Utah may increase awareness of its laws targeting left-lane loafing violations

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Utah may enhance driver education on left-lane laws to improve traffic safety and flow.
UHP averages over 500 impeding citations annually and plans more enforcement efforts.
Officials consider using signs and social media to raise awareness of left-lane rules.

SALT LAKE CITY — State troopers often find themselves in a pickle when they come across a driver tailgating behind another driver sticking to the left lane on a freeway, Utah Highway Patrol Col. Greg Holley says.

Utah has laws that aim to ensure drivers only use the leftmost lane or lanes for passing, but sometimes drivers don't move back to the right after a pass because they are traveling the speed limit.

There are also laws banning aggressive driving behaviors, and troopers will usually pull over the driver engaging in those tactics on the roadway, Holley told members of the Utah Legislature's Transportation Interim Committee last week.

"If I have to pick between two people breaking the law, someone hanging out in the left lane and someone aggressively driving trying to push them faster, typically troopers are going to stop the person that's tailgating," he said.

However, he also believes that UHP could better educate drivers about the state law on what are commonly referred to as left-lane loafers, potentially reducing these types of conflicts and improving traffic flow.

UHP averaged over 500 citations for impeding annually over the past three years, as well as over 3,000 HOV violations.

"I think that's where we can do better is the educational piece to get it out there, where people are actively thinking about, 'I only move over (to the left lane) when I'm ready to pass and immediately back over,'" Holley said.

The Utah Department of Transportation has installed nearly 50 signs instructing heavy trucks to stay out of the left lanes, and it also has over 60 other signs instructing people of laws reminding slower traffic to keep to the right.

It could begin posting messages on its interactive overhead signs educating drivers about the law, which could be done in conjunction with a social media campaign similar to how it recently advertised the state's zipper merge laws, UDOT and UHP officials said.

That came after state lawmakers suggested the idea during last week's meeting.

"There needs to be some kind of messaging system to say, 'If someone's trying to pass you, move over to the right and go in the lane that matches your speed' because I saw a lot of people just kind of like daydreaming and going on in the left lane," said Rep. Kay Christofferson, R-Lehi, the committee's co-chair.

Others suggested new ways to target people who pull over on the left-hand shoulder.

While that and other potential changes could be considered at a later time, UHP plans continue to enforce the laws on its books.

"We'll continue to do the enforcement, and maybe we can do better with some of the saturation enforcement blitzes, where it's highly focused on left-lane impeding and lots of reminders out there," Holley said.

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