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Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1120 · Article 25. Driving On Right Side of Roadway, Overtaking and Passing, Etc

Drive on right side of roadway; exceptions

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — Law content up to date as of October 30, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)

§ 1120. Drive on right side of roadway; exceptions. (a) Upon all roadways of sufficient width a vehicle shall be driven upon the right half of the roadway, except as follows:

1. When overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction under the rules governing such movement;

2. When overtaking or passing bicyclists, pedestrians, animals or obstructions on the right half of the roadway;

3. When an obstruction exists making it necessary to drive to the left of the center of the highway; provided, any person so doing shall yield the right of way to all vehicles traveling in the proper direction upon the unobstructed portion of the highway within such distance as to constitute an immediate hazard;

4. Where travel on the shoulder or slope is permitted by section eleven hundred thirty-one of this article;

5. Upon a roadway divided into three marked lanes for traffic under the rules applicable thereon; or

6. Upon a roadway restricted to one-way traffic.

(b) In addition, upon all roadways, any vehicle proceeding at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions then existing shall be driven 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.

(c) Upon any roadway having four or more lanes for moving traffic and providing for two way movement of traffic, no vehicle shall be driven to the left of the center line of the roadway, except when authorized by signs or markings designating certain lanes to the left side of the center of the roadway for use by traffic not otherwise permitted to use such lanes, or except as permitted under subsection (a) (2) hereof.

Source of truth

Edition
Law content up to date as of October 30, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)
Official file
https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/laws/VAT1120
Text hash
sha256 1fc2c4646f7c443530d41d1870cd0fbecc3b5aa483a68603853487e94f22ebd2
Composed by
gen_ny_statutes.py 2026-11-10: the Senate's Open Legislation law tree (GET /api/3/laws/<ID>?full=true) read in document order; the Senate's PDF of the whole law (GET /pdf/laws/<ID>?full=true), read with PDFium, prints the same words in the same order

Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.