Well, guess what?
 

I got a ticket in the Evo already!

And no, it's not what you're thinking. I received a wonderful citation at 12:30 tonight for "Failure to yield for an emergency vehicle". AKA, I didn't move over a full lane width while a cop was extracting free money for the state from some other poor sap on the side of the road.

The cop had the guy pulled over a few (~50) feet before a cloverleaf, and I needed to take the cloverleaf. I thought about moving over a lane, but decided against it due to needing to merge two lanes back over to make my exit, so I moved over in my lane to give him space and shaved off some speed to 10 below the limit. And apparently being somewhat courteous doesn't fly anymore, wanting to be safe instead of flying across two lanes to make an exit doesn't cut it, no, I genuinely put that officer's life in danger doing 40mph 6 feet away from him. Sure, traffic wasn't heavy, sure, I could have made it over and back. But I feel like I made the best and safest decision given the situation.

And that's all fine and good, however you feel about it, but the big deal for me is the points. Anyone ever fought one of these? Will it work the same as a speeding ticket or should I expect to have a little more difficulty than just talking the DA into letting me pay the fine to drop it?

Also, not that it matters because he got my plate right, but my car's down as a Subaru Impreza. Stupid fucker.

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Fight it. If they're going to attempt to waste your time and money you might as well give them the same courtesy.

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Hey, the officer felt his life was in danger and pulled you over for it. There had to be a good reason. I think getting out on the road to talk to the driver has to be dangerous.

I don't think you can fight this one. Nor do I think you should...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oh6wgvbaT9Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKs-9geRZ70

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwqgzwOF_5Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0hlD...eature=related

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Sounds more like an officer on a power trip than an officer who feared for his life to me. You moved over and gave him room; this acknowledges you see him and are being careful.

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Dude fight it. I had a situation where an officer pulled me over for failure to obeying a traffic control device (AKA I ran a stop sign) and then he charged me for cutting off someone driving and putting their life in danger. I was in my grey Galant at the time and he said I had a blue Galant. I didn't argue or do anything when I got the citation, but I knew I didn't do either of them. I took it to court. He showed up too. They offered me to pay less of the citation price so that they didn't have to have trail, but I refused the offer. Then the Court made both of us show each other what evidence we planned to use. He had a full video of my incident. After showing it and narrating it to the Judge about 4 times, the judge saw I came to a complete stop. Cutting of the person at the intersection wasn't my fault because I had already pulled out from the stop sign and it was raining so it was hard to see. Also the other driver had a good amount of distance to see me and only had to slow down, not slam their brakes. I decided to pull through instead of hit the brakes in the middle of the intersection which was the safest solution at the time. So the Judge dropped the charges and said I was free to go.

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I don't understand why you didn't move over, it sounds like you could have moved over and made it back to make your exit in time. Next time move over and you wont have a problem.

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Owned. LOL!

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not that i agree either way with the ticket ... but why wasnt he on the passenger side? All the times ive been pulled over the cop has come to the passenger window.

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Watch the cop on the very last video, he gets hit, flys through the air, it appears he gets his head ran over
THEN the BAMF gets up, like a f'in champ, and runs off the road. Thats no cop, thats a T1000!

It is dangerous for officers getting out on the road, but from the initial thread the circumstance is a little different than some one who just doesn't care about moving over.

I went through a pink light once in my blue subaru STI, the cop wrote black chevy silverado for the make sooo idk? he had the right plate. either way it got dropped because of that. I said the cop wasn't paying attention to the vehicle so maybe he wasn't paying attention to the light being yellow or red when i crossed the intersection and it got dropped allll togeather.

Just go talk to the prosecutor, maybe even before your court date to establish a relationship, explain the situation and see what they can do.

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Probably because it would have looked like he was a drunk driver swerving, then the cop would have pulled him over for reckless driving.

Fight it. chances are you will get out of it completely when you explain what steps you took to ensure the cop had room.

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The part I failed to mention in my initial post was that there were two cop cars there, one with the guy pulled over, and one just sitting behind him, it was the one sitting behind him that came after me. He pulled out so quick after I passed there was no way the other officer had time to relay any personal opinion on the matter to him. So for all I know the officer who was out of his car could have taken zero issue with the situation.

The citation itself even states in the comment area that I had moved over in my lane to give him space, but the law states I should have been in the other lane. And truthfully, this is the first I've heard that it is required for me to be in the other lane, I've been under the impression that slowing down and making space is enough if you don't feel it feasible to change lanes, and even at 10 below the speed limit, it would have required a double lane change, a maneuver that has been drilled into my brain as unsafe since driver's ed, in order to make my exit.

Also, I've heard trying to get stuff dropped for the wrong make is risky at best. Once you pick an angle to argue, that's your angle. Jumping all over just makes the DA think you don't have your shit together and are grabbing at straws.

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yeah take her out for a drink, and if you play your cards right you can have booty sex and get out of a ticket. Relationships FTW! Maybe its fate?

By the way, this smilie truely signifies what you would have looked like had you gotten over and came back. maybe you should use this as evidence exhibit A :drive1:

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I think you are supposed to slow to below 30mph. Tough to make a call in one of those quick situations, but making sure you see them is what is important. I would fight it on that precedent alone, and that you couldn't get slow enough in time.

I like this law, but ya, it can be kinda ghey sometimes. The fact that he wrote you down as a scooby kinda makes me think he was stereotyping you as some ricer flyby spaz-out kid when in fact you are well...oh wait. :)

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Sounds like there was more chance of the cop getting hit by the other cop than you hitting him. I don't understand how cops are so retarded and can't even get the car info right. They have everything right in front of them; not to mention your car is still badged. Sounds to me like he wasn't paying very close attn to the situation and mistook you for another car ;)

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ooh, even better way to play it dude :) fight it! Who on earth could mistake a lancer for a subaru...I mean look at the logo!

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That makes two of us. It's been a long time since I took the written test, so who knows.

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My car is most definitely not badged beyond the 3 diamonds on the trunk. But I'm sure if I held the symbol up in the courtroom and asked people to raise their hands if they knew what it was, everyone would do so.

And if we want to argue competency and safety, he severely cut off the car behind me to get me. I had matched the speed of the car in front of me while leaving about a car length in between me and the car behind me, and he somehow managed to get in there (without using his turn signal). And of course I'm the one being unsafe. The double standard fucking kills me.

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Your car is badged when you get asked for license and REGISTRATION! IT says so on your insurance card, does it not?

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Doesn't his computer show up with what kind of car it is when you type in the plates... or when he looks at your insurance....

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Go in and beg the court's forgiveness. If they drop it down, great. If not, man up and pay your fine.

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^ Agreed. You could have also taken the next exit as well. It does sound a bit dumb, but they are really cracking down on people who dont move over a lane, no matter what.

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He didn't take my insurance, just my license. And why he couldn't have pulled it out of the system, who knows.

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You admitted that you were capable of slowing down and moving all the way over. Suck it up and pay the consequences. Next time, follow the law and keep the officer safe.

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I'd fight this ticket. You obviously knew the cop was there and took precautions not to hit him. That is what matters.

This law is so damn retarded. The whole point of the law is to prevent cops from getting hit when they have someone pulled over. But its the drivers who are not paying attention who are the ones that are moving into the shoulder and hit cops and vehicles on the shoulder. Having a law on the books to move over one lane is not going to make people pay attention. A dumbass who isn't paying attention, isn't suddenly going to pay attention because there is a law on the books to move over one lane.

They should just come up with more severe penalties for those who do hit people and vehicles on the shoulder. Making an attentive driver change lanes, which has its own dangers, is not the answer.

Okay, I'm done ranting.........

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^ I agree with that. Also cops seem to pull people over in the worst spots sometimes.

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wow i can't believe the cop didn't get the car right i hate cops they are a criminal with the right to do wrong and are stupid... yes they do serve a perpose but the super cops are a joke. There is a cop around here if you have window tint will scratch it so you take it off. He will pull you over for doin one over the limit even tho he is doing 5 over. You see the point

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Yes! Wonderful idea, lets not bother to be proactive...let's wait until people get injured or killed. Last I checked merging into another lane is much safer than driving within a few feet of a person. Also, I'll go out on a limb and assume spaz did not signal his partial lane move, which is far more dangerous and confusing to other drivers on the road than signaling, moving over, signaling, moving back.


No, people who get pulled over stop in the worst spots. Acknowledging the officer and pulling over in a safe spot is your responsibility.

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I got screamed at for doing this once by a Plymouth cop. I was on Rockford Rd in the busy 45mph section (no shoulder) when the cop threw his lights on. I immediately put on my turn signal and gave him a little wave out the window to acknowledge I saw him. I then proceeded to slow down and turn onto a side road that did have a shoulder about 3 blocks from where his lights went on. He came running up to my car screaming that when a cop flips his lights on you are to pull over immediately or it's considered running.

That was the last time I ever tried to do the "right" thing by keeping the officer safer and allowing traffic to flow smoothly. Also to note, this was not a serious violation; I cut it a little close and the yellow light turned to red as I was going through the intersection.

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^ Yup what Hughes said. If you keep driving... good luck not getting a gun pulled on you when you stop. lol

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x2 on what Kracka said. I got pulled over on the exit ramp off 494 onto 62. I put my turn signal on, and just wanted to go around the corner to a frontage road. I put my hand out the window and pointed where I was going, about 20 feet later he said "Pull over NOW" over his PA system. I thought, eh fuck it, if he wants to put his life in danger right here I'll let him. Completely stupid.

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I think we should all equip our cars with some "slick shoes" like on Goonies.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...slickshoes.jpg

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Sounds like it's time for you to move to California. Tom did and look at him now, he's a government lover!

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Except he bitches like no other when it affects him personally :D

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I don't mind the move-over law, almost every state has adopted it over the past few years. I believe the law states you have to move over one lane unless it's unsafe in the current conditions (like lots of traffic on your left), then just slow down.

I saw a number on how many move-over violations they give every year, it's a surprisingly high amount. On their website it claims most people haven't even heard of the law, which is strange because I see signs for it everywhere on the interstate.

I always recommend fighting tickets if you felt you didn't deserve it, but in this case it seems clear you could have at least moved half way over the center line and you probably wouldn't have gotten a ticket, especially if you were turning right after.

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I fight all tickets no matter what. The worst that's even happened to me is wasted time, but the vast majority of my trips to the courthouse has gotten the ticket either thrown out or reduced.

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Just victims of an in-house drive-by. They say jump, you say how high.

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Not the case at all when I was pulled over 5 years ago for tint. The cop threw on his lights during rush hour in Brooklyn Park on 252. I turned on my blinker immediatley and instead of stopping on the busy road, pulled into a parking lot. From the time he turned on his lights, to the time I was stopped was maybe 20 seconds at most.

When he got to my window the first thing out of his mouth (and not in a very tactful tone) was "Don't you know to pull over when you see the lights come on?" I, being very polite, told him that I thought it would be better to just pull into this parking lot and away from all the traffic. He told me no that is not my choice to make. They decide when to turn on the lights and pull us over, we don't decide that. He was quite pissed.

Was he retarded, YES, but that's just it. No matter what you do, some cop will have a different opinion and scold you for it. Just gotta take it for what it's worth and move on.

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Some cops are out on a power trip just like to one that pulled me over in my driveway. The move over law is pretty much for anything going on on the side of the road they can nail you for. Cops,hiway helpers,works,people working on there cars,ect.

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The thing that gets me is that there isn't a move over law for pedestrians sharing the road, it's 3 feet for cyclists (and if they fall, you'll still run their bike over at that distance, let alone them), and a whole fucking lane for a guy who's just standing there just because he has a badge. He's still a civilian, he has no more rights than that pedestrian or that cyclist, but god forbid you drive within 10 feet of him or they'll nail you with a $178 fine and what's likely at least a 3 point offense.

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I'm about ready to start locking every thread that appears from someone bitching about cops. Fight the ticket, learn from your mistake whether you want to admit fault or not and move on. It gets old seeing the same thing after 6+ years, especially from people who somehow are always innocent.