Bill would tweak law on slow left-lane drivers

Some state lawmakers want to strengthen the law against “vehicular lollygagging,” a term that describes motorists who drive slowly in the left lane as faster-moving traffic stacks up behind or streams around them on the right.

House Bill 2746 was introduced by state Rep. Jarrett Keohokalole (D, Kahaluu-Ahuimanu-Kaneohe), who commutes regularly from Windward Oahu, and was approached by constituents who are unhappy with the driving habits of some of their fellow travelers.

Many Hawaii highways have signs instructing slower traffic to move to the right, but “just from experience, nobody follows this law, and it’s never been enforced,” Keohokalole said.

A state law has been on the books for 45 years requiring that vehicles move right if they are traveling more slowly than “the normal speed of traffic,” Keohokalole said. Violators face fines of up to $200 for a first offense, but the existing law doesn’t define the term “normal speed of traffic.”

That means any citation for “lollygagging” could be challenged, and would likely be dismissed when it gets to court, Keohokalole said. Keohokalole’s bill would require that vehicles in the left lane of a two-lane highway move to the right if they are traveling at less than the normal speed of traffic, and have three or more vehicles stacked up behind them.

That idea was supported Wednesday by a half-dozen Hawaii motorists including Russell Sasaoka, who said he returned to Hawaii after living on the mainland for 17 years.

Since moving back, Sasaoka said, he has watched motorists traveling at or below the posted speed limit on freeways as drivers whiz by them on the right. “I have also seen all lanes held up by vehicles occupying all lanes and driving at the same speed” and delaying traffic, Sasaoka said in written testimony.

National traffic data show that simply moving to the right to get out of the way of other speeding motorists is safer, improves the flow of traffic, and reduces the number of “road rage” incidents, Keohokalole said.

Keohokalole said he introduced the bill in part to raise public awareness of the existing law, because it appears many Hawaii motorists don’t know they aren’t supposed to “lollygag” in the left lane.

He said he also has a personal interest in the bill “because my wife used to do this, and it used to irritate me, and I told her it was against the law. We had a bet, so I went and looked the statute up.” The upshot of that dispute was “I won the battle, and lost the war,” he said.

The House Transportation Committee on Wednesday amended Keohokalole’s bill to apply it to roads with two lanes headed in the same direction, which means it would not apply to Oahu’s largest freeways. The measure now goes to the House Judiciary Committee for further consideration.