In February 2025, the Arizona legislature proposed Amendment HB2235 to the state’s traffic laws, and by June of the same year, it was implemented. This modification makes it illegal for drivers to be in the left lane if they’re not driving the speed of traffic. Failure to do so can result in a $500 fine.
The law the Arizona State Legislature on the books explicitly states, “On all roadways, a person driving a vehicle proceeding at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions then existing shall drive the vehicle in the right-hand lane then available for traffic or as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway, except when overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction or when preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.” All of that legalese simply says that if you’re driving slower than the flow of traffic, stay to the right. Hence, its “stay right” moniker.
While most might find it to be a reasonable law because left lanes are for those driving faster than those on the right, matters have taken an unexpected turn. The state’s Supreme Court essentially made it legal for police to search anyone’s vehicle who is in violation of the law. If that’s tacked on to the $500 fine, that could be worse than Florida’s new speeding law.
Arizona Supreme Court makes matters worse
In 2018, Arizona resident Asalia Alvarez-Soto was driving in the middle lane of Interstate 10, going 75 mph initially but eventually slowed to 70 mph. At that speed, a car in the right lane was able to pass Alvarez-Soto, prompting Officer Ashton Shewey to pull her over for impeding the flow of traffic. Shewey asked if he could search her car and Alvarez-Soto declined, but she allowed the officer’s dog to sniff around the car, resulting in 55 pounds of marijuana being discovered in the trunk. This ultimately landed her in prison for five years.
This was before a 2020 vote that legalized the drug in the State — the same year the American Heart Association said that marijuana could have health risks. Alvarez-Soto eventually appealed the sentence, to which the Court of Appeals ruled that Officer Shewey had an overly strict interpretation of the “stay right” law and the seized drug couldn’t be used against Alvarez-Soto in a criminal case.
However, the matter eventually found its way to the Arizona Supreme Court, where the justices unanimously agreed that the seizure was legal. There are other factors in the case that are still being handled by a trial judge, but the moral of the lesson is: stay in the right lane if you’re going slower than the flow of traffic.
