Was my ticket unfair?

[ChuckChan888]

Massachusetts.

I am driving 55 MPH, speed limit is 55 MPH

What happened is that three vehicles were attempting to pass me. The first one that passed me pulled in front of me.

The second vehicle pulled along side the first vehicle.

The 3rd vehicle was right along side me.

We come up to a police officer pulled along the side of the road. I'm assuming the car in front of him that was pulled over because of the police officer. His vehicle lights are flashing (police officer).

The law states that you need to either pull into the left lane, or slow down where nearing emergency vehicles along the side of the road with their lights flashing. I attempt to slow down, but the 2 vehicles on my left are also slowing down and I am unable to pull behind them safely (I had glanced and saw from traffic was slowly starting to build up.)

My speed was 45 MPH when i passed the police officer. He pulled me over and I received a ticket.

Was I in the wrong?

 

[FlyingRon]

If you can't change lanes you are expected to slow down. THe fact that others are lawfully doing it doesn't mitigate your need to do so. The cars in the other lane do not interfere with your brake pedal. You should have slowed down first THEN thought about moving over to maintain speed.

Your only chance is to argue that 45 was a safe speed to go whizzing by a cop who is putting his life in jeopardy standing on the side of the road to serve the citizenry of the commonwealth.

 

[ChuckChan888]

If you can't change lanes you are expected to slow down. THe fact that others are lawfully doing it doesn't mitigate your need to do so. The cars in the other lane do not interfere with your brake pedal. You should have slowed down first THEN thought about moving over to maintain speed.

I am not trying to state that I was exempt from the law. What I am trying to show was that I was unable to safely pass into the left lane, due to the other vehicles that were (speeding) and passing me. I felt that if I stopped at a sudden rate that I may have caused an accident.

So I felt that I did the only thing I could do: slow down.

 

[FlyingRon]

I am not trying to state that I was exempt from the law. What I am trying to show was that I was unable to safely pass into the left lane, due to the other vehicles that were (speeding) and passing me. I felt that if I stopped at a sudden rate that I may have caused an accident.

So I felt that I did the only thing I could do: slow down.

You won't get anywhere with the "I was going too fast because I feared if I slowed down to a reasonable and legal speed I'd get rear ended".

You should have slowed as soon as you saw the police car.

 

[Maestro64]

What speed does the law say you must slow to... Remember the law says slow down or move to the lane furthers from the officer.

Since the condition set forth by the law is an "or" not "and" either condition is allow to meet the intent of the law. So the officer will have to prove you did not slow down, therefore he will have to present evidence that you in fact did not slow down. Remember slow down is relative at this point.

Just saying you did not slow it not enough, make him prove beyond a reasonable doubt what your speed was before he pulled someone over and when you passed. If you look at the law it does not indicate a speed you must slow to just slow down going 50 in a 55 is slower.

The thing you have to remember is you will go in front of a magistrate and try and convince him to find you not responsible and drop the ticket. From my understand this is not worth the time, since the magistrates job is to make sure you pay. Take what ever he says and appeal it to have you case heard in front of a real judge who will allow you to present a case and cross examine the officer.

 

[davew128]

The thing you have to remember is you will go in front of a magistrate and try and convince him to find you not responsible and drop the ticket. From my understand this is not worth the time, since the magistrates job is to make sure you pay. Take what ever he says and appeal it to have you case heard in front of a real judge who will allow you to present a case and cross examine the officer.

Going to disagree with you here. I find that in most courts in MA, magistrates like to dispose of things like this and a good well thought out argument that isn't transparently BS will usually do that.

Case in point: Once I was making a right turn at an intersection that had a curved corner and an island between going straight and going right. As I started to make my turn, a couple of pedestrians had started walking through the crosswalk from the island to the curb. They stopped walking after about one step and waved me through. I went through and immediately got a ticket for not yielding to pedestrians.

Appealed the ticket, and explained exactly what happened to the magistrate. The cop representing BPD asked the somewhat rhetorical question of how is it ok to commit a violation because someone told you it was ok, notwithstanding the fact that if a pedestrian stops and waves you through, you didn't fail to yield, they voluntarily yielded to you.

Needless to say I was found not responsible. Bear in mind, if this happened in CA and not MA, YMMV. Given that this is a new law in MA, I think OP stands a good chance here of winning.

 

[ChuckChan888]

What speed does the law say you must slow to... Remember the law says slow down or move to the lane furthers from the officer.

The law says to slow down, but there is no specified number. I also doubt the officer saw the entire event as I suspect he was busy with another vehicle on the side of the road.

 

[ChuckChan888]

You won't get anywhere with the "I was going too fast because I feared if I slowed down to a reasonable and legal speed I'd get rear ended".

You should have slowed as soon as you saw the police car.

I did slow down. I, however, could not pass into the left lane as there were vehicles in that lane who were also slowing down.

 

[I_Got_Banned]

speed limit is 55 MPH
My speed was 45 MPH when i passed the police officer.

So I felt that I did the only thing I could do: slow down.

The law says to slow down, but there is no specified number.

I did slow down.

Slowing from 55 to 45 isn’t much. My guess is that if you’re gonna stay in that same lane, 25mph would be a safe/reasonable speed to drive by.

I also doubt the officer saw the entire event as I suspect he was busy with another vehicle on the side of the road.

Have you ever been standing on the side of the highway and had a car go by you at 55mph? Or even at 45?

And would you be able to tell a difference between that vehicle and others that are driving by at 25mph?

I would say “yes”.

So even if he didn’t see you approaching him and just as you were passing him, he felt/heard you go by him at which point, and even if he was “busy”, he looked up and saw you driving away at that speed…

Depending on how far from the incident he pulled you over, he had to have been either finishing up or finished with the driver he had previously pulled over. Otherwise, he would have had a difficult time catching up to you.

Was I in the wrong?

Yes!

 

[The Occultist]

I'm curious to see the wording of the statute in question; can you please provide the statute number?

 

[FlyingRon]

MGL Chapter 89

Section 7C. (a) As used in this section the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:
“Emergency response vehicle”, a fire apparatus, police vehicle, ambulance, or disaster vehicle.

“Highway maintenance vehicle”, a vehicle used for the maintenance of highways and roadways: (1) that is owned or operated by the executive office of transportation and public works, a county, a municipality or any political subdivision thereof; or (2) that is owned or operated by a person under contract with the executive office of transportation and public works, a county, a municipality or any political subdivision thereof.

“Operator”, any person who operates a motor vehicle as defined in section 1 of chapter 90.

“Person”, a natural person, corporation, association, partnership or other legal entity.

“Recovery vehicle”, a vehicle that is specifically designed to assist a disabled vehicle or to tow a disabled vehicle.

(b) Upon approaching a stationary emergency vehicle, highway maintenance vehicle or recovery vehicle with flashing lights an operator shall:
(1) proceed with due caution, reduce the speed of the vehicle to that of a reasonable and safe speed for road conditions, and, if practicable and on a highway having at least 4 lanes with not less than 2 lanes proceeding in the same direction as the operator’s vehicle, yield the right-of-way by making a lane change into a lane not adjacent to that of the emergency response vehicle, highway maintenance vehicle or recovery vehicle; or
(2) if changing lanes is impracticable, proceed with due caution and reduce the speed of the vehicle to that of a reasonable and safe speed for road conditions.
(c) Violation of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than $100.

 

[Maestro64]

Thanks to Flyingron for citing the code it says exactly what I was saying, move over or slow down, it does not state a speed.

Going 25 on a 55 MPH is not safe or prudent also I would add that most 4 lane road have minimum speed requirements I bet Mass has something that says the minimum speed on a highway is 40 or 45. I would say as long as you are less then 55 and above or at the minimum you met the intent of the law. without violating another law. There are reasons the law is vague, one it does not put it in conflict with existing laws and two it allow them to say you were driving unsafe without providing a shred of evidence to back it up.

Keep in mind when you walk in court do not expect the officer to remember there were other cars in the lanes next to you or even on the highway. Month will have gone by and this ticket will be a blip in him memory unless he wrote everything down and do not count on that.

If you are luck and he does admit other cars were around you could win used the law as it was states since he will have to justify your speed and prove you did not in fact slow down, If he was busy pulling someone else over, his attention was more on that situation than what was going on around him.

 

[The Occultist]

"Reasonable and safe speed" seems pretty subjective to me. If the officer, as the state's expert witnesses, states that, regardless of whether the OP slowed down, he was still not traveling at a "reasonable and safe speed" for conditions (one condition may include people standing on the side of the road, such as, oh say, the officer), what then?

 

[Maestro64]

"Reasonable and safe speed" seems pretty subjective to me. If the officer, as the state's expert witnesses, states that, regardless of whether the OP slowed down, he was still not traveling at a "reasonable and safe speed" for conditions (one condition may include people standing on the side of the road, such as, oh say, the officer), what then?

This is the fundamental issue with the laws like this, it leaves it up to the interruption of an individual, kind of like Salem Witch Hunts, you're a witch because some person believe you're a witch and BTW is we put you head under water and you die you must not be a witch.

It not safe because that person thinks it it not safe, it like outlawing skydiving since someone believe it is not safe and reasonable....

This is why you have to attack the officer credibility with facts to do not go down their path of because he believes therefore it must be true.

Remember you know your cars abilities and your driving skill between then the officer does, and what is reasonable for one person it unreasonable to someone else. You should not be found guilty on someone else standards.

 

[Zigner]

This is the fundamental issue with the laws like this, it leaves it up to the interruption of an individual, kind of like Salem Witch Hunts, you're a witch because some person believe you're a witch and BTW is we put you head under water and you die you must not be a witch.

Yeah, a ticket for blowing by an officer who is 3 feet away at 45 mph is just like the Salem Witch Trials