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 State law for 15 years has designated interstate left lanes
primarily as passing lanes, but Illinois State Police said troopers this year
will use unmarked vehicles to aggressively try to catch those lingering in the
left lane and hand out $120 tickets.
Illinois State Police on Jan. 3 took to Facebook to caution motorists with the
hashtag “#LeftLaneLollygaggersBeware.” The post included a link to a WCIA-TV
broadcast on the plans to heighten enforcement of left lane abuse.
“One of the tactics we’re going to use this year is to use covert vehicles and
that way we can do special details,” Illinois State Trooper Tracy Lillard told
WCIA-TV. “The motoring public doesn’t know which vehicles we’re in, so we can
radio in to the squad cars up ahead to pull over those particular vehicles.”
Troopers are enforcing a state traffic statute that took effect in 2004. The law
basically says to stay out of the left lane on interstate highways “except when
overtaking and passing another vehicle.”
It also allows exceptions for road conditions, left-lane exit ramps, traffic
congestion, merging and other laws such as the mandate to move over for a
disabled vehicle or when police have a driver stopped on the right shoulder – as
in when they are issuing a driver a $120 ticket for violating the left-lane law.
Drivers are allowed to stay in the left lane if there are no other cars behind
them in the left lane.
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Troopers will also target drivers who tailgate as a
way to get slower drivers back into the right lane. They said
left-lane lingering causes road rage incidents and accidents, which
were the reasons the law was initially introduced in addition to
aggressive passing in the right lane.
Illinois’ law only applies to interstate and controlled access
highways, which generally have ramps and no traffic signals. It is
not illegal to drive in the left lane on county or state highways
with intersections and stop lights, according to the law.
State police will also continue to target their list of high-risk
driving behaviors called the “Fatal Four,” which includes impaired
driving, speeding, not wearing a seatbelt and distracted driving.
While state authorities are prepared to combat more left lane
misuse, the agency does not categorize the practice as a “high-risk”
driving behavior.
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