Originally Posted by
David USF
You don't get it. It's not because of drivers acting unsafely. It's also about the action on the shoulder.
If one is driving safely in the right lane, they are not creating a danger for those on the shoulder. I have never once veered out of my lane on the highway and hit another car or anything else, in my 31 years of driving. NHP officers are NOT standing on the driver's side, as per department policy.
So, yes, it is about driving safely, and I was creating no danger for anyone.
Originally Posted by
David USF
Originally Posted by
Dan Druff
I think it's even more bullshit to station multiple cars on the shoulder to specifically nail people for this as part of a trap.
It's indeed BS, but that's not always the case. Good luck proving it.
I can't prove it, and in fact that's irrelevant in court. The court does not care if a driver is ensnared in a traffic trap -- only whether or not the ticket itself should have been written. However, I stated it's a trap because this is a really nasty way to raise revenue, given that 71% of drivers don't know about this law, and that it wasn't a law when most drivers got licensed.
Originally Posted by
David USF
How well publicized do you want it to be? There are many other laws that are not "well publicized". I heard about this law when it was passed in CA. It was also publicized at the start of the next year (under the news category of "new laws") and right before it went into effect. In addition to the electronic signs, there are also signs posted periodically on the side of the road stating "Move over or slow down for workers or emergency vehicles". This law also applies to other government vehicles such as Caltrans, not just police/fire dept.
Just pay the damn ticket and go to traffic school, and move on.
If 71% of drivers don't know about it, then they've done a poor job publicizing it.
Take the seatbelt law, by contrast. I bet almost every driver knows about the law to wear your seatbelt, because that has always been well publicized. Even 25+ years after the law was passed, you still see "Click It or Ticket" signs on the highway reminding you that it's actually the law.
"Move Over for Stopped Emergency Vehicles" does not mean you'll get a ticket for not doing so, and it's not even clear what that exactly means, if you're not already aware of the law.
I don't want to waste traffic school on this. Beyond it being extra expense and a pain in the ass, this also uses up my "one time" for traffic school until early 2021.
As I said, the court involved is known for reductions and changing to parking violations, so that's probably what will happen.