Staying In Your Lane
ORC 4511.33 — as nearly as is practicable, and the line you may touch but not cross
The marked lanes section is the most common lawful reason for a stop that later becomes something else, which is why its exact words matter more than almost any other traffic rule. It does not say a vehicle stays in its lane. It says something narrower, and the Supreme Court of Ohio has held the narrowness to mean what it says.
As nearly as is practicable, entirely within a single lane. A vehicle is driven, as nearly as is practicable, entirely within a single lane or line of traffic, and is not moved from that lane or line until the driver has first ascertained that the movement can be made with safety. The qualifier is in the statute. It is not a defence somebody thought up afterwards.
Touching the fog line is not crossing it. The Supreme Court of Ohio held that the single solid white longitudinal line on the right hand edge of the roadway, the fog line, does not prohibit driving on or touching it. A driver whose tyres touched but did not cross that line had not committed a marked lanes violation, and an officer who saw only that did not have the reasonable and articulable suspicion a stop requires.
That decision resolved a conflict between appellate districts that had answered the question both ways for years, which is a measure of how often the fog line was the whole basis for a stop. What the court read was the plain language of the section, the definitions in the chapter, and the statutory scheme as a whole.
The right half, with a short list of exceptions. Upon all roadways of sufficient width, a vehicle is driven upon the right half of the roadway, except when overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction, when making a left turn, when an obstruction makes it necessary to drive to the left of the centre, when the roadway is divided into three or more marked lanes, when it is posted for one way traffic, or when otherwise directed by a police officer or traffic control device.
A driver who goes left of centre around an obstruction yields the right of way to all vehicles travelling in the proper direction on the unobstructed portion within such distance as to constitute an immediate hazard. And on a roadway of four or more lanes carrying two way traffic, no vehicle is driven to the left of the centre line except where official devices designate lanes for that use or the overtaking exception applies.
On a three lane road carrying traffic both ways, the centre lane is not driven in except when overtaking and passing where the roadway is clearly visible and the lane is clear within a safe distance, when preparing for a left turn, or where the lane is allocated to traffic moving in that direction and posted to say so.
| What was seen | Under the section |
|---|---|
| What was seenTyres on the fog line, not across it | Under the sectionNot a marked lanes violation |
| What was seenCrossing a lane line without first ascertaining it was safe | Under the sectionThe section's own words |
| What was seenLeft of centre with none of the listed exceptions | Under the sectionThe lanes of travel section |
| What was seenIn the centre lane of a three lane road, not passing or turning | Under the sectionThe marked lanes section |
Motive does not defeat a real violation, and a real violation is required. A stop justified by a marked lanes violation that did not occur is a stop without the suspicion the constitution requires, and what follows from it is measured against that.
Whether a particular movement across a lane line was practicable to avoid, what weaving within a lane does and does not show, and how a court weighs a lane observation alongside other things an officer saw are questions of fact and of case law beyond this page. What a particular stop rested on is a question for a licensed Ohio attorney reading the report and the footage.
Sources for this section (5)
- ORC 4511.33 — Driving in marked lanes
- ORC 4511.25 — Lanes of travel upon roadways of sufficient width
- State v. Turner, 163 Ohio St.3d 421, 2020-Ohio-6773 — Driving on, but not across, the fog line is not a marked lanes violation and does not on its own justify a stop
- Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806 (1996) — A traffic stop is reasonable when there is probable cause of a traffic violation
- U.S. Const. amend. IV — Searches and seizures
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Talk to a licensed Ohio attorney about your situation.