LANCASTER − We’ve probably all experienced it.
You’re driving on the highway in the right lane and want to pass the car in front of you. But you can’t because there is a slow car camped out in the left, or passing lane, blocking your way. In frustration, you hope a cop pulls the left-lane camper over and tickets them.
But that’s probably not going to happen because it’s not illegal to drive in the left lane, the Ohio Highway Patrol and Fairfield County Sheriff Alex Lape said.
“As long as you maintain your lane of travel, there’s nothing that dictates that you can’t travel in that lane,” Lape said.
Highway patrol Lt. Brice Nihiser agreed.
“If you’re not passing, it’s still legal to drive in the left lane,” he said. “It’s not codified in law that you can’t be driving in that lane. However, for emergency vehicles and to promote better traffic flow, it’s going to be better driving in the right lane just for better safety.”
Nihiser said drivers can be ticketed for impeding traffic in the left lane by going too slow, though.
“And then you wouldn’t be cited for explicitly driving in the left lane,” he said. “You would be cited for a slow-speed violation. That’s where you’re causing such a large disruption in traffic that traffic can’t get around you and you’re causing kind of a backup.”
But that doesn’t mean drivers don’t get upset by a slower driver in the left lane just because it’s legal. However, Lape said those frustrated drivers may be wanting to exceed the speed limit and the slower driver is preventing them from doing so.
Nihiser said a good way to avoid such frustration is to pre-plan your trip.
“Maybe leaving a little bit early so you’re avoiding that situation where you’re stuck behind someone and you feel like you may be late,” he said. “Planning to arrive early is always going to be the best way to make sure that you’re not late.”
Another way to ease the frustration is just to continue on your way in the right lane at the posted speed limit, Nihiser said. He said it is legal to pass someone from the right lane at the speed limit if the left-lane driver is not doing the speed limit, if you do want to get around them.
Please consider subscribing to support local journalism.
jbarron@gannett.com
740-681-4340
Twitter/X: @jeffrey_ba7142
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Can you be ticketed for staying in the left lane in Ohio? What to know.
Reporting by Jeff Barron, Lancaster Eagle-Gazette / Lancaster Eagle-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jeff Barron, Lancaster Eagle-Gazette | USA TODAY Network
