“You’ve been in the left lane longer than some Utah couples dated before getting married,” reads a recent Utah Department of Transportation Instagram post.
Left-lane driving, or “left-lane loafing,” can cause traffic congestion, collisions and road rage.
Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Zach Randall said it’s also against the law.
“There’s that misconception from a lot of people that it is a fast lane, but it is in fact a passing lane,” Randall said. “You know, if a person is in that left lane, kind of camping out, and a vehicle comes up behind them to actively pass them, then that person does need to move over a lane to their right and let that vehicle pass them.”
Otherwise, the driver could be ticketed for impeding traffic, a $130 offense.
Randall said left-lane driving is difficult to enforce. Often, troopers pull over the vehicle tailgating the loafing car instead.
He said the best way to address the problem is through education, including UDOT’s posts.
The transportation agency's social media manager Aimee Colton said UDOT is helping raise awareness of the dangers of left-lane driving with humor.
She said the inspiration came from her own driving frustrations.
“I said, ‘Let’s make this week Get Out of Left Lane Week.’ It’s a fictional holiday, though,” she said.
Drivers are responding to the effort. One left-lane loafing post has more than 20,000 likes, with comments like “we need this in every language.”
Colton said the light-hearted posts generate a larger audience.
“They latch on more when there’s a fun humorous message behind it,” she said. “And so, we want to optimize for what makes the most sense for the channels that we communicate on.”
Randall said he hopes the messages help change the public’s perception of the left lane, making roads safer for everyone.
