CDOT warns drivers to stay in the right lane, unless passing

There are few things more frustrating than driving on Interstate 25 and coming up behind a person driving 50 mph. In the passing lane.

Turns out the Colorado Department of Transportation doesn't like it, either. It has been using its electronic signs above I-25 to display safety messages to drivers, including one that reminds people to use the right lane unless they're passing.

"If it's not used as a passing lane, it just frustrates people who are trying to do the right thing, and in the end, it creates disgruntled drivers," CDOT Traffic Safety Communications Manager Sam Cole said. "And that's the last thing we want on our roadways with the amount of road rage we see."

When people only use the left lane for passing, it helps keep traffic moving and can prevent some backups on the interstate, he said.

"It's not only best practice, but it's also the law," Cole said. "It's a law I know (Colorado State Patrol) is enforcing rigidly."

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Last year, the state patrol issued 374 citations for using the left lane as a travel lane. So far this year, it has issued 94, CSP spokesman Nate Reid said in an email.

The Left Lane Law took effect in 2004 and reads: “A person shall not drive a motor vehicle in the passing lane of a highway if the speed limit is sixty-five miles per hour or more unless such person is passing other motor vehicles that are in a non-passing lane or turning left, or unless the volume of traffic does not permit the motor vehicle to safely merge into a non-passing lane.”

Getting pulled over for using the left lane as a travel lane can get you a $100 fine and three points on your license.

Roads: U.S. 34 set to reopen before Memorial Day weekend