failure to yeild to emergency responder

[worried]

What is the name of your state?michigan
was inthe outside lane of 4 lane highway,was approached by officer w lights flashing and siren and directed to pull over.(he was next to me traveling in same direction in the lane next to me, not behind me)officer parked in front of me (vehicle in front of me also pulled over, officer parked between us) was informed by officer failure to yeild to emergency vehicle (he was trying to pull over the vehicle in front of me-i was going speed limit)given a ticket for failure to yeild ,was told it was misdemeanor(ticket was written as civil infraction)i pulled over as soon as i saw the officer, i didnt see him until he pulled up next to me because he wasnt ever behind me, only in the lane next to me.m protesting the ticket. i didnt fail to yeild, i pulled over when i saw the officer and felt it was safe to do so(shoulder of road was slushy) i was paying attention to the vehicles in front of me. they were all slowing down, i thought maybe because of an accident ahead.what do i do?

[sukharev]

Apparently emergency was cancelled as soon as he pulled you over

Well, search a few similar posts on this forum. Technically, you are supposed to slow down or stop, moving to the right or left-most position on the road. However, if police car already had a full lane to pass you, this should not be required. Not much you can do, but if what you are describing is true, then you do have a chance for a dismissal. Plead not guilty, and hope the judge would be lenient. If you feel comfortable with doing so, request discovery of police logs documenting what emergency was it. Send discovery request to DA and copy PD, expect reply within 30 days. Good luck.

[poohmantbb]

Originally Posted by sukharev

Apparently emergency was cancelled as soon as he pulled you over.

If you feel comfortable with doing so, request discovery of police logs documenting what emergency was it.

As the OP said in his post, the officer was trying to stop the vehicle ahead of him... which is what the lights and siren were on for. No need to search "the log".

To the OP: You couldn't see the lights approaching from the rear... even in the lane next to you??? Was it day or night?

[worried]

it was 10:40 am. i didnt see the officer until he was beside me. i was paying attention to the vehicles that were slowing down in front of me. a car had just passed me, then immediately cut in front of me between myself and a van ahead of me. the officer had been traveling in the opposite direction. i saw him(officer) when when the car was passing me.(no lights on at that time)the car then pulled in front of me.i slowed down-he was too close-and the cars ahead of me all started to slow down,as did i.the officer was almost immediately beside me w lights and siren. the car he was apparently after was the one in front of me,(he was ticketed also)there were no vehicles in the lane that the officer was traveling in.

[poohmantbb]

Appx. how long after you saw the passing police car did he pull up beside you? Was it the same one or did he do a u turn?

[sukharev]

What was tthe exact statute you were charged with?

[worried]

it was the same police vehicle, and i noticed him beside me what seemed like less than a minute later. the ticket was written for failure to yeild to emergency vehicle mcl 257.653.

[sukharev]

Just in case, here is the statute itself:
[url]http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(xwnf1m45xxnrilexnrrvye2n)/mileg.aspx?page=GetMCLDocument&objectname=mcl-257-653[/url]

Looks like police car should have had both the bar and the siren on. My advice, try to negotiate with DA, or just plead not guilty and try to argue police car had no bar or siren on.

[jmwsf]

Originally Posted by sukharev

Just in case, here is the statute itself:
[url]http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(xwnf1m45xxnrilexnrrvye2n)/mileg.aspx?page=GetMCLDocument&objectname=mcl-257-653[/url]

Looks like police car should have had both the bar and the siren on. My advice, try to negotiate with DA, or just plead not guilty and try to argue police car had no bar or siren on.

OP said the cop had both Lights and Sirens on...I guess he could lie and try that but I doubt that will work...