Colorado Highway Patrol cracks down on left lane drivers

A family friend recently found out first hand that Colorado has a law prohibiting motorists from driving for extended periods of time in the left-hand, or passing, lane.

"The Left Lane Law" actually hit the books in July 2004, but as the officer who pulled over our friend noted, "I'm not going to give you a ticket today because we are still educating the public about this."

The law states: “A person shall not drive a motor vehicle in the passing lane of a highway if the speed limit is 65 miles per hour or more unless such person is passing other motor vehicles that are in a nonpassing lane or turning left, or unless the volume of traffic does not permit the motor vehicle to safely merge into a nonpassing lane.”

By the way, the black and white photo above, circa the 1960s, comes courtesy of the state's Left Hand Lane Law brochure. Perhaps the highway patrol held onto this photo for more than four decades just waiting for the legislature to act on this critical issue.

On one hand, I am always annoyed when someone is putt-putting along in the passing lane on the highway, but, wow ... did we really need a law? I'm picturing that Colorado's legislature just got bored one afternoon while trying to solve a real traffic issue -- like the ludicrously long weekend highway lines to the ski areas -- and decide to tackle something easy, like keeping people out of the left lane.

By the way, violations carry a $41 fine and 3 points against your license. So, move it on over, bub!