Rules of the Road: Is it legal to pass a tractor in a no-passing zone?
Q: This time of year there are a lot of tractors driving on roads near farms. Is it legal to pass a tractor in a no-passing zone?
A: The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius once said, “The impediment to action advances action. That which stands in the way becomes the way.” This quote has been popularized by modern stoic writer Ryan Holiday as, “The obstacle is the way.” Being a fan of stoic philosophy, I’ve been asking myself, “If the obstacle is a tractor, and I’m in a no-passing zone, how does the tractor become the way?” Maybe Marcus meant it as a metaphor and I’m taking it too literally.
And if I am taking it too literally, the tractor probably isn’t an obstacle. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Any driver should already know that solid center lines indicate a no-passing zone. The question then is, are there any exceptions to the no-passing zone law?
Yes, there is one exception. The law doesn’t apply “when an obstruction exists making it necessary to drive to the left of the center of the highway.” (The driver still has to yield to oncoming traffic.) This leads to more questions: What is an obstruction? And when is it necessary? Neither of these terms are defined in traffic law, but we can get a hint from Washington’s criminal code on how “necessary” might be understood. I’m admittedly using it out of context, but in the criminal code necessary is defined, in part, as having no other reasonable alternative.
While “obstruction” isn’t defined, it is used in other places in traffic law, and most frequently it refers to a stationary object blocking the roadway. For example, the secure-your-load law describes objects that have fallen out of a vehicle and onto the roadway as obstructions.
We’re getting into interpretation of the law which, as you might recall from “Schoolhouse Rock,” is the job of the judicial branch of government. (I just rewatched that episode and had forgotten that “Schoolhouse Rock” describes the three branches of government as a three-ring circus with clowns.) I’ll share my understanding, but I’m no lawyer and my opinion carries no weight in a court of law.
A tractor fits the definition of a motor vehicle in the law, and it’s more appropriate to consider it a slow-moving vehicle than an obstruction. The law prohibits passing a slow-moving vehicle in a no-passing zone.
Even if you were to argue that a tractor driving on the roadway is an obstruction, I still don’t think you could legally pass it in a no-passing zone, because it doesn’t meet the “necessary” requirement. Since the tractor is driving, it’s going to eventually pull into a farm or reach a stretch of road where it’s safe to pass. You might not like the wait, but it’s a reasonable alternative to passing in a no-passing zone.
The exception to crossing the centerline in a no-passing zone is intended for inanimate objects, like a couch that’s fallen out the back of a pickup truck. It’s not going to get out of your way, so it’s necessary to go around it. (Or if you’re a kind-hearted soul and you think it’s safe you could push it out of the roadway, but that might be a dangerous option.)
Getting back to our stoic teachers, maybe it’s not the tractor that’s the obstacle, but our sense of urgency. Then the tractor becomes the way; the way to practice patience. Too philosophical and preachy? Fair enough. Even so, I’m sticking with my answer: It’s not legal to pass a tractor in a no-passing zone.
