Police "Move Over" campaign nets 132 tickets

Also half of those drivers that were pulled over for this "Message" 42 out of 90, were given tickets for other things found after being pulled. Jesus you would think with all the real criminals out there you would be much concerned with how to get them into custody. Reminds me of the time i was sitting at a stoplight in an older car, and i guess just because i was young, the policeman actually got out of his car and walked around mine, he notice that one tire was low on tread and gave me a ticket for it. It was kinda funny to me at the time he was doing this as I saw at least 5 people run the red light.

Too many police officers and state troopers are getting killed or injured by inattentive motorists while conducting traffic stops. My only concern is the wording of the law. Who is it that determines whether it is safe to "move over" and if it's not who determines what is "proceeding with caution?" If I determine it's not safe for me to move over when approaching an officer that has a car stopped how can any other officer determine otherwise and give me a ticket for not moving over? If it's not safe for me to move over then who determines that I have not proceeded with due caution when I pass the stopped officer and again- pulls me over and gives me a ticket? I think the intention of this law are admirable but there should be some ground rules about it's enforcement.... JMO

For your information, the police department conducted a traffic enforcement operation in conjunction with the virginia state police. all of the stops were for a moving violation, the only difference was they were setup as felony style stops, (i.e. when two patrol cars stop a vehicle), in this case one officer writes the summons and contacts the driver, the other runs stationary radar and observes the vehicle approaching the stopped patrol cars. If the car is going at a rate of the speed limit or faster when they approach and pass (only if they cannot move over) but if the approaching vehicle can get over and fails to do so the second patrol car stops the vehicle and it starts all over again.

Also, the reason why cops stop partially in the travel lanes on some roads or over the line is to force drivers to react, so they have to slow down and move over, usually this only conducted on four lane roads

But if you obey the law, and get off the phone long enough to pay attention and drive, you shouldn't have to worry about this...but if you can't then sorry about your luck.

#1 Who said anything about cell phone use.

#2 Problem isn't that it is a law. Its that is just one more excuse to give 132 tickets in a single outing.

#3 Lets say they did this everyday for a year in different areas of the city. and just say they Only wrote 100 tickets at 2500 each. Well that 250,000 times 365 = 16,250,000. Man that's so much simpler than the local tax code.

#4 While the Proposed Operating Budget for FY 2008-09 is $41.3 million. That would make up over a third of the budget.

#5 Good Way to replace the lost Tolls from the Jordan Bridge Closing.

#6 I guess they Need to Find Funding to Pay to The Family of Detective Shivers and Ryan Frederick when they have to pay out Millions for their Inept Practice of using Convicted Burglers to break In and look for Probable Cause.

I could go on but whats the point. People will just accept it, and concentrate on more important things like how many times Sarah Palin Winked at them....

Next the CPD will be paying people to break in to someones house for evidence!!! Oh, wait... Sounds like they are setting up the citizens... again.

Here is the law as written in the VA Code (See Below)....It states proceed with due caution and if reasonable, with due regard for safety and traffic conditions, yield the right-of-way by making a lane change into a lane not adjacent to the stationary emergency vehicle or (ii) if changing lanes would be unreasonable or unsafe, proceed with due caution and maintain a safe speed for highway conditions.

So, basically it is up to the vehicle operator to decide if it is reasonable and safe to do so in the given situation. Take it to court with an attorney and fight it. Also, send enough letters and e-mails to your representatives and maybe they can repeal the law or have it worded to make more sense to a reasonable person.

§ 46.2-921.1. Drivers to yield right-of-way or reduce speed when approaching stationary emergency vehicles on highways; penalties.

The driver of any motor vehicle, upon approaching a stationary emergency vehicle, as defined in § 46.2-920, that is displaying a flashing, blinking, or alternating emergency light or lights as provided in §§ 46.2-1022, 46.2-1023, and 46.2-1024, shall (i) on a highway having at least four lanes, at least two of which are

It states that you MUST change lanes If safe to do so. If it is unsafe, then slow down and proceed at a safe speed. People are not scanning ahead as they are taught in drivers ed. They want to talk on the phone or mess with the radio or just plain don't care. So, to answer your question, yes, you must move over if you can, not just slow down. It is just common courtesy, but then again I would not expect you to understand. Approaching a car on the side of the road is dangerous enough by trying to keep your eye on the people in the car, you should not have to worry about cars coming up behind you in the lane directly beside you when they have an chance to get over. Do a ride along with any police department so you can see for yourself and you might just change your mind!

city sponsored robbery

You people complain about traps all the time. You wouldn't have any problem if you stay off the cell phone and pay attention to driving. So pay attention, then it won't be you getting the ticket!

If drivers would use some common sense (and hang up the phone!!!) when they drive, we wouldn't need laws like this. When you get a ticket for this, instead of complaining like a petulant child, blame yourself for using poor judgement.

This is a lack proper oversight by City Manager Harrell, and Chief Wright.
Ticketing people to prove a point like this is not good policy for Chesapeake and expends the resources of our police force especially in light of the recent Chesapeake staff report on "clearing relatively few serious crimes......no unit dedicated to emerging crimes.......and recommended increasing minimum staffing requirements.... focusing less on traffic citations."

I am of the opinion that those who received tickets are going to feel setup, and if we ticket enough of them there will be an economic backlash and a loss of goodwill toward the city. This may be law, but its bad policy for the city and police force.

The police create chaos to enforce a law... isn't that entrapment? It is one thing to run RADAR and catch people speeding, but it is another thing to intentionally create an unsafe situation just to see how people will respond.

Did they just have an officer on the side of the road, or were they having another officer "check up" while the one on the side of the road was writing a ticket. If an officer was merely on the side of the road, it seems to be a sham. If I remember correctly, the law does not state that you must mover over, but at least slow down...

This is only the begining of creative ways the cities will be collecting money from it's citizens. They've depleted us with the property assesment tax, now on to other creative ways to collect more revenue.

I've seen many police stop vehicles in very unsafe places or park their cruiser over the line and not even bother to look before stepping out of the car, even though the vehicle they pulled over were well off the road. That's not to say that drivers don't have a responsibility to look out for the police officers and their safety. That is to say that the police need to be responsible and make wise choices also. The other issue I have to wonder about is, how did the police manage to pull the people that did not move over or slow down? Perhaps they set up a "sting" operation? In which case they were basically setting drivers up for a violation. JMHO

I observed three near accidents just this past week where drivers suddenly moved to the left lane upon seeing the blue lights without making sure it was clear. Ninety in one day!? That's not common sense enforcement or sending a message. That's a jam job or a way to pull people over to check for other things.

If the State Police cars couldn't move, guess what coach...the other cars could not move either. So how can you cite drivers for not getting out of the way of an emergency vehicle, if traffic is at a standstill and no one is able to move.
A friend mine was almost cited for this and it does not make any sense.

Approximately half of our law enforcement officers that die in the line of duty each year are from accidental causes. Many of these deaths are from the officers or their vehicles being struck by inattentive drivers. If people would use common sense and slow down a little this law would not be necessary. This same law is being passed all over the country and is long overdue. SIGN HERE PLEASE................

It's easy to prove a person wasn't proceeding with due caution when they don't bother to slow down. Maybe you should try standing out there with vehicles zipping past you, then maybe you'll understand.

How can you possibly prove moving over was safe at that instance and that the driver was not proceeding with due caution? That law is far too vague and should be eliminated.

How about focusing on HOV lane violations next?

Did the CPD have officers watching other officers with someone pulled over, or did they just park a police car with its' emergency lights activated on the side of the road and stop anyone who drove by without moving over? In either case, it seems interesting that in a city identified as not having enough officers on the street that they would take the ones they do have to stake out drivers failing to make a lane change. Heaven forbid cops on straight time or overtime were to actually do some real law enforcement and not just write traffic tickets.

15:38 10-2

I'm Sorry, But a reminder does not carry a fine. A reminder would have been a Public Service Announcement. City's like Chesapeake are becoming cash strapped in this Economic Downturn, They have to bring in more Revenue. Call it what it is. Again our supposed Liberal media taking the side of Government instead of the People. I am in agreement tho, that people should yield the right of way to Emergency Vehicles. I just disagree on the way to go about it.
Col. W. Steven Flaherty, superintendent of State Police, was in Chesapeake today to issue a reminder to drivers about the state's slow down, move over law that carries up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
So is that 2,500 time 132 = 330000 (A third of a Million Dollars) What a reminder!!!

If I am wrong on these figures please correct.

Such a campaign worked really well around the Capitol Beltway after drivers barely going the speed limit in the far left lane were ticketed. Get the too-slow drivers over to the right, they obstruct traffic, cause people to have to dodge and weave around them, and block the lane for emergency vehicles. A man who tried to test the law by driving the speed limit around the Beltway lost his case in court, so the police should have some success here as well.