Road Rules: Is a Delay of More Than Five Vehicles Illegal?

We’ve all been there. A large travel trailer, fifth wheel, or recreational vehicle will be chugging down the highway 10 to 15 miles per hour below the posted speed limit. A delay of more than five vehicles.

Cars start backing up behind the rig and there’s no safe way to pass due to curves in the road or limited sight lines.

It’s gotta be illegal, right?

State Law

Well, no, neither Washington nor Oregon law mentions the speed limit in reference to their requirement for slow-moving vehicles to pull over.

However, on a Washington state highway where it’s unsafe to pass, a slow vehicle must pull off the road if five or more cars are formed in a line, but only when it’s safe to do so.

Oregon law, unlike Washington law, doesn’t list a certain number of delayed vehicles required before a slow vehicle must pull off the highway.

Enforcement

We don’t know of anyone in either state having been cited for impeding traffic when they’re driving at the speed limit. (The only situation in which you can legally exceed the speed limit is when passing a vehicle, and even then only for long enough to safely complete the pass.)
That said, driving with a string of cars behind you is nerve-racking and can contribute to road rager. It can cause you to get rattled and other drivers to grow impatient and try to pass in unsafe conditions.

You have undoubtedly seen the sign that warns “Delay of more than 5 vehicles is illegal”. That sounds pretty definitive, but there’s more to it than that.

Here’s what’s written in the Revised Code of Washington: “On a two-lane highway where passing is unsafe … a slow moving vehicle, behind which five or more vehicles are formed in a line, shall turn off the roadway wherever sufficient area for a safe turn-out exists, in order to permit the vehicles following to proceed.”

The best advice: If you are driving a recreational vehicle, travel trailer or towing anything else, drive not only within the speed limit, but also at a safe speed for your situation and conditions (which may be lower than the posted limit). If you see cars lining up behind you on a two-lane road, whatever your speed, look for opportunities to pull over and let them pass as soon as it’s safe.

But don’t worry that you’ll get a ticket and settle for a dangerous pull-over that could require you to swerve, brake suddenly or risk dropping a tire into the ditch because you’re trying to pull over on a narrow shoulder. 

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Sources: AAA Washington, Bellingham Herald