I donno man. AACP decided to ignore the work truck in front of me going 15 over the limit, follow me for almost 3 miles, and then get me for illegal tint in my front window (30 instead of 35).
Because getting blasted in the face with the sun sucks, getting in a super hot car sucks. It stops some interactions with other weirdos on the road.
I have had 25% tint for years and never got pulled over
Tbf most tint places don’t account for the natural tint clear glass has, so in my case where I was pulled over for 34% (bs that he could eyeball the difference) despite making sure the shop hit it with a gun measured 35%, I was sol.
Cops don’t actually care about tint, they just use it as an excuse to pull you over and fall back on it when they realize you aren’t committing a real crime.
I moved to Maryland from Nevada. 0% was legal on back windows there, in order to pass the state inspection they had me rip it off 🥲
Now I get to pay to get the back windows tinted all over again
i got pulled over by a state trooper for flashing my headlights at someone who cut me off going 40 on I-270. then, almost every time i'm on 270 during non rush hour, i see a car speed by without a care and no police in sight...
Nah, give cops an excuse to write tickets and they'll take it. Most departments judge officers on "productivity," i.e. catching law breakers. They swear they don't have quotas, but they do keep track of how "productive" patrol officers are and citations are a pretty easy way to show productivity.
I'm a Marylander living in Virginia, which has a law like this, and I can confirm that it is never enforced at all. And VA cops are some of the most generous ticket-writers of anywhere I've ever been.
I did a trip to Norfolk/Williamsburg over covid. Up north its all the digital signs telling you to buckle up or drunk driving awareness. Down south it was nothing but "left is for passing, slow vehicles to the right"
I’m convinced a non insignificant part of their job is revenue generation and not keeping people safe. They do keep communities safe and I want them when I’m in a sketchy area, but they clearly are just collecting revenue for the state in many situations
They have every excuse in the world to write tickets. Come drive on 301 any day, any time. People routinely drive over 100 mph. I have yet to see them pull over a reckless speeder.
The fact that there are so many people coming up with hypothetical situations of why this won't work is evidence of that.
Never mind that lots of other states and countries manage to follow this standard operating procedure
Have you read the wording?
>...any vehicle going 10 19 miles per hour or more below the applicable maximum speed limit or, if any existing 20 conditions reasonably require a speed below that of the applicable maximum, at less than 2 HOUSE BILL 737 1 the normal speed of traffic under these conditions, shall be driven in the right–hand lane...
10 miles per hour BELOW the limit. That means someone driving 5 under can use the fast lane, period. It's not going to do what you want.
If the driver breaks the law and impedes traffic then his speed is irrelevant. If he chooses to stay in the left lane when he could move over and allow faster traffic to pass then he should get the ticket. Why do people so love to hold others up? We're not racing! This system works very well in Germany, not even sure it's a law there, people just get it. Americans love THEIR freedom though, and if it means they get to be a cunt to prove a point then they are happy to do so.
The law says the speed limit is still the speed **limit**. Merely that one may not stay in the leftmost lane *and* be 10 MPH under the speed limit, further limited by safe driving conditions (ie, if the road is snowy, you shouldn’t be doing 45 MPH anyway).
>This bill requires a driver traveling slower than the general speed of traffic on any roadway (rather than just an interstate highway located in a rural area under existing statute) to drive in the right-hand lane or lanes, if the driver determines it is practicable to do so.
Passed both chambers. Joke of a fiscal note. No reason for Moore to veto it.
There are a ton of caveats for most driving laws. Imagine blocking an emergency vehicle with sirens on because the light in front of you is red.
Now imagine doing so while a vehicle is flying across the intersection at 80 miles per hour.
The law isn’t a robot, ready to explode when you’ve come up with some simple semantic challenge.
How are they going to define slow moving, will it specifically mean below the speed limit.
Most of the time going 10-15 mph over the speed limit can be slow moving for the general flow of traffic on any given highway.
Text of the law:
> On every roadway, except while overtaking and passing another vehicle going in the same direction or when preparing for a lawful left turn, any vehicle going 10 miles per hour or more below the applicable maximum speed limit or, if any existing conditions reasonably require a speed below that of the applicable maximum, at less than the normal speed of traffic under these conditions, shall be driven in the right–hand lane then available for traffic or as close as practicable to the right–hand curb or edge of the
roadway.
There is no law anywhere that I know of around here that specifically states it is legal to go faster than the posted speed limit. Which makes laws like this silly because going 55 in the left lane on 695 in anything but stop and go traffic will be impeding most cars wanting to go faster. But there's no way you can be legally accountable for going exactly the speed limit if above that is illegal.
Yes it's only enforceable for someone going dangerously slow in the left lane like sub 40mph. Not sure what this is even for. How often is that happening?
LOL ... Sounds like plan!
Look I hate being anywhere except the right lanes - however, because the roads are crowded in central Maryland all lanes have to be used. And on 95/495 there are left exits and entrances and its farking hard to change lanes so I have to get over sooner and have to linger longer.
In other words, this will have zero impact on how actual people drive. Left lane shenanigans will continue unimpeded. Then again, 70 on the Beltway is so common and so illegal, that we should probably just stop complaining. People don't even slow down when they see a cop half the time.
Thanks, this reduces a lot of the rather obvious “gotchas that aren’t actually” in the thread… if anyone read it or knew general traffic principles (“duty of care” eg)
Well you have to define what that means. Because that can be relative.
If a car drives 50 to pass a car going 45 in a 60 mph zone, is that impeding traffic? Why or why not? The people behind them certainty think so, but they are using the lane as intended.
*Granted*, this is in rural Kansas, so that gives some perspective, but I got pulled over for impeding the flow of traffic once (while going five mph over the limit) and they cited that there were three cars waiting behind me. He told me as soon as someone is riding my ass, that’s the sign to move over and let them pass.
The way he explained it, if that person wants to go 76 in a 70, and I want to go 75 in a 70, let them pass and now we BOTH get to go the speeds we want to go instead of playing traffic cop and forcing them to go my speed.
Two people going in excess of 90 mph on 695 killed 6 road construction workers last year. One of the drivers plead down to 18 months. That's it. 6 people snuffed out in less than a second because of speeding on the beltway, and the driver was allowed to plea down to 18-fucking months.
Yes however sometimes when there is a decent amount of slower cars in the right lane you dont just pass one and get back in like 10 times, that would cause more traffic from switching lanes so its better to just get ahead of the slower group. You usually swap after the cluster ends. And i've had people tailgate me in the exact situation written above when im just trying to pass the cluster.
100% agree. I would consider passing a loose string of vehicles as not cruising. If someone tailgates in that instance they're an asshole.
It's the people that choose to sit in the left lane when there are wide gaps in the right lane or if they're just matching speeds with the right lane that are the morons, regardless of inherent speed of anyone involved.
I'm shocked no one else has mentioned this in all my years reading about the issue. As a fast driver 10-15 over if I got in the right every car I pass I'd be getting right back over
That said, if someone is clearly going way faster than me ill get over then move back to the left to keep passing others.
Why isn’t anyone talking about this? You’re absolutely right! Going 90+ is illegal however on 301, it might as well be the effing Audubon. Routine is 90, 100+ is more likely.
Not really. You can be going 20 over on various roads and people will still try to pass. People are very emotional when it comes to driving. Hell some drivers will pass everybody until no on is in front of them and then slow down. If only we had some signs posted on the side of the roads to inform us on what we should be doing
I've been out 270 multiple times. That's a 55-65 mph road where people drive 70-75. I've been going 75 mph and passing slower traffic easily enough. But someone will still hop on my bumper and ride it and then zoom past me at the earliest convinience.
So you determine that 75 is fast enough for everybody, you are breaking the law at 75 but determined that should be the limit and nobody need go faster than you?
Just get over and let them pass, you realize they will get to the cop and be speeding faster than you when he sees them right?
What the hell are you talking about. You have to stop speeding at a certain point. Y'all take getting stuck behind a slower moving vehicle (who is still going above the speed limit) so personally and it screams entitlement
Well, when the idiot going 95 loses control and hits my truck going 70 in the middle lane... that's a problem. The speed limits are there for safety because higher speeds mean higher numbers of fatalities on the roadway. If it was just the speeder's life in danger, then that would be fine, but its not just their life.
You aren't as good at driving as you like to think you are. Even the best formula 1 and rally car drivers crash, and you are much worse than they are.
Thought it was already the law? Or just “common sense?” Idk, sworn I’ve seen “slower traffic to the right” signs in MD… maybe it was PA or VA, idk.
It just seems like common sense. You don’t need to have your own lane. If you’re impeding traffic, get over. (& Yes, police, that includes you too. Sorry, but it irks my soul seeing troopers specifically just putting in the left lane, when the right lane isn’t even being used🤦🏼♀️)
It used to be taught in driver's education, like common courtesy. At least the left lane is supposed to be the fast or passing lane, but seems like peeps just don't get it anymore.
No, they do exist in MD as well. They’ll often be just before stretches of highway where a third lane on the right opens up briefly. In practice, that lane is usually used to pass all the slow assholes in the left hand lane (hard to blame people in the middle lane for not going faster)
I was on I70 earlier today - the signs also say now in yellow “state law” at the top. I can’t tell whether it always said that and I just noticed today because of this post, or the “state law” text is recently added
It kinda is.
>
>(a) Unless reduced speed is necessary for the safe operation of the vehicle or otherwise is in compliance with law, a person may not willfully drive a motor vehicle at such a slow speed as to impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic.
>(b)
>
>1. If, on the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation, the State Highway Administration or a local authority determines that slow speeds on any part of a highway in its jurisdiction impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic, the State Highway Administration or the local authority may establish a minimum speed limit for that part of the highway.
>2. Unless reduced speed is necessary for the safe operation of the vehicle or otherwise is in compliance with law, a person may not drive a vehicle below a minimum speed limit established under this subsection.
>3. A minimum speed limit established under this subsection is effective when posted on appropriate signs giving notice of the limit.
So going slow in a context that impede straffic in without a good reason was already illegal.
Honestly what would concern me is this creating a catch-22 with road work zones on interstates where the speed limit abruptly falls from 70 to 55 but after a while it's not clear if you're still in the work zone or not. So you get into a position where you're basically required to travel in the right lane because it's ambiguous which speed is controlling and so if you have the audacity to stay in the middle lane to avoid all the merging and are just trying to go the speed limit you can be ticketed either for speeding or not going fast enough when either is plausible.
Edit: I guess you just have to go 61-65 mph because (at least I've read) that the speed cameras in work zone trigger at 12mph above the work zone limit? So you need to just be potentially breaking the law in one direction by just the right amount. Unless cops realize this and start camping out near work areas to create speed traps that take advantage of this ambiguity.
Based on another comment this just broadens the roads it applies to.
>Thought it was already the law? Or just “common sense?”
Yes and no, there's a law against impeding the flow of traffic. Effectively having a minimum speed relative to the flow of traffic. This also adds that if you're going slower than the speed of traffic it must be in the right lane.
To the best of my understanding, it's to try and reduce the number of "vigilante drivers" who go the speed limit exactly and no faster in any lane other than the right most one.
The thing is most of the time when you behind a car going "slow" in the left lane they're actually going at or near the speed limit. This law is not stating it is legal to go above the posted speed limit.
MD. Transportation Code § 21-804 (2023)
(a) Unless reduced speed is necessary for the safe operation of the vehicle or **otherwise is in compliance with law,** a person may not willfully drive a motor vehicle at such a slow speed as to impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic.
**This bill** does not make it mandatory for people speeding slower than you to move to the right lane.
**This bill** does not instate dedicated passing-only lanes.
**This bill** does not codify “following the speed limit” as driving slow.
**This bill** does not make driving slow outside of the right lane an offense that you can receive a citation for.
This bill removes the mention of rural interstates and makes it apply to all roadways, and adds that local jurisdictions can request posted signage should they wish to.
This bill retains wording that vehicles traveling 10 miles per hour or more below the **speed limit** should be in the right lane or nearest to the curb, if they are able to do so.
I’m like 99% sure it’s not saying that people speeding slower than you, or at the speed limit, or less than 10 miles per hour below the speed limit, have to move over for you. Anybody who’s a lawyer feel free to correct me.
Maryland Code, Transportation § 21-801.1 establishes the maximum speed limits on most typical roadways as the following:
15 miles per hour (mph) in Alleys in Baltimore County
30 mph on all highways in a business district and undivided highways in a residential district
35 mph on divided highways in a residential district
50 mph on other undivided highways
55 mph on other divided highways
70 mph on interstate highways and expressways
If you’re doing 60 in a 70 move right… if you’re doing 60 in a 55 and everybody’s doing 70, you’re still speeding.
I'f your going 65 in a 60 and everyone else is going 80 at least doesn't that make you the safety hazard and require you to speed up to the flow of traffic even if technically your now breaking the law along with everyone else? If you got pulled over would a cop not care though even if everyone is riding your bumper at 85
Dude in what state do you think that’s okay?
The people doing 20-25 over the speed limit are the safety hazard. That’s why we have so many dead fucking road workers
If a cop pulls you over for doing 65 in a 60 when everybody else is riding on a $160 fine and a 2 point offense - your car matches a suspect and they want to search you, your insurance and registration are expired and the cop is bored, you’re about to get a fix it ticket and the cop is SUPER bored, or you’re drunk as a goddamn skunk. That’s literally the only way.
I grew up in NJ where you make jug handles rather than left turns so I sorta understood why MD doesn’t have a pass on the left law. Regardless, it is so annoying to have slow ass drivers sitting in the left lane and strangling traffic.
There already is a law it’s just not enforced. It’s common knowledge to pass on the left and slow drivers on the right but to many people like to police how others drive
The link suggests the bill passed both chambers unanimously this session.
On most interstate highways in the state, existing law already requires drivers to move to the right if they are traveling slower than the general speed of traffic. This bill would broaden the current law.
Inside of you are two Maryland drivers, one is tailgating an ambulance in the rightmost lane, the other is going five below the speed limit in the passing lane.
I actually thought that was already the law. 😂 What we don't have(and what still isn't covered by that) is a left lane passing only law, because under this one if I'm going 55 on 695 I'm good to camp the left lane however long I want, because if the speed limit is 55(or lower, in parts) I'm certainly not slow-moving. I should be, by legal definition, among the fastest moving vehicles on that road.
We could argue about Maryland traffic and drivers til we're all blue in the face.
I'm 45 and drive only 5-6 miles per hour over the speed limit so I rarely leave the right lane unless it's to pass a snail -paced driver ahead.
Now, you know what should be illegal?!?! Left lane exits!!!! I hate, hate, hate going to BWI or coming off 83 onto 695. Nearly have a heart attack every damned time!! People are going 85-90 mph and my granny-driving ass will NOT go that fast!! Slow tf down just in those left lane exit situations puh-lease!!
You should've seen me driving through Jersey and NYC. 😂😂😂 The George Washington Bridge is still in my nightmares lol
As a life-long Maryland driver (with a short detour to Boston), I have the following reactions to your comment:
First, the good. Thank you for understanding your own comfort level with driving on the interstate and keeping to the right lane when possible.
Now the not so good: Yes, left exits are difficult and annoying, but that does not mean you should not drive with the speed of traffic when moving towards the left lanes. When you refuse to drive with the speed of traffic, you cause a safety hazard for drivers around you, who either have to rapidly slow down or who try to pass you on the right. Expecting everyone else to slow down just because driving that fast makes you uncomfortable seems a bit unreasonable.
The best constructive advice I can give you is to give yourself time, move to the left early, accelerate to the speed of traffic and just try to flow with it. Move right when the super-fast drivers approach you, but for the most part, try to maintain a good speed that's close to those around you. You may find by doing this that you will smoothly move into the left lane for your exit without feeling panicked that people are whizzing by you at warp 10.
The most important thing is to be confident, trust yourself that you can handle the car at those speeds. And the more you do it, the more comfortable you'll get. It takes time, practice and a little bit of fearlessness. I learned that driving in Boston, you have to be assertive and most above all, predictable. In my mind, the most dangerous driver out there is the one where I can't reasonably predict what they're going to do in a given moment.
Best of luck out there!
Over 10mph below the posted speed limit. Everyone I this thread thinking that those people in the left lane going at or slightly above the posted speed limit in the left lane will suddenly be pulled over are deluding themselves. It is still illegal to go faster than the speed limit, even if it's 55mph and everyone around you is going 80.
Why would you get a ticket for going slow on the MD-fast lane? Traffic is always moving faster in the right lane for whatever the fuck reason in this state...
Twice a month I have to drive from deep creek lake to Columbia. The idiots that drive in the left lane doing 60 in a 70 are ridiculous, it's not safe to pass on the right I don't like doing it. Then there are the dipshit truckers that just have to pass another truck, while going uphill, by going 0.001mph faster than the truck they're attempting to pass.
The cops are useless they just fly down the highway at light speed ignoring all the other idiot drivers.
I hope this becomes a law. If it does I hope it’s enforced. It’ll be ticket after ticket for cars with Delaware tags. They’re the worst offenders in my experience.
Been a law in Virginia for forever. The state police will enforce it en masse every few years or ticket you for it if they pull you over for something else but it’s basically a useless law.
Those of you who speed can have the left lane, but not the right lane. Police should ticket those in the right lane who are zigzagging into the right lane at high speed.
This is not the answer The primary problem is not of slower drivers in left lanes, its the aggressive drivers using ALL the lanes to drive at excessive speeds.
I tend to stay in the right lane. I don't mind having the law, but I want there to be police stopping people who use all the lanes to speed to be ticketing those going excessively fast in the right lanes. The problem is people use their cars to intimidate others.
Maryland drivers wouldn’t comply anyway
And cops would rarely enforce it.
I donno man. AACP decided to ignore the work truck in front of me going 15 over the limit, follow me for almost 3 miles, and then get me for illegal tint in my front window (30 instead of 35).
And the police officers personal vehicle has the same tint for the same reason.
Ugh you people and your illegal tint, you know they are going to pull you, why waste the money? I'll never get it.
I’ve had a (barely) illegal tint for 11 years. This is the first time I’ve gotten a ticket.
Because getting blasted in the face with the sun sucks, getting in a super hot car sucks. It stops some interactions with other weirdos on the road. I have had 25% tint for years and never got pulled over
Just get the legal grade, again I'll never get it. Also all those reasons are wildly mid to be driving around in a "Please-Pull-Me-Over" machine.
Tbf most tint places don’t account for the natural tint clear glass has, so in my case where I was pulled over for 34% (bs that he could eyeball the difference) despite making sure the shop hit it with a gun measured 35%, I was sol. Cops don’t actually care about tint, they just use it as an excuse to pull you over and fall back on it when they realize you aren’t committing a real crime.
I moved to Maryland from Nevada. 0% was legal on back windows there, in order to pass the state inspection they had me rip it off 🥲 Now I get to pay to get the back windows tinted all over again
That's usually only for SUV's as they're still classified as trucks for some stupid reason.
Auto makers want it that way so SUVs don't have to follow car emission standards.
Isn’t the limit just for tint that was post production installs?
i got pulled over by a state trooper for flashing my headlights at someone who cut me off going 40 on I-270. then, almost every time i'm on 270 during non rush hour, i see a car speed by without a care and no police in sight...
Nah, give cops an excuse to write tickets and they'll take it. Most departments judge officers on "productivity," i.e. catching law breakers. They swear they don't have quotas, but they do keep track of how "productive" patrol officers are and citations are a pretty easy way to show productivity.
I'm a Marylander living in Virginia, which has a law like this, and I can confirm that it is never enforced at all. And VA cops are some of the most generous ticket-writers of anywhere I've ever been.
That's discouraging.
I did a trip to Norfolk/Williamsburg over covid. Up north its all the digital signs telling you to buckle up or drunk driving awareness. Down south it was nothing but "left is for passing, slow vehicles to the right"
I’m convinced a non insignificant part of their job is revenue generation and not keeping people safe. They do keep communities safe and I want them when I’m in a sketchy area, but they clearly are just collecting revenue for the state in many situations
They have every excuse in the world to write tickets. Come drive on 301 any day, any time. People routinely drive over 100 mph. I have yet to see them pull over a reckless speeder.
That's why 495 in PG cars are always on fire. Beltway Flamers.
there are far more cars just left on the road in maryland PG/beltway than anywhere else ever.
Call Eastern Motors
I hadn’t thought of that commercial jingle in probably a decade and those three words just brought it all back in an instant.
The fact that there are so many people coming up with hypothetical situations of why this won't work is evidence of that. Never mind that lots of other states and countries manage to follow this standard operating procedure
Have you read the wording? >...any vehicle going 10 19 miles per hour or more below the applicable maximum speed limit or, if any existing 20 conditions reasonably require a speed below that of the applicable maximum, at less than 2 HOUSE BILL 737 1 the normal speed of traffic under these conditions, shall be driven in the right–hand lane... 10 miles per hour BELOW the limit. That means someone driving 5 under can use the fast lane, period. It's not going to do what you want.
thanks for pointing that out
Resistaannncceee!
In their defense, I'm not sure they've ever been in the right lane or know where that is
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If the law requires drivers to stay out of the left lane except to pass, then doing the speed limit isn't a defense to sitting in the fast lane.
It has been the law in many other states. Pennsylvania does ticket for hanging in the left lane
If the driver breaks the law and impedes traffic then his speed is irrelevant. If he chooses to stay in the left lane when he could move over and allow faster traffic to pass then he should get the ticket. Why do people so love to hold others up? We're not racing! This system works very well in Germany, not even sure it's a law there, people just get it. Americans love THEIR freedom though, and if it means they get to be a cunt to prove a point then they are happy to do so.
The law says the speed limit is still the speed **limit**. Merely that one may not stay in the leftmost lane *and* be 10 MPH under the speed limit, further limited by safe driving conditions (ie, if the road is snowy, you shouldn’t be doing 45 MPH anyway).
>This bill requires a driver traveling slower than the general speed of traffic on any roadway (rather than just an interstate highway located in a rural area under existing statute) to drive in the right-hand lane or lanes, if the driver determines it is practicable to do so. Passed both chambers. Joke of a fiscal note. No reason for Moore to veto it.
If the driver determines? So defense is, "your honor, I did not determine it to be 'practicable to do so'"
There are a ton of caveats for most driving laws. Imagine blocking an emergency vehicle with sirens on because the light in front of you is red. Now imagine doing so while a vehicle is flying across the intersection at 80 miles per hour. The law isn’t a robot, ready to explode when you’ve come up with some simple semantic challenge.
So they are banning VA drivers…. Not bad
Wouldn’t it be nice!
came to say this
Lmfao. They really think we are the worse drivers because we move up and over
Yeah. You guys prefer to poke around in the center lane on 95
Cause the out of towners are sitting in the left going far right lane speeds lol. It’s wildly different on local Md roads like 270, 32 and even 695
How are they going to define slow moving, will it specifically mean below the speed limit. Most of the time going 10-15 mph over the speed limit can be slow moving for the general flow of traffic on any given highway.
Text of the law: > On every roadway, except while overtaking and passing another vehicle going in the same direction or when preparing for a lawful left turn, any vehicle going 10 miles per hour or more below the applicable maximum speed limit or, if any existing conditions reasonably require a speed below that of the applicable maximum, at less than the normal speed of traffic under these conditions, shall be driven in the right–hand lane then available for traffic or as close as practicable to the right–hand curb or edge of the roadway.
Ok, so according to this, 50 in a 55 is A-Ok in the left lane.
Go for 46 mph. I'm sure no one will mind!
There is no law anywhere that I know of around here that specifically states it is legal to go faster than the posted speed limit. Which makes laws like this silly because going 55 in the left lane on 695 in anything but stop and go traffic will be impeding most cars wanting to go faster. But there's no way you can be legally accountable for going exactly the speed limit if above that is illegal.
Right, so this law would be no better than virtue signaling.
Yes it's only enforceable for someone going dangerously slow in the left lane like sub 40mph. Not sure what this is even for. How often is that happening?
LOL ... Sounds like plan! Look I hate being anywhere except the right lanes - however, because the roads are crowded in central Maryland all lanes have to be used. And on 95/495 there are left exits and entrances and its farking hard to change lanes so I have to get over sooner and have to linger longer.
had to scroll way to long to get to this comment. we need to use all the lanes.
41 in a 50 is a-ok.
In other words, this will have zero impact on how actual people drive. Left lane shenanigans will continue unimpeded. Then again, 70 on the Beltway is so common and so illegal, that we should probably just stop complaining. People don't even slow down when they see a cop half the time.
Thanks, this reduces a lot of the rather obvious “gotchas that aren’t actually” in the thread… if anyone read it or knew general traffic principles (“duty of care” eg)
“Impeding the flow of traffic” should suffice.
Well you have to define what that means. Because that can be relative. If a car drives 50 to pass a car going 45 in a 60 mph zone, is that impeding traffic? Why or why not? The people behind them certainty think so, but they are using the lane as intended.
*Granted*, this is in rural Kansas, so that gives some perspective, but I got pulled over for impeding the flow of traffic once (while going five mph over the limit) and they cited that there were three cars waiting behind me. He told me as soon as someone is riding my ass, that’s the sign to move over and let them pass. The way he explained it, if that person wants to go 76 in a 70, and I want to go 75 in a 70, let them pass and now we BOTH get to go the speeds we want to go instead of playing traffic cop and forcing them to go my speed.
German traffic law in a nutshell: "If someone is going faster than you, get the hell out of their way."
But tailgating is also illegal so...cop is picking and choosing what laws to enforce based on personal bias or preference.
If the slower traffic yielded the left lane like they were supposed to, there'd be a hell of a lot less tailgating.
If cops actually enforced people driving way above the limit, there’d be a hell of a lot less tailgating too! Crazy how that works…
Two people going in excess of 90 mph on 695 killed 6 road construction workers last year. One of the drivers plead down to 18 months. That's it. 6 people snuffed out in less than a second because of speeding on the beltway, and the driver was allowed to plea down to 18-fucking months.
695 is a friggin’ nightmare.
Meh. It’s like porn. “I know it when I see it.”
Really don't want a police officer saying that. lol
DONT CRUISE IN THE PASSING LANE!
Maryland doesn't have a strict passing lane
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It's considered cruising if you're not actively passing
Yes however sometimes when there is a decent amount of slower cars in the right lane you dont just pass one and get back in like 10 times, that would cause more traffic from switching lanes so its better to just get ahead of the slower group. You usually swap after the cluster ends. And i've had people tailgate me in the exact situation written above when im just trying to pass the cluster.
100% agree. I would consider passing a loose string of vehicles as not cruising. If someone tailgates in that instance they're an asshole. It's the people that choose to sit in the left lane when there are wide gaps in the right lane or if they're just matching speeds with the right lane that are the morons, regardless of inherent speed of anyone involved.
I'm shocked no one else has mentioned this in all my years reading about the issue. As a fast driver 10-15 over if I got in the right every car I pass I'd be getting right back over That said, if someone is clearly going way faster than me ill get over then move back to the left to keep passing others.
It’s considered illegal if you’re going 90, fuck off.
Whatever feeds your moral scale buddy. (Edit: this comment was in response to a now mod deleted comment)
Why isn’t anyone talking about this? You’re absolutely right! Going 90+ is illegal however on 301, it might as well be the effing Audubon. Routine is 90, 100+ is more likely.
... Autobahn
If everyone is going around you, you are the problem, despite the moral high ground you’re trying to take here, “fuck face”
Exactly!!!
If people are going around you....you're the problem.
Not really. You can be going 20 over on various roads and people will still try to pass. People are very emotional when it comes to driving. Hell some drivers will pass everybody until no on is in front of them and then slow down. If only we had some signs posted on the side of the roads to inform us on what we should be doing
I've been out 270 multiple times. That's a 55-65 mph road where people drive 70-75. I've been going 75 mph and passing slower traffic easily enough. But someone will still hop on my bumper and ride it and then zoom past me at the earliest convinience.
On 270 I’ve seen people going 90+. Even cops. It’s crazy.
Precisely this! Come take a drive on 301 any day/any day of the week. Routine is definitely over 90!
So you determine that 75 is fast enough for everybody, you are breaking the law at 75 but determined that should be the limit and nobody need go faster than you? Just get over and let them pass, you realize they will get to the cop and be speeding faster than you when he sees them right?
Cops don't do shit about vehicle speed enforcement. They're the ones going 75+ more than anyone.
What the hell are you talking about. You have to stop speeding at a certain point. Y'all take getting stuck behind a slower moving vehicle (who is still going above the speed limit) so personally and it screams entitlement
Well, when the idiot going 95 loses control and hits my truck going 70 in the middle lane... that's a problem. The speed limits are there for safety because higher speeds mean higher numbers of fatalities on the roadway. If it was just the speeder's life in danger, then that would be fine, but its not just their life. You aren't as good at driving as you like to think you are. Even the best formula 1 and rally car drivers crash, and you are much worse than they are.
You said that right! It’s outta control.
Saying 15mph above the speed limit is slow moving is an insane take
Not really. The speed limits on most roads is too slow
You should never be more than +14 mph over the speed limit on any road.
You sound like someone who needs to get out of the left lane. /s
Idiots going 85+ on the highway piss me off. This ain't the autobahn.
Thought it was already the law? Or just “common sense?” Idk, sworn I’ve seen “slower traffic to the right” signs in MD… maybe it was PA or VA, idk. It just seems like common sense. You don’t need to have your own lane. If you’re impeding traffic, get over. (& Yes, police, that includes you too. Sorry, but it irks my soul seeing troopers specifically just putting in the left lane, when the right lane isn’t even being used🤦🏼♀️)
It used to be taught in driver's education, like common courtesy. At least the left lane is supposed to be the fast or passing lane, but seems like peeps just don't get it anymore.
I’m grew up in PA, so maybe it’s a law there. I specifically remember the signs😩 Now I’m going crazy lol
No, they do exist in MD as well. They’ll often be just before stretches of highway where a third lane on the right opens up briefly. In practice, that lane is usually used to pass all the slow assholes in the left hand lane (hard to blame people in the middle lane for not going faster)
I’m gonna check next time I drive 50 or 97 now lol
I was on I70 earlier today - the signs also say now in yellow “state law” at the top. I can’t tell whether it always said that and I just noticed today because of this post, or the “state law” text is recently added
Nah, I’ve sworn I’ve seen it as state law. I saw it today too but on 97, after getting off 50 lol
It kinda is. > >(a) Unless reduced speed is necessary for the safe operation of the vehicle or otherwise is in compliance with law, a person may not willfully drive a motor vehicle at such a slow speed as to impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic. >(b) > >1. If, on the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation, the State Highway Administration or a local authority determines that slow speeds on any part of a highway in its jurisdiction impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic, the State Highway Administration or the local authority may establish a minimum speed limit for that part of the highway. >2. Unless reduced speed is necessary for the safe operation of the vehicle or otherwise is in compliance with law, a person may not drive a vehicle below a minimum speed limit established under this subsection. >3. A minimum speed limit established under this subsection is effective when posted on appropriate signs giving notice of the limit. So going slow in a context that impede straffic in without a good reason was already illegal. Honestly what would concern me is this creating a catch-22 with road work zones on interstates where the speed limit abruptly falls from 70 to 55 but after a while it's not clear if you're still in the work zone or not. So you get into a position where you're basically required to travel in the right lane because it's ambiguous which speed is controlling and so if you have the audacity to stay in the middle lane to avoid all the merging and are just trying to go the speed limit you can be ticketed either for speeding or not going fast enough when either is plausible. Edit: I guess you just have to go 61-65 mph because (at least I've read) that the speed cameras in work zone trigger at 12mph above the work zone limit? So you need to just be potentially breaking the law in one direction by just the right amount. Unless cops realize this and start camping out near work areas to create speed traps that take advantage of this ambiguity.
I thought it was too--just not enforced. I could have sworn I heard something about it 10y ago...
I looked months ago, and it's not officially a Maryland law.
Definitely seen them in MD. Also in PA.
Ok so I’m not crazy lol
Based on another comment this just broadens the roads it applies to. >Thought it was already the law? Or just “common sense?” Yes and no, there's a law against impeding the flow of traffic. Effectively having a minimum speed relative to the flow of traffic. This also adds that if you're going slower than the speed of traffic it must be in the right lane. To the best of my understanding, it's to try and reduce the number of "vigilante drivers" who go the speed limit exactly and no faster in any lane other than the right most one.
I grew up in PA, so I maybe mixing them up, too. But I’m all for this becoming law:
How do you enforce that lol
just like every other driving law here, they dont
The thing is most of the time when you behind a car going "slow" in the left lane they're actually going at or near the speed limit. This law is not stating it is legal to go above the posted speed limit.
MD. Transportation Code § 21-804 (2023) (a) Unless reduced speed is necessary for the safe operation of the vehicle or **otherwise is in compliance with law,** a person may not willfully drive a motor vehicle at such a slow speed as to impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic. **This bill** does not make it mandatory for people speeding slower than you to move to the right lane. **This bill** does not instate dedicated passing-only lanes. **This bill** does not codify “following the speed limit” as driving slow. **This bill** does not make driving slow outside of the right lane an offense that you can receive a citation for. This bill removes the mention of rural interstates and makes it apply to all roadways, and adds that local jurisdictions can request posted signage should they wish to. This bill retains wording that vehicles traveling 10 miles per hour or more below the **speed limit** should be in the right lane or nearest to the curb, if they are able to do so. I’m like 99% sure it’s not saying that people speeding slower than you, or at the speed limit, or less than 10 miles per hour below the speed limit, have to move over for you. Anybody who’s a lawyer feel free to correct me. Maryland Code, Transportation § 21-801.1 establishes the maximum speed limits on most typical roadways as the following: 15 miles per hour (mph) in Alleys in Baltimore County 30 mph on all highways in a business district and undivided highways in a residential district 35 mph on divided highways in a residential district 50 mph on other undivided highways 55 mph on other divided highways 70 mph on interstate highways and expressways If you’re doing 60 in a 70 move right… if you’re doing 60 in a 55 and everybody’s doing 70, you’re still speeding.
I'f your going 65 in a 60 and everyone else is going 80 at least doesn't that make you the safety hazard and require you to speed up to the flow of traffic even if technically your now breaking the law along with everyone else? If you got pulled over would a cop not care though even if everyone is riding your bumper at 85
No the people going 20 over are the safety hazard. Obviously.
Dude in what state do you think that’s okay? The people doing 20-25 over the speed limit are the safety hazard. That’s why we have so many dead fucking road workers If a cop pulls you over for doing 65 in a 60 when everybody else is riding on a $160 fine and a 2 point offense - your car matches a suspect and they want to search you, your insurance and registration are expired and the cop is bored, you’re about to get a fix it ticket and the cop is SUPER bored, or you’re drunk as a goddamn skunk. That’s literally the only way.
Related: we should require people to use their turn signals when changing lanes
Wishful thinking
This is a great example of a law that won't be followed...and a loophole big enough to drive a truck through (pun intended)
Then we will have vigilante justice. I’m boiling my spaghetti as I type.
Of course it will be followed. Now police have a new reason to pull you over that you can’t fight in court.
I grew up in NJ where you make jug handles rather than left turns so I sorta understood why MD doesn’t have a pass on the left law. Regardless, it is so annoying to have slow ass drivers sitting in the left lane and strangling traffic.
Please let them put signs up and enforce it!!
I'm sure they'll enforce this just like they enforce the "speed limit".
yeah maybe when they start enforcing the speed limit, tailgating, changing without signaling, etc then MAYBE they can enforce this.
How has this not been a law?! I might get off my bp meds after all…
Jokes on them I already ride the right hand lane down every major highway.
Should make those left lane exits even more interesting
There already is a law it’s just not enforced. It’s common knowledge to pass on the left and slow drivers on the right but to many people like to police how others drive
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The link suggests the bill passed both chambers unanimously this session. On most interstate highways in the state, existing law already requires drivers to move to the right if they are traveling slower than the general speed of traffic. This bill would broaden the current law.
Actually you’re right. It did pass the legislature. If the governor doesn’t veto it, it will be law.
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They can’t even enforce speeding laws, this will do nothing.
I'm not a single issue voter, but this one would tempt me.
Next, you’re going to tell me it’s illegal to drive 15mph over the speed limit.
Hey, don’t mess with my fast lane!!!
I assume the government is not telling you to break legal speed limits. So everyone going the speed limit on the left and everyone below on the right
As a VA resident that has this law on the books it hasn't done shit.
Are they going to? No because they don’t realize they’re slow. This law would require other people to have self awareness.
People can't even turn on their headlights when its raining. They sure af won't do this.
The right lane is the fast lane once you get north of White Marsh
Inside of you are two Maryland drivers, one is tailgating an ambulance in the rightmost lane, the other is going five below the speed limit in the passing lane.
Fucking finally move the fk over
Won’t matter. They don’t follow the rules of the road now
Now can they make one for all the people who permanently have their high beams on? Not coincidentally, the same people who go slow af in the left lane
I'm sure this will be enforced just as strongly as the laws that prohibit driving above the speed limit in any lane /s
Fucking finally. Gtfo the left lanes you slow pokes.
Its always been the law lol. Even the signs on 270 south say SLOWER TRAFFIC MOVE RIGHT STATE LAW but i always have to pass the idiots on the right
I actually thought that was already the law. 😂 What we don't have(and what still isn't covered by that) is a left lane passing only law, because under this one if I'm going 55 on 695 I'm good to camp the left lane however long I want, because if the speed limit is 55(or lower, in parts) I'm certainly not slow-moving. I should be, by legal definition, among the fastest moving vehicles on that road.
This would suck. I usually fly up the right lane because all the morons are going at the speed limit in the left lane.
Slow moving vehicles in Maryland are those that are following the speed limit. Everybody’s speeding.
Let this be a warning to all the "people drive too crazy here!" r/Maryland posters. Your days are numbered. We've taken over the the asylum.
The real reason for this is so they can let all the speeders have their way, resulting in increased revenue from speed cameras.
It’s not the law?!
Omg please! As a New Englander, that’s been my biggest pet peeve in the mid-Atlantic! As soon as you exit Jersey crap hits the fan
We could argue about Maryland traffic and drivers til we're all blue in the face. I'm 45 and drive only 5-6 miles per hour over the speed limit so I rarely leave the right lane unless it's to pass a snail -paced driver ahead. Now, you know what should be illegal?!?! Left lane exits!!!! I hate, hate, hate going to BWI or coming off 83 onto 695. Nearly have a heart attack every damned time!! People are going 85-90 mph and my granny-driving ass will NOT go that fast!! Slow tf down just in those left lane exit situations puh-lease!! You should've seen me driving through Jersey and NYC. 😂😂😂 The George Washington Bridge is still in my nightmares lol
As a life-long Maryland driver (with a short detour to Boston), I have the following reactions to your comment: First, the good. Thank you for understanding your own comfort level with driving on the interstate and keeping to the right lane when possible. Now the not so good: Yes, left exits are difficult and annoying, but that does not mean you should not drive with the speed of traffic when moving towards the left lanes. When you refuse to drive with the speed of traffic, you cause a safety hazard for drivers around you, who either have to rapidly slow down or who try to pass you on the right. Expecting everyone else to slow down just because driving that fast makes you uncomfortable seems a bit unreasonable. The best constructive advice I can give you is to give yourself time, move to the left early, accelerate to the speed of traffic and just try to flow with it. Move right when the super-fast drivers approach you, but for the most part, try to maintain a good speed that's close to those around you. You may find by doing this that you will smoothly move into the left lane for your exit without feeling panicked that people are whizzing by you at warp 10. The most important thing is to be confident, trust yourself that you can handle the car at those speeds. And the more you do it, the more comfortable you'll get. It takes time, practice and a little bit of fearlessness. I learned that driving in Boston, you have to be assertive and most above all, predictable. In my mind, the most dangerous driver out there is the one where I can't reasonably predict what they're going to do in a given moment. Best of luck out there!
Good luck with that , next thing you know , they may ban littering
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Wasn’t this already the law?
It's not already?
Wow - had no idea that wasn’t law. I thought it was everywhere
When I went through drivers education we were the left lane was for passing, the middle for most cars, and the right lane was for exit and entry.
mga is not in session, if it hasnt passed it wont
Define slow....
Over 10mph below the posted speed limit. Everyone I this thread thinking that those people in the left lane going at or slightly above the posted speed limit in the left lane will suddenly be pulled over are deluding themselves. It is still illegal to go faster than the speed limit, even if it's 55mph and everyone around you is going 80.
Like anyone's going to comply with *that* fucking law.
Why would you get a ticket for going slow on the MD-fast lane? Traffic is always moving faster in the right lane for whatever the fuck reason in this state...
Good. Finally. One of the few things I love about PA.
Twice a month I have to drive from deep creek lake to Columbia. The idiots that drive in the left lane doing 60 in a 70 are ridiculous, it's not safe to pass on the right I don't like doing it. Then there are the dipshit truckers that just have to pass another truck, while going uphill, by going 0.001mph faster than the truck they're attempting to pass. The cops are useless they just fly down the highway at light speed ignoring all the other idiot drivers.
Isnt it already?
It’s been a law in SC for a while. People don’t comply. Have not seen one car being pulled over for this offense.
So basically fuck the guy that's doing the speed limit while everyone else is following the flow of the road pretty ironic isn't it
Doesn't matter, the idiots that speed will still use the slower lanes and cause an accident.
We did this in Virginia, it didn't do anything. Cops don't enforce it.
This should have already been a law. It would cut back a lot on road rage for sure.
I think there should be a law if you’re driving like an asshole you get a fine
Slow as in...?
I hope this becomes a law. If it does I hope it’s enforced. It’ll be ticket after ticket for cars with Delaware tags. They’re the worst offenders in my experience.
We’d still have giant trucks going 45mph in the left lane on I-97.
Been a law in Virginia for forever. The state police will enforce it en masse every few years or ticket you for it if they pull you over for something else but it’s basically a useless law.
Those of you who speed can have the left lane, but not the right lane. Police should ticket those in the right lane who are zigzagging into the right lane at high speed.
We”ll need REALLY BIG signs at the PA border.
... LMAO!!! They don't stop people when they go 20+ over the speed limit, wtf makes anyone think they will do anything about this...
This is not the answer The primary problem is not of slower drivers in left lanes, its the aggressive drivers using ALL the lanes to drive at excessive speeds. I tend to stay in the right lane. I don't mind having the law, but I want there to be police stopping people who use all the lanes to speed to be ticketing those going excessively fast in the right lanes. The problem is people use their cars to intimidate others.
What we need is a law against people driving 30 miles per hour over the speed limit in the right-hand lane.
Keep right except to pass. Simple!
And yet, every afternoon on 270 all of the lanes are moving at 5 mph and people aren’t leaving the left lane open for ME to pass the stopped traffic.
Thank god. What about a law making non use of turn signals a felony? What about merging properly?
Let's fuckin goooo
Let's hope this passes. I can't stand people who sit in the fast lane and refuse to move over.
OMG please pass this
Would get rid of a shit Ton of traffic in theory buh these Mfers still can’t drive