Wash. Rev. Code » Title 46 · Chapter 46.61
Revised Code of Washington

Wash. Rev. Code § 46.61.428 (2026)

Slow-moving vehicle driving on shoulders, when

✓ current as of May 2026
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(1) The state department of transportation and local authorities are authorized to determine those portions of any two-lane highways under their respective jurisdictions on which drivers of slow-moving vehicles may safely drive onto improved shoulders for the purpose of allowing overtaking vehicles to pass and may by appropriate signs indicate the beginning and end of such zones.
(2) Where signs are in place to define a driving-on-shoulder zone as set forth in subsection (1) of this section, the driver of a slow-moving vehicle may drive onto and along the shoulder within the zone but only for the purpose of allowing overtaking vehicles to pass and then shall return to the roadway.
(3) Signs erected to define a driving-on-shoulder zone take precedence over pavement markings for the purpose of allowing the movements described in subsection (2) of this section.
[ 1984 c 7 s 71; 1977 ex.s. c 39 s 1.]
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 4 cases, 1992–2018 · leading case: State of Washington v. Erica C. Magallon Alvarez, 430 P.3d 673 (Wash. Ct. App. 2018).
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State of Washington v. Erica C. Magallon Alvarez, 430 P.3d 673 (Wash. Ct. App. 2018). · cites it 2× “It shall be unlawful to operate or drive any vehicle or combination of vehicles over or along any payment or gravel or crushed rock surface on a public highway with one wheel or all of the wheels off the roadway thereof, except as permitted by RCW 46.61.428 or for the purpose of…”
Walker v. State, 837 P.2d 1023 (Wash. Ct. App. 1992). “RCW 46.61.428, the statute upon which the instruction was based, authorizes local governments to place signs along portions of 2-lane highways where drivers may safely drive on improved shoulders to allow overtaking vehicles to pass.”
Clayton v. Grange Ins. Ass'n., 875 P.2d 1246 (Wash. Ct. App. 1994). “RCW 46.61.428 (when traveling on shoulder permissible).”
State of Washington v. Jena Dale Brooks (Wash. Ct. App. 2018). “It shall be unlawful to operate or drive any vehicle or combination of vehicles over or along any pavement or gravel or crushed rock surface on a public highway with one wheel or all of the wheels off the roadway thereof, except as permitted by RCW 46.”
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