Yeah Colorado!

[dwasson]

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Colorado drivers have less than a week before they will start getting fined for using the left lane of highways for anything but passing.

Starting Jan. 1, troopers will stop warning drivers and start issuing $35 tickets, plus a $6.20 surcharge and three points on their license.

A 6-month-old law said the left lane is to be used only for passing on any of Colorado's multilane highways where the speed limit is 65 mph or faster. Lawmakers passed the bill, hoping to prevent traffic congestion and cut down on road rage.

"When I learned to drive, they told me, 'The left lane is for passing. The right lane is for driving,"' State Patrol Trooper Sara Shipley said recently.

She and other troopers have spent the past six months warning drivers in hopes of educating them about the July 1 law, which requires motorists to stay in the right lane, except to pass slower-moving traffic. If a highway has three or more lanes, motorists are expected to stay out of the far left lane.

The exception is rush hour, when motorists are not able to move over.

Shipley said some of the drivers she's stopped have admitted they were deliberately driving under the speed limit in the left lane in an effort to prevent others from speeding.

"They don't need to be playing police," Shipley said. "That's not their job."

Worse, slow drivers in the left lane can cause tailgating and road rage.

The Colorado Department of Transportation has posted about 40 signs around the state, reminding motorists to "Keep right except to pass." Another 30 signs are planned.

A motorist recently pulled over for driving in the left lane said he had not heard of the new law.

"I never realized it existed," said John Trujillo, a Pueblo real estate agent. "But it does make sense."

Gov. Bill Owens signed the bill into law in July. The new law is aimed at improving both safety and traffic flow since vehicles traveling below the speed limit often create real traffic hazards if they are in the left lane, Owens had said.

[Mike Poore]

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Colorado drivers have less than a week before they will start getting fined for using the left lane of highways for anything but passing. ...Gov. Bill Owens signed the bill into law in July. The new law is aimed at improving both safety and traffic flow since vehicles traveling below the speed limit often create real traffic hazards if they are in the left lane, Owens had said.

They have the law in Maryland, but don't enforce it. The cops ride out there all the time. (US 15 Frederick to the PA line).