![]() We recently had a client who was in this kind of situation. Perhaps an officer wants to pull over a slow car just to check the driver’s sobriety, but the act of slow driving had nothing to do with impeding traffic? Or if the officer suspects they are trailing a known criminal, and wanted an excuse to pull them over?Īllowing officers to ticket drivers for slow driving allows police a lot of discretion to stop drivers who are just being safe on the road. This is one of those times when the intention of the law can be at odds with what police are trying to accomplish on a day-to-day basis. These rules seem to make sense. Why the fuss about slow driving? Of course, there are exceptions to this law, such as when a driver needs to make a left turn, when passing other cars, or even allowing cars to merge safely onto a road. By “leftmost” lane, the law means the furthest left lane available to regular traffic – so this doesn’t include HOV lanes or bus lanes, even if they’re on the far left. The actual wording of this subsection asks drivers to remove themselves from the leftmost lane when approached by another vehicle coming from behind. 151(3) is related to the whole issue of “hogging” lanes. Recall the signs, often along highways, that say “ slow moving traffic must keep right”? Legislators were also cognizant that the right lane may not always be suitable, for example, in some places it may be preferable to keep slow traffic in a different lane where there’s more space.įinally, s. 151(g) applies when there are signs or traffic signals telling slow moving traffic to stay in a certain lane. Think farm tractors, less powerful scooters, or big trucks that take longer to accelerate or decelerate. 150(2), however, deals with particularly slow moving vehicles, such as those who can’t move up to the regular speed limit. ![]() The provincial government decided after a review in 2014 that drivers were “hogging” left lanes, and that this was a safety concern for people in rural areas. The requirement to keep right on a road is relatively new to BC’s law books. 145(1) slow driving offence states that its intention is to penalize drivers moving so slow that they “impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic.” A later subsection clarifies that if a driver is blocking traffic, they must comply with the instruction of any police officer to increase their speed or to get off the road until otherwise directed by the officer.Īllowing officers to ticket drivers for slow driving allows police a lot of discretion to stop drivers who are just being safe on the road. The reason for some of the slow driving offences seem obvious. It’s not every day, but police can and do issue violation tickets for slow driving. ![]() What are the intentions of laws against slow driving?
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