2,540 Colorado Drivers Ticketed For Camping Out In The Left Lane Last Year

The motto of every highway left lane should be "survival of the quickest." For a lot of drivers, there's nothing more frustrating than someone camping out in the left lane. Even in a state like Colorado, where they love camping. The Colorado State Patrol revealed earlier this month that troopers pulled over 2,540 drivers for "traveling slower than the flow of traffic" in the left lane. While I can't publicly condone speeding, it can be dangerous to drive the speed limit in the innermost lane.

The State Patrol gave some insight into where and when these kinds of stops typically happen. The agency noted that it stopped drivers 962 times on Interstate 70 for left-lane camping. The highway runs east-west across the state, passing through Denver and Vail. As for when, Friday afternoon is the most common time of the week for stops. I can only imagine that people are getting held up as they rush home for the weekend. Colonel Matthew. Packard, Chief of the Colorado State Patrol, gave drivers a warning:

"Even if you are driving the maximum legal speed limit, the left lane is not intended to be a permanent travel lane on roadways 65 mph or greater in Colorado. Drivers are not legally allowed to obstruct traffic lanes in Colorado, so even if you don't like the speed of other drivers, interfering with traffic flow is also unsafe driving behavior."

Colorado isn't the only state trying to stomp out drivers sitting in the left lane. Louisiana passed a law last year that could send left-lane campers to jail. According to WWL-TV, drivers would face stiffer penalties for repeat offenses. A $150 fine for a first offense, a $250 fine for a second, and a $350 fine with the chance of spending up to 30 days in jail on the third offense. The new law also removed the previous threshold that required drivers to be travelling at least 10 miles per hour below the speed limit.

Other states are attempting to follow Louisiana's lead. There was a bill in Idaho's state legislature to introduce a $75 fine. While the bill passed in the upper chamber, it failed in the Idaho House last week. I wouldn't be surprised if this isn't the last time we hear about a state attempting to crack down on slow drivers in the left lane.