In Arizona, you can be ticketed for driving too slowly. A.R.S. § 28-704 states that a person “shall not drive a motor vehicle at such a slow speed as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic …” The statute identifies two exceptions:
1) Where reduced speed is necessary for safe operation or compliance with law. It’s OK to drive slowly through a storm, and it’s always OK to drive the posted speed limit.
2) Where the reasonable flow of traffic “exceeds the maximum safe operating speed of a lawfully operated implement of husbandry.” Think farm tractor or combine moving from one field to another.
Some areas have posted minimum speed limits so you don’t have to guess at what’s too slow. Most commonly, these are found on highways with multiple lanes in each direction and on city streets.
In Arizona, the maximum speed limit is 75 miles per hour on highways, with lower limits in urban areas and school zones. The minimum speed limit is 55 miles per hour, unless otherwise posted.
Another interesting provision of the statute applies whenever you are driving on a two-lane highway where passing is unsafe. If you are driving at a speed less than the normal flow of traffic, and five or more vehicles are lined up behind you, you must turn off the highway at the nearest “turnout” to let the other vehicles pass. A turnout is “a widened place in the street for vehicles to pass each other or temporarily park and includes a right turn lane.”
So now you know.
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