Cop stopped me for not signaling in very light traffic on highway

Sounds as though it was just your lucky day.

Why so lucky? Bored cop mebbe. Perhaps a cop who'd just gotten a
talk about traffic violations that were getting lonesome and needed
some attention. Or maybe he wanted an excuse to pull you over
(perhaps to gauge whether you had viewed the bottom of a few beer
bottles that night, or to come get a good look through your windows,
or whatever), or thought you were somebody else of greater job related
interest, and then felt, as a few cops do, that he couldn't let it go
without writing you up for *something*. Who knows?

Anyway, familiarize yourself with the appropriate bit of the state
vehicle code (there may be a citation of the applicable section on the
ticket) and see if you think you did it and he got you dead to rights.
I guess if he did, then you could decide whether to see if he shows
up in court or blows it off.

Frankly, if a cop gets me fair and square on something minor, I don't
waste his time or mine trying to hot-air my way out of the ticket, but
I suppose it's worth seeing if he shows up. (This is seldom put to
the test, as I try not to violate too many traffic laws, especially in
front of the cops, but time and chance happeneth to them all...)


If convicted, see if your state has provisions for "traffic school" to
remove any points from your record.

BTW, I try to remember to use the turn signals even when nobody's
particularly nearby -- this makes it clear to other drivers (police or
otherwise) that they're watching an intentional maneuver by a vehicle
under control, rather than somebody dealing with a car malfunction,
nodding off, seeing snakes, receiving commands from the mother ship,
or other things we observe on the road. I would imagine we've all
failed to do so, but it is a good habit.

In article . com>,
gpsman > wrote:
> People will block
>you out if you signal,

Only if you are in the habit of making lane changes so that someone
will be an involuntary tailgater behind you after you are done changing
lanes. If not, then they will be too far away to block you by speeding
up to close the gap.

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Timothy J. Lee
Unsolicited bulk or commercial email is not welcome.
No warranty of any kind is provided with this message.

jaybird wrote:
> "liu" > wrote in message
> oups.com...

>>I was driving at 60MPH (on a 65MPH zone) with very light traffic before
>>and after me one night. Because I was moving with some fagile items
>>(eg. utensils, computer, small refregirator), I drove at the less bumpy
>>left lane. When there was traffic behind, I moved to the right lane.
>>There were a couple of times, I forgot to use the signal since the cars
>>were still very far away.

> Not only can you be cited for not signaling your lane change regardless of
> the amount and distance of traffic (and you can be issued a separate ticket
> for each time), you should've also received a ticket for driving in the left
> lane while not passing.
>
> Find out what state you're in, do a google search for that state's traffic
> law statutes, and then read the law specific to what you were charged with.
> That should answer any questions you might have. Then keep right except to
> pass and signal all of your lane changes.

It's too bad that most police officers, IME, do not enforce these
particular laws.

>Well, if you tend to drive most of the time in your home state, you
>would naturally tend to accumulate most of your violations in that
>state, wouldn't you?
No, I've lived in multiple states and the comment was based on my
observation on highways. Ohio has the most highway patrols compared to
states like Indiana, etc mid-west states I've lived or visted. I never
need to worry about speeding since I always drive at 60-65MPH on
highways. Never imagined that I would be stopped for not using a signal
when turning.

Thanks for your "encouragement" anyway!

cpliu
(always signaling now!)

Thank you all for the suggestions and jokes. I will take them all to
defend myself tomorrow. If I fail, I learn something from the court
experience and pay $25 more court fee. FINE.

On turning signal sound, I have to say it's very unpleasant to my ears.
It's not just my alibi. Sometimes, when I use, I stopped it right away
after one click. I guess this is probably not a good thing to do
either. I bet I would get stopped again next time for doing that.

Well, everything happens for a reason. Maybe the change of habit would
save my or someone else's life in the future.

Best regards to everyone,

cpliu

"jaybird" > wrote in message news:SLFnf.41717
>
> Find out what state you're in.......

Nice touch, jay. I don't know if anyone else caught it.

liu, > was motivated to say this in
rec.autos.driving on 13 Dec 2005 13:34:42 -0800:
> I'm in Ohio.
>
>

Well, there's the source of your problem. OH is one of the worst (IMO)
states WRT to revenue patrols outside of the Confederacy.

liu wrote:
>. Without using a
> signal, I didn't cause any danger to the travellers on highway.

Ah yes. The old "I should be allowed to break the law if i think i'm
not endangering anyone" defense.

Laura Bush murdered her boy friend wrote:
> liu wrote:
> >. Without using a
> > signal, I didn't cause any danger to the travellers on highway.
>
> Ah yes. The old "I should be allowed to break the law if i think i'm
> not endangering anyone" defense.

Is that what you were thinking while doing 41mph through that 25mph
school zone?

Around 12/13/2005 11:50 AM, liu wrote:

> I was driving at 60MPH (on a 65MPH zone) with very light traffic before
> and after me one night. Because I was moving with some fagile items
> (eg. utensils, computer, small refregirator), I drove at the less bumpy
> left lane.

That's simply not acceptable.

> When there was traffic behind, I moved to the right lane.

....Where you should have been in the first place.

> There were a couple of times, I forgot to use the signal since the cars
> were still very far away.

What does distance have to do with it?
Use your signals *EVERY* time and you'll never forget.

> I've decided to contest.

Good. Every ticket should be contested; just don't expect to win.

> The distance between me and the other cars was mostly very far.

Irrelevant.

> Any suggestions on defending my case would be appreciated.

The only good suggestion would be to hire a lawyer - and still not
expect to win.



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