Passing on the right in Arizona is legal in only three situations under ARS 28-724: when the vehicle ahead of you is turning left, when you’re on a road with at least two lanes of traffic in each direction, or when you’re on a one-way street. Any pass on the right also has to be made safely, and you can never leave the paved roadway to do it.1Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 28-724 – Overtaking on the Right
The Three Situations Where Right-Side Passing Is Allowed
ARS 28-724 is a narrow statute. It gives you three specific circumstances, and nothing else counts.
The Vehicle Ahead Is Turning Left
If the driver in front of you is making or is clearly about to make a left turn, you can go around them on the right. This is the everyday case: someone slows and signals to turn into a driveway or side street, and you keep moving on their right side rather than waiting behind.
A Road Wide Enough for Two or More Lines of Traffic Each Way
You can pass on the right on a street or highway with unobstructed pavement wide enough for two or more lines of moving vehicles in each direction. Parked cars along the curb count as an obstruction. So a wide surface street lined with parked vehicles doesn’t qualify, even if it looks like there’s room. A two-lane road with a single lane each way never qualifies, no matter how generous the shoulder.1Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 28-724 – Overtaking on the Right
A One-Way Street
On a one-way street, or any road where traffic moves in only one direction, you can pass on the right as long as the pavement is clear of obstructions and wide enough for at least two lines of vehicles.
The Two Safety Limits That Apply in Every Case
Even when one of those three conditions is met, the move still has to be safe. And the statute draws a hard line: you may not drive off the pavement or the main traveled portion of the roadway to overtake another vehicle. That means no cutting through the shoulder, no using a bike lane as a passing lane, no dropping two wheels into the dirt to get around a slower driver.1Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 28-724 – Overtaking on the Right
Situations That Look Legal but Aren’t
A few common scenarios trip drivers up.
A wide two-lane rural highway with a paved shoulder. It doesn’t matter how much room there is. One lane each way means you can’t pass on the right, and stepping onto the shoulder to do it is separately prohibited.
A four-lane surface street with cars parked along the curb. The pavement isn’t unobstructed, so it doesn’t meet the multi-lane test in ARS 28-724. You’d need clear pavement wide enough for two moving lines of traffic in your direction, with no parked vehicles in the way.
Weaving between lanes on a freeway to get past someone in the left lane. This one is actually allowed by the multi-lane rule, but only if you can do it safely. The statute permits the pass; it doesn’t excuse an unsafe lane change to accomplish it.
The Default: Drive on the Right, Pass on the Left
Right-side passing is the exception. The baseline rule under ARS 28-721 is that you drive on the right half of the roadway whenever it’s wide enough, with only a handful of exceptions: when you’re overtaking another vehicle, when the right side is closed for construction, on three-lane roads governed by their own lane-use rules, and on one-way streets.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 28-721 – Driving on Right Side of Roadway
Standard passing happens on the left. ARS 28-723 requires you to pass at a safe distance and stay left until you’re safely clear of the vehicle you passed before returning to the right lane. The driver being overtaken has to yield to the right and can’t accelerate until you’ve cleared them.3Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 28-723 – Overtaking and Passing
And when you cross the center line to pass, ARS 28-725 requires the left side to be clearly visible and free of oncoming traffic far enough ahead for you to complete the pass. You must be back on the right side of the road before coming within 100 feet of any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction.4Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 28-725 – Limitations on Overtaking on the Left
If You’re the Slower Driver, Move Right
ARS 28-721 also puts a duty on slower vehicles. If you’re driving below the normal speed of traffic for current conditions, you must stay in the right-hand lane or as close to the right curb or edge of the road as practical. The only exceptions are when you’re actively passing another vehicle going the same direction, or when you’re getting ready to turn left at an intersection or into a driveway.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 28-721 – Driving on Right Side of Roadway
Sitting in the left lane at below-traffic speed is what forces the right-side passes that get drivers in trouble in the first place. Moving over is both a legal duty and the fix for the problem.
Passing Golf Carts in Certain Communities
One narrow exception to the usual “change lanes to pass” habit: ARS 28-723 lets you overtake and pass a golf cart or neighborhood electric vehicle even if your vehicle shares a lane with it during the pass. That means you don’t have to fully move into another lane to get around one on a narrow road.3Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 28-723 – Overtaking and Passing
The setup this rule is built for is specific. Under ARS 28-721, golf carts and neighborhood electric vehicles can use a paved shoulder, or drive as close to the right-hand curb as practical if there’s no shoulder, in age-restricted communities in unincorporated areas of counties with populations over three million. That currently means Maricopa County.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 28-721 – Driving on Right Side of Roadway
Outside those communities, and outside the golf cart context, the normal passing rules apply. Your safest habit on any Arizona road is the one the statute assumes: stay right, pass left, and treat the right-side passing rules as the narrow exceptions they are.