A Maryland woman was shocked after she received a traffic ticket on Interstate 95 — because it wasn't for speeding.
In fact, she was driving 2 mph under the speed limit.
The driver, who didn’t want her name used, told NBC Washington she was driving in the left lane of I-95 in Laurel last Friday when she was pulled over and cited for failing to move right.
According to the citation, she had been driving 63 mph in a 65 mph zone.
“[I was] really shocked,” she said. “I thought, ‘Oh, my God, you’ve got to be kidding me.’”
This was the first time she had gotten a ticket. She said there was heavy wind and she had slowed down to be safe.
“Sometimes when it’s dangerous, you have to do what you can to stay safe,” she said.
NBC Washington meteorologist Doug Kammerer said that winds were gusting at about 40 mph that day.
“The reason [the ticket] is silly is because it's sending the wrong message,” said John Townsend of AAA Mid-Atlantic. “And that is, ‘We will tolerate you driving at more than the speed limit, but it you drive below the speed limit, then you’re penalized for that.’”
The driver has filed a complaint with Maryland State Police and plans to fight the ticket.
While police said they can’t comment on this specific ticket, they said that driving too slowly can impede traffic, and that anyone who wants to fight a citation can do so in court.
