BUMP
Thread is back. It was temporarily moved out of public view while the case was being adjudicated, because it would have been foolish for me to have left it up during that period.
Then there was a weird delay in getting the decision due to an error with the court's website, so I had to leave it down until now.
I actually did the trial by fax, so I didn't have to physically go back to court.
My defense was basically a form of what I already posted here, minus the criticism of the law itself.
The defense stated:
- I moved over to the right lane, traveling 69mph, because traffic was zooming by in the other two lanes at high rates of speed, many between 80-95 mph.
- I did see the traffic stop about a half mile ahead, but felt it was safest to stay in the right lane, given the danger of traveling so much slower than the other traffic in the other two lanes, and that moving to those lanes might also surprise faster traffic behind me.
- I was not aware of the Move Over Law at the time.
- I was driving in a safe and alert manner, at the speed limit, and was not distracted or on my phone. Even the officer who pulled me over will acknowledge this.
- I went by the traffic stop safely and did not cause a danger to anyone, nor was anyone outside of their car when I passed.
- My main concern at the time was to drive safely and not impede traffic or cause an accident in the other two lanes.
- I plan to always follow the Move Over Law in the future, now that I know it exists.
I squeezed the entire thing onto one page so I didn't overwhelm the judge with a giant multi-page wall of text which he wouldn't want to read.
Result: