(a) No person shall drive a motor vehicle at such a slow speed as to impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic except when reduced speed is necessary for safe operation or in compliance with the law.
(b) Whenever the State Highway Commission or local authorities, within their respective jurisdictions, on the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation, determine that slow speeds on any part of a highway consistently impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic, the commission or the local authority may determine and declare a minimum speed limit below which no person shall drive a vehicle except when necessary for safe operation or in compliance with the law.
History. Acts 1937, No. 300, § 53; Pope's Dig., § 6711; Acts 1959, No. 307, § 34; A.S.A. 1947, § 75-604.
Cross References. Penalty for violation of 1959 amendatory act, § 27-50-305.
Case Notes
Court Determinations.
Instructions.
Stopping by Police.
Where a slowly moving vehicle is struck from the rear by another vehicle, it is for the trial court to determine whether or not such slowness of speed is negligence and, if so, the extent to which it contributed as a proximate cause to the collision. Maddux v. Cox, 382 F.2d 119 (8th Cir. Ark. 1967).
An instruction on subsection (a) of this section was applicable in a case where defendant was operating his farm tractor at 14 miles per hour on a highway and was struck from the rear by plaintiff's automobile, which was traveling about 50 miles per hour when plaintiff first observed the tractor about 25 paces ahead of him, with evidence plaintiff was unable to pass defendant because of oncoming traffic in the lane to the left. Hooten v. De Jarnatt, 237 Ark. 792, 376 S.W.2d 272 (1964).
Where a motorcycle ridden by a minor and a car driven by the defendant collided, it was not reversible error to refuse to instruct the jury that a minor should not be held to the same standard of care as an adult and that a higher degree of care is owed to minors, as this section and §§ 27-16-204, 27-16-206, 27-16-207, 27-51-201, 27-51-209 - 27-51-211, and 27-51-308, pertaining to safety on the highways, disclose no distinction between the degree of care to be exercised by a minor and an adult. Harrelson v. Whitehead, 236 Ark. 325, 365 S.W.2d 868 (1963).
Decedent died when his vehicle hit the back of a farm tractor on a highway; on appeal, the administratrix claimed that the trial court erred in not giving proffered jury instructions arising out of the breach of certain statutes, which included § 27-51-208(a). There was some evidence that the tractor driver was driving at a slow speed at the time of the accident; therefore, there was some evidence to support giving the instruction. McMickle v. Griffin, - Ark. -, - S.W.3d -, 2007 Ark. LEXIS 240 (Apr. 5, 2007).
Where a state police officer observed an automobile with out-of-state license plates which was traveling at a slow rate of speed on an interstate highway and which contained two occupants sitting low in the seat, he was justified in stopping the vehicle to investigate the reason for the slow speed and to determine the age of the operator. Perez v. State, 260 Ark. 438, 541 S.W.2d 915 (1976).
Cited: McMickle v. Griffin, - Ark. -, - S.W.3d -, 2007 Ark. LEXIS 240 (Apr. 5, 2007).