Can a cop write you a ticket for.......

[MaineSqueeze]

cutting someone off, or in this case, cutting off a police officer?

I was riding with my friend tonight and he cut off a car(pulled out of a side street, onto a main road) happened to be a police car, and he got pulled over. The cop (who was nice guy, very professional, and didnt seem mad for getting cut off to the point he had to slam his breaks.) took his information, sat in his cruiser for about 15 minutes, and gave him his stuff back, and told him to be careful, and told us to have a good night. No ticket. no written warning. Since the officer was back in his car for so long, I thought he was writting a ticket.

I just got hired by a law enforcement agency and looked in the motor vehicle statutes for Maine, and couldnt find it written out. What about in your state? Does it go state to state? Im just curious, I just got hired and am looking to learn new things every day about this job. Thanks in advance for responces.

[Noah]

I had a similar situation a couple weeks ago and wrote it. Each state will be different, but essentially it is a fail to yield right of way / unsafe lane change.

[SgtScott31]

As Noah advised, either failure to yield or a lane violation. If it was bad enough to make someone lock up their brakes, reckless is also possible.

[Taylor1430]

In MD, if your friend changed lanes and cut him off, it would be an unsafe lane change. If he pulled off a side street and in front of the officer, failure to yield.

[SgtCHP]

Maine motor vehicle laws are available to all residents of the State of Maine - including POLICE OFFICERS.

Section(s) 2051 - TRAFFIC LANES reads in part:

-A. Movement from lane. A vehicle may not be moved from a lane until the operator has first ascertained that the movement can be made with safety.[2003, c. 452, Pt. Q, §28 (new); Pt. X, §2 (aff).]

Additionally, entering a through highway and rights of way are found in section(s):

2053. Right-of-way

1. Keeping right. When operators of vehicles approach each other from opposite directions, each must travel to the right of the center of the travel portion of the public way to allow the other to pass without interference. When it is unsafe or difficult to pass without interference, an operator must stop at a reasonable time and convenient place, to allow the other to pass.[1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (new); Pt. B, §5 (aff).]

2. Slow-moving vehicles. An operator of a vehicle moving slowly shall keep the vehicle as close as practicable to the right-hand boundary of the public way, and allow faster moving vehicles reasonably free passage to the left.[1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (new); Pt. B, §5 (aff).]

3. Public intersections. The operator of a vehicle at intersecting public ways has the right-of-way over a vehicle on the operator's left, and must yield right-of-way to one on its right, except:

A. At a traffic circle or rotary; or [1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (new); Pt. B, §5 (aff).]

B. When otherwise directed by a law enforcement officer. [1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (new); Pt. B, §5 (aff).]

[1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (new); Pt. B, §5 (aff).]

4. Private to public intersection. An operator of a vehicle entering a public way from a private way must yield the right-of-way to a vehicle on the public way or to a pedestrian. After yielding, the operator of the vehicle must proceed cautiously.

For the purposes of this subsection, "private way" means any way or road access onto a public way, including an alley, driveway or entrance.
[1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (new); Pt. B, §5 (aff).]

5. Vehicle turning left. An operator of a vehicle who intends to turn left must yield the right-of-way to a vehicle approaching from the opposite direction when the approaching vehicle is within the intersection or so close as to constitute an immediate hazard.[1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (new); Pt. B, §5 (aff).]

6. Traffic circles or rotary intersections. The operator of a vehicle:

A. Approaching a traffic circle or rotary intersection shall yield the right-of-way to a vehicle already within the traffic circle or rotary intersection unless otherwise regulated by a law enforcement officer or by traffic control devices; [2003, c. 452, Pt. Q, §33 (new); Pt. X, §2 (aff).]

B. Entering and passing around a rotary or traffic circle may drive only to the right of the rotary or traffic circle and shall yield the right-of-way to a vehicle on the operator's left; and [2003, c. 452, Pt. Q, §33 (new); Pt. X, §2 (aff).]

C. May not drive on or across the center part of a rotary or traffic circle, except that the wheels of a semitrailer or trailer may cross the center part as long as the wheels of the towing vehicle do not cross the center part. [2003, c. 452, Pt. Q, §33 (new); Pt. X, §2 (aff).]

[2003, c. 452, Pt. Q, §33 (rpr); Pt. X, §2 (aff).]

7. Traffic islands. An operator of a vehicle passing around a rotary traffic island must drive only to the right of the island.[1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (new); Pt. B, §5 (aff).]

8. Highway construction and maintenance areas. An operator of a vehicle must yield the right-of-way to an authorized vehicle or person actually engaged in work on a public way:

A. Within a construction or maintenance area indicated by official traffic control devices; or [1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (new); Pt. B, §5 (aff).]

B. When the vehicle displays flashing lights meeting the requirements of section 2054. [1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (new); Pt. B, §5 (aff).]

[1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (new); Pt. B, §5 (aff).]


Section History:
PL 1993, Ch. 683, §A2 (NEW).
PL 1993, Ch. 683, §B5 (AFF).
PL 1999, Ch. 183, §8 (AMD).
PL 2003, Ch. 452, §Q33 (AMD).
PL 2003, Ch. 452, §X2 (AFF).


The Revisor's Office cannot provide legal advice or interpretation of Maine law to the public. If you need legal advice, please consult a qualified attorney.

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If you are, in fact, a LEO in the State of Maine, I find it extremely difficult to believe that you are unfamiliar with your own state laws. If you need reading material visit your nearest BMV and pick up a copy of the Motor Vehicle Laws. In the interim, you may access them via the internet at this URL:

http://www.maine.gov/sos/bmv/licenses/getlicense.html

Geesh, some people's children

[lionheart45]

You can be issued a summons for cutting any motorist off including an officer. It can really fall under a few different sections of the driving laws.

[jakflak]

If he pulled you over for it, he can ticket you for it. There are very few exceptions to that.

[Fuzz]

cutting someone off, or in this case, cutting off a police officer?

I was riding with my friend tonight and he cut off a car(pulled out of a side street, onto a main road) happened to be a police car, and he got pulled over.

I write these tickets just about every day. On a police motorcycle, wether its on the freeway or side streets) there are tons of people who cut you off, change lanes into you, etc. Its pretty much common sense that if you violate someones right of way by making an unsafe movement you can get a ticket.

And if you just got hired by a department I suggest you do a better job of looking up codes and violations before you get reamed in the academy.

[t150vsuptpr]

cutting someone off, or in this case, cutting off a police officer?

I was riding with my friend tonight and he cut off a car(pulled out of a side street, onto a main road) happened to be a police car, and he got pulled over. The cop (who was nice guy, very professional, and didnt seem mad for getting cut off to the point he had to slam his breaks.) took his information, sat in his cruiser for about 15 minutes, and gave him his stuff back, and told him to be careful, and told us to have a good night. No ticket. no written warning. Since the officer was back in his car for so long, I thought he was writting a ticket.

I just got hired by a law enforcement agency and looked in the motor vehicle statutes for Maine, and couldnt find it written out. What about in your state? Does it go state to state? Im just curious, I just got hired and am looking to learn new things every day about this job. Thanks in advance for responces.

Sure he can. He's just as entitled to his right of way as any citizen. This one ran some checks and chose to warn instead, that's all.

Fail to Yield Right of Way.

A buddy of mine, now retired, wrote me a ticket for this exact thing back in the mid '70s (I was a college student then, and out on a date this night) when I pulled out in front of him in my GTO. It was a slight hill crest and the roadside advertizing sign at the gas station I was leaving partially blocked my view of the road and I tippy-toed up to the edge and still looking back over my left, pulled out and saw him coming about time my front end was in the roadway, so I accelerated as he braked.

Lesson learned, I should have backed up and pulled out of the parking lot from the other side of the sign or simply moved farther waway from the sign on the side I was on ...
... and I carry that lesson to this day. If I can't see well enough to exit a parking lot safely, I move to another place to exit.

[MaineSqueeze]

I did just get hired, there would be no reason to lie. I got hired as a summer reserve officer for a coastal town that has a huge tourism industry. I am not going to be attending an official academy. I havnt had any training in a while, and was a little rusty on looking things up. Thanks for your answers.

[Bobcat11]

I got very lucky in a similar situation... When I was 16 I was leaving a high school football game and in turning left, I turned in front of an officer (would have t-boned me if he was speeding). To my surprise he was nice enough to let me off with a warning. I was sooo nervous, it was my first time being pulled over, I had only had my license for like 2 - 3 months at the time.

[Nightshift va]

Are you kidding? You admit to almost causing an accident and you have the nerve to and the officer actually gives you no citation and you still question his reason for the stop? AMAZING...He should have written "Your Friend" for fail to yeild and as he wrote the summons had a drug sniffing dog called to your location since you whine about your long wait anyway, may as well be a reason for you. Just to let you know sometimes Radio traffic follow up required on a Traffic stop takes more than the average time a citizen appreciates.

[Nightshift va]

Oh I just read that you are an auxilary/citizen patrol officer too?? Geeesh, are you kidding? You trying to use your limited knowledge of the Code to Undermine the Officer who pulled over your boyfriend sounds like to me.

[SgtCHP]

I did just get hired, there would be no reason to lie. I got hired as a summer reserve officer for a coastal town that has a huge tourism industry. I am not going to be attending an official academy. I havnt had any training in a while, and was a little rusty on looking things up. Thanks for your answers.

For that very reason you should be discussing these topics with those officers you work with and the supervisors for whom you work. I am probably not too far off the mark when I say that you have had NO formal training in traffic law enforcement. Heck, you don't even know where to look for the appropriate violation. I would suggest that you review your State's codes and such so you will not be caught in an embarassing situation in the field. You may be held to answer to a higher authority if you mess up out there!

[MaineSqueeze]

NightshiftVA,


Calm down, youre getting really worked up over nothing. I wasnt ****ed off about the wait, I could have cared less. And my position isnt auxilary or citizen patrol. Its an armed position, with the bike unit of a PD. I think you need to start seeing the sun more to brighten your mood.

SgtCHP,

Youre right, I havnt had much formal training as of yet. Thats all to come. Thanks for the advice. Wouldnt want to be embarrased on the streets thats for sure.