OMG! That is insane! I was never taught that in Driver's Ed! You should go to court and contest it.

I have seen people do that, but I don't always do it - only if I see a need to.

i was never taught that, either. apparently the law only went into effect here in NC in 2001.

while i was waiting as the sheriff wrote the citation, i started fuming... how are we expected to keep up with all of these newly-enacted laws? (i know ray's gonna chime in here about this. :-)

i mean, i CHOOSE not to read the local papers or watch the local news (gag me)... am i being punished because of that? also, my license only needs to be renewed every 10 years or so... i suppose they could test me on this kind of thing at the DMV, but that's a pretty large span of time between testings. 10 years gives the legislature a lot of time to enact new laws.

i felt pretty frustrated by not being given a warning when i clearly expressed my ignorance about that law.

It's relatively new. But I'd heard of it. It's a good law. There's probably a nicer way to educate the public than handing out citations.

That law went into effect in Indiana after one summer where 3 or 4 troopers were killed on the side of the road when they were pulled over and were hit by passing motorists.
I have always assumed it was the law since then eveyrwhere I have lived - because they take it VERY seriously.
And it's just safer.

But at least in Indiana they made a BIG deal about when the law went into effect. That way everyone knew.

The sheriff's department obviously knows what a powerful and influential blogger you are, and decided to make an example of you to spread awareness of this law.

I wish they had called it the "Move It On Over" law, in honor of the great Hank Williams.

I have never in my life been able to spell the word "sheriff" correctly on the first try. Even when I do spell it correctly, it still doesn't look right.

damn - I'm sorry about the citation. and the frustration. I always thought moving over was something people did - not something people did because otherwise they'd get a ticket!

I JUST heard about this law on Saturday when I was at traffic school for my recent stop-sign related ticket. So sorry that my bad car karma has rubbed off on you! I think we need to do some sort of ritual to make this all stop. I'll bring the chicken feet.

Man, talk about a suck year with car stuff! Sorry to hear.

Yep, it's a new law and I'm wondering where I've actually heard about it. Sometime within the last six months is when it moved into my consciousness.

And good question about law promulgation -- what obligations do we have to keep up with new stuff? What obligations does government have about telling us? (I know that they have plenty, but would we agree with their sense of appropriate sufficiency?)

Most European countries, btw, have much more demanding standards for driver training, insurance, safety, etc. than we. The "weaker-economy" countries I've visited (Indonesia, Philippines, Mexico) appear to have fewer rules. At the very least, driving is much more free wheeling in *most* places. (But god forbid you get a ticket in Mexico -- whether or not you're guilty of anything.)

At least now you're a court house expert...I think that showing up for court is a wonderful reason to buy new shoes!

Oh!
I just blogged about this...
and my brother the paramedic chimed in on the moving over -

I'm so sorry you got a ticket.

They have been making a big push to publicize the law over the past few years, but I guess they arenm't doing well enough, huh?. They have a big exhibit on it at the State Fair with a state trooper car that's all smashed up because someone hit it. I think several troopers had been killed i the past. And the law is move over or slow waaaayy down if moving over isn't possible.

I still think they should have given you a warning.

yeah, i heard they're totally going to start enforcing that more. and if you can't move over, you're supposed to go like 15 or 25...or something. but what do i know. that's about how fast i NORMALLY go. though, i COULD be cited for that too, i suppose. :/ lol. sorry you were caught, unawares!

Oh, xta, that sucks!
I had never heard of it before, either. I bet she was in a mood and taking out on you.

At any rate, thanks for talking about this. I'll know now to get over. I wonder if it counts for speed traps, too?

Never heard of it either. D'oh.

Has jury duty started yet? I hope they don't screen people out who've had recent brushes with police...

I never heard about this law. I thought it was something people were just taught to do out of courtesy- an unwritten law of the road so to speak. I've never, however, seen the move-over done for just a cop car lolling on the side of the road. Only for a breakdown or emergency vehicles where there's a clear need for vehicles to be stopped on the verge and for people to be moving around outside the vehicles.

But there seems to be a lot of emphasis on keeping cops safe in traffic situations in Durham... like how when a traffic light goes out, they'll post a cop in a cruiser on a corner next to the intersection to watch the ensuing mess, yet the cop won't actually get out and manually direct traffic! Around here it seems like the safety of the thin blue line always comes before that of the unwashed masses.

Don't beat yourself up about it. Who knows, if you had moved over to the left lane, maybe she'd have pulled you over and given you a ticket for traveling in the passing lane. Sounds like she had a quota to make.

OMG!!!

on the way home from work tonight i saw another (the same?) cop car IN THE SAME SPOT on the side of the highway with its lights flashing... and no other car nearby. it's like the sheriff was lying in wait for someone to pass in the near lane so she could nail them.

entrapment!!!!!

Smells like revenue generatin' season. Come drive through Chamblee, Georgia sometime and leave some money. I've seen an old lady in one of those electric carts (a "Scamp" maybe) in Chamblee traffic court paying her fine. The courtroom was packed with nice but clueless seniors on fixed incomes, plus illegal aliens who don't want to contest the tickets for fear of events that might lead to deportation. Chamblee police have no shame.

I just heard on the news this morning that we are getting the same law here in Alabama. I thought of you. Awww...

whoa. and check this out:
http://www.wral.com/news/9448688/detail.html

the fines are increasing here as of tomorrow.

well, to wrap up this sordid story...
today was my day in court.

i pled guilty, and thankfully the judge wanted to hear my story. i told her what happened that day, and she said "make sure you tell everyone you know... the fines doubled on july 1."

i said, "oh, believe me, i DO tell everyone i know."

and then she just let me go, only asking me to pay court costs. i guess she dismissed the charge.

still, court costs were $110. ouch.

if the charge had been dismissed you would not have been sacked with court costs. there is a conviction on your record but your punitive fine was zero.