Originally Posted by
limitles
Most people know ignorance of the law is no excuse. The fact that there are people who are unaware of a law concerning road-side safety is justification for ticketing. If the cars in question were two families, one with a flat, common sense says slow the fuck down and or get over if possible. No law should be required but because there are so many clueless, distracted or unaware drivers it has been made law. Again it's simple common sense but some people feel they are polite, careful and above the law. Please fight this ticket
"Ignorance of the law is no excuse" sounds good until you really think about it.
With new traffic laws which didn't exist when most drivers were licensed and tested, mass ignorance of those laws is a HUGE problem if they are being enforced. You need to know the laws in order to follow them properly.
If 71% of drivers don't know about these laws, then the government failed big time in properly publicizing them, and there should not be moving violations handed out for such a thing.
Also, as I have stated multiple times, this law is stupid because it will only be followed by careful/alert drivers, whereas it will not at all affect the ones who are likely to actually hit the officiers on the side of the road (drunks, distracted drivers, sleepy drivers, etc). Anyone aware enough to move over is also alert enough to not veer into the officers on the shoulder while driving.
This is why law enforcement departments are refusing to release any stats as to whether or not this law has helped bring down such accidents. That's because it likely hasn't, thus being useless other than a money grab, which is how it's being used today.
It helps to use your brain and critically think about the usefulness of new traffic laws, rather than just knee-jerk claiming it's a great idea because it sounds good on the surface.