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Question: As a Drivers Ed and motorcycle instructor, I was very pleased to read your comments on traffic laws in the Tuesday paper. Keep up the good work of informing the public. I would like to see you address the traveling in the left lane on highways. It is interesting how few signs and awareness the public has to “Slower Traffic Keep Right”. —Thomas  

Answer: Thomas, thank you for the kind words. I have had a couple of questions on use of the left lane on multi-lane highways, so let’s see if we can clear things up.

Many states have laws that say that slower traffic must keep to the right. To many people, this implies that if you are not moving with the speed of traffic, no matter what speed that traffic is moving at, you must stay out of the left lane, and in some states, that is exactly what the law says.

  In other states, you cannot be in the left lane at all, unless you are actively passing cars, and when you are done, you must move back over to the right lane. If you look at theleftlaneisforpassing.com website, you will see the interesting variety of laws that have been passed on this subject in various states.

In Alaska however, the law only requires vehicles on divided roads outside of urban areas to stay out of the left lane if they are moving at less than the speed limit. This is covered in 13AAC 02.050(b), and can get you an $85 ticket with two points against your license.

I know this frustrates many drivers, because they feel that if they come up behind somebody in the left lane, the driver blocking their way should move out of their way, no matter how fast or slow they are going. Legally however, as long as the driver in front is going at least the speed limit, they are not doing anything wrong.

I look at it this way. If a speeder comes up behind a person in the left lane who is going the speed limit and gets upset because they can no longer go as fast as they want, no matter how they slice it, they are getting mad at the person in front of them because they are keeping the speeder from breaking the law.

One final note on this subject. On two lane roads (vs. divided roads), if a person is going less than the speed limit and five or more cars are backed up behind them, the person blocking traffic is required to pull over and let the traffic pass. This is addressed in A.S. 28.35.140. Failing to pull over when required can get you a $110, 4 point ticket.

If you have questions that you would like to ask a trooper, please send them to Alaska State Troopers, 1979 Peger Road, Fairbanks, AK 99709. Or you can e-mail them to Chad.Goeden@alaska.gov.

The Alaska State Troopers remind you to always wear your seatbelt. It’s the law.

—Sgt. Chad J. Goeden