{"id":158170,"date":"2026-02-17T09:04:35","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T09:04:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/158170\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T09:04:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T09:04:35","slug":"can-you-be-punished-for-left-lane-camping-heres-what-florida-law-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/158170\/","title":{"rendered":"Can you be punished for left-lane camping? Here\u2019s what Florida law says"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Left-lane campers are a huge frustration for many drivers in the state. But it turns out they may be breaking the rules.<\/p>\n

According to Florida state law<\/a>, vehicles are supposed to drive along the \u201cright half\u201d of the roadway, though there are some exceptions.<\/p>\n

For example, the left-hand lane can be used to pass other cars, or when there\u2019s an obstruction in the road that necessitates doing so.<\/p>\n

But when it comes to the far-left lane on many highways, drivers are expected to move over if they\u2019re being overtaken by a faster vehicle (unless the driver is getting ready for a left-hand turn at an intersection).<\/p>\n

In short: \u201cDrive in the right lane and pass on the left.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

[BELOW: Orange County deputies pull over drivers for violating the Left Lane Law<\/a>]<\/p>\n

If drivers are found to be left-lane camping and impeding traffic as a result, they leave themselves open to being fined up to $158.<\/p>\n

Despite the civil penalties, though, it\u2019s an issue that still pops up all over Florida. <\/p>\n

CAN WE DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT?<\/p>\n

Lawmakers actually tried to do this back in 2024 with House Bill 317<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Under that bill, the left lane must be used to pass other drivers on roads, streets or highways with at least two lanes and a posted speed limit of 65 mph. <\/p>\n

[BELOW: What are the rules for e-bikes in Florida?]<\/p>\n

And if it had been signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, it would have taken effect on Jan. 1, 2025 \u2014 just over a year ago. However, DeSantis ultimately vetoed the proposal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He provided the following reason for why he chose to do so:<\/p>\n

\u201cWith limited exceptions, this bill prohibits the driver of a motor vehicle from driving in the furthest left-hand lane of any road in Florida with two or more lanes and a posted speed limit of at least 65 miles per hour. Violators would be guilty of a moving violation and subject to a fine of up to $158.<\/p>\n

The language of this bill is too broad and could lead to drivers in Florida being pulled over, ticketed, and fined for driving in the furthest left lane even if they are not impeding the flow of traffic or if there are few or no other cars in the immediate area.<\/p>\n

In addition, the bill could potentially increase congestion in Florida\u2019s urban areas as drivers may decide to not utilize the furthest left-hand lane at all for fear of being ticketed.<\/p>\n

For these reasons, I withhold my approval of HB 317 and do hereby veto the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (2024)Breaking News Alerts<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Left-lane campers are a huge frustration for many drivers in the state. But it turns…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29,2161,139,99,412,232,729],"class_list":{"0":"post-158170","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-florida","9":"tag-florida-headlines","10":"tag-florida-news","11":"tag-government","12":"tag-orlando","13":"tag-politics","14":"tag-ron-desantis","15":"tag-tallahassee","16":"tag-traffic"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}