietVet876
You know the A-holes who sit twenty feet behind you when you are in the fast lane going 20 over with traffic close ahead of you.

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.

56 posted on 03/27/2017 2:01:09 PM PDT by Travis T. OJustice (<---Time Magazine's 2006 Person of the Year)
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To: PJBankard

Wrong.


57 posted on 03/27/2017 2:02:44 PM PDT by Travis T. OJustice (<---Time Magazine's 2006 Person of the Year)
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To: SoFloFreeper

Could be!


58 posted on 03/27/2017 2:04:31 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (April 2006 Message from Dan: http://www.dansimmons.com/news/message/2006_04.htm)
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To: American in Israel
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.

"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.

59 posted on 03/27/2017 2:05:50 PM PDT by Lonely Bull ("When he is being rude or mean it drives people _away_ from his confession and _towards_ yours.")
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

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....


60 posted on 03/27/2017 2:09:11 PM PDT by Intolerant in NJ
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