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Old 05-28-2009, 12:59 PM
 
16 posts, read 179,772 times
Reputation: 30

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I was driving southbound on I-45 today and I entered the ramp at Rankin. I saw a a car got stopped by a cop on the Right shoulder and I passed it up. Next thing I know, I get pulled over! (not sure if this was the same cop on the Right, or his partner somewhere waiting).

I got stopped b/c there is a Texas Law that basically says that if there's a cop on the right shoulder, you have to slow down to like 20 miles or change lanes. How was I suppose to know this??! So the cop gave me a ticket. After looking up this law, it's a Class B misdemeanor & max fine of 200 if nobody got hurt.
Texas Department of Public Safety - Courtesy, Service, Protection


Anybody gone through this? I want to know what happens when I got to court, I won't fight it or anything, but what are the fines? Nobody got hurt so it was hard to find out how much I would have to pay.
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Old 05-28-2009, 01:20 PM
 
2,639 posts, read 8,292,292 times
Reputation: 1366
It should state how much the fine is on the back of the ticket. Yes, this is a law to keep officers from being killed, like the policeman on the Westpark last year. Someone was on their phone, instead of paying attention, and ran him over while he was writing a ticket.
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Old 05-28-2009, 01:37 PM
 
809 posts, read 3,571,018 times
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You have to change lanes to leave any empty lane between the officer and traffic. I remember this from driving class years ago. It protects the officer and the person who is pulled over. That person could be changing a flat, etc so it's important to keep a safe distance.

I heard on the news they were cracking down on this and will even have "decoys" where it looks like the officer has someone pulled over, but really it's a decoy and they are ready to pull over anyone who doesn't change lanes.
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Old 05-28-2009, 01:40 PM
 
Location: ✶✶✶✶
15,216 posts, read 30,571,630 times
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This has been law since 2004-ish and it was in the news then.
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Old 05-28-2009, 01:48 PM
 
Location: Cedar Park/NW Austin
1,306 posts, read 3,121,918 times
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Move Over laws exist in at least 44 states. The news made a pretty big stink about it when it was passed in Texas, which is why I've known about it. Not sure about the fine, but maybe you can take a defensive driving course to make up for it.

Another obscure traffic law: you can't use a license plate frame that obscures the plate in any way or covers up more than half of the state's name.
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Old 05-28-2009, 02:22 PM
 
1,765 posts, read 4,351,078 times
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I did not know of this law either.
Does it apply to all multi-lane roads or just the interstates?
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Old 05-28-2009, 02:57 PM
 
Location: Houston, TX (Bellaire)
4,900 posts, read 13,741,755 times
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I hadn't heard of this until a couple of years ago when a co-worker of mine got pulled over for it. He got off with a warning though.
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Old 05-28-2009, 03:04 PM
 
Location: San Antonio-Westover Hills
6,884 posts, read 20,414,488 times
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How far were you from the ramp when this happened? If there was no feasible way for you to safely move over, I could see how you could argue your case.
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Old 05-28-2009, 04:48 PM
 
Location: Houston
5,998 posts, read 3,737,449 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mom2Feebs View Post
How far were you from the ramp when this happened? If there was no feasible way for you to safely move over, I could see how you could argue your case.
Then I would assume he would have to slow down to 20mph in that case.
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Old 05-28-2009, 06:44 PM
 
Location: Houston, TX
8,895 posts, read 20,009,164 times
Reputation: 6372
Quote:
Originally Posted by OTstudent View Post
I was driving southbound on I-45 today and I entered the ramp at Rankin. I saw a a car got stopped by a cop on the Right shoulder and I passed it up. Next thing I know, I get pulled over! (not sure if this was the same cop on the Right, or his partner somewhere waiting).

I got stopped b/c there is a Texas Law that basically says that if there's a cop on the right shoulder, you have to slow down to like 20 miles or change lanes. How was I suppose to know this??! So the cop gave me a ticket. After looking up this law, it's a Class B misdemeanor & max fine of 200 if nobody got hurt.
Texas Department of Public Safety - Courtesy, Service, Protection


Anybody gone through this? I want to know what happens when I got to court, I won't fight it or anything, but what are the fines? Nobody got hurt so it was hard to find out how much I would have to pay.
This law has been on the news, in papers, on radio for a good while now - I kind of thought everyone had heard about it. I am not sure of the speed you have to slow down to though - I don't think it is 20. I think it might be 20 mph lower than the posted speed or something like that - guess it would be a good thing to check out so I'd know. I usually just move over to another lane when possible.
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