For anyone driving through the land of Lincoln...

[RALFFERS 0]

I got this in an e-mail this morning, & honestly, I thought it was bullshit - but according to the Illinois state police website "Scott's Law" is legit.

Here's the e-mail:

Quote

This is just a warning about something that happened to my friend Denise.
She Was driving on I-88 in the right lane.

She was not speeding.

There was a Illinois Police car sitting in the right shoulder with the lights on.

The officer Was sitting in the car.

There was no one pulled over.

She continued in the right lane and passed him.

She was immediately pulled over by the cop and cited for
Violating Scott's law which I found is a law that requires you to move over
(if Possible) to the left lane if an emergency vehicle is on the side of the road.

She pleaded ignorance of the law but was given a ticket and was assigned a Mandatory court date for which she appeared.

She spoke to the judge and he Asked Her if she wanted a trial.

She said that she could not testify that she did
Not Commit the violation but that she was unaware of the law.
She pleaded guilty and was fined $100.00.

She thought that was it.

Two weeks later she received a notice from the Secretary of
State that her license has been suspended for 3 months because of this
Violation.

She spoke to the Secretary of State office as no one ever mentioned that
She would lose her license.

As expected, they did not care and if she wanted a
Hearing on the matter or a hearing to ask for a license to drive to work, she Could expect a hearing date in about 3 months.

Just wanted to warn everyone about this.

I was not aware of this law although I Usually move over anyway.

Apparently, in 2007, the state police issued a
Record Number of tickets for this offense.

I thought you might find the following article from snopes.com interesting: http://www.snopes.com/politics/traffic/moveover.asp

News to me... I drive all over the place on the expressway; especially I-88, where apparently the subject of the e-mail got pulled over; I drove past 2 sets of cops and didn't get stopped... Lucky I guess (as usual.)

Edited to add: The original PDF document is too large - I saved it as plain text. Attached.

Dialogue/commentary between Divot, Twardo & myself -

"from your first Oshkosh when the three of us were riding to or from one of

[skymama 35]

You're required to move to the next lane in FL too, but I don't know what the penalities are.

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[RALFFERS 0]

Good to know, thanks for the heads up; I'll be down there for the winter again this year. Think I'll just apply this as a rule of thumb, no matter where I am.

Dialogue/commentary between Divot, Twardo & myself -

"from your first Oshkosh when the three of us were riding to or from one of

[seedy 0]

Many states now have a similar law. You are required to slow down or move over for any emergency or maintenance vehicle. Most of the states have a sign posted when you enter the state.

I intend to live forever -- so far, so good.

[warpedskydiver 0]

On US 20 just 1 mile from district 2 HQ, there is frequently a State Cop or Local out there on the side with his lights on, just ahead over the rise there are six or more patrol cars giving tickets.

[ChasingBlueSky 0]

This is a very real law and it is often enforced. In a very short period of time we had a State Trooper and a highway construction worker killed while on duty. A few weeks later several more construction workers were hit as well. They found that outside of Chicago city limits, most people were doing 60-75mph in construction speed zones, even if workers were present.

So Scott's Law went into effect. Also, if you are caught speeding in a construction zone it's a $500 fee first time and automatic notice to your insurance company. If you hit a worker or state employee on the highway first offense is 14 years jail time and $100,000 fee. Also, in case you haven't noticed, they have put up speed cameras in construction zones now as well.

I haven't had a car in about a year but I know there used to be signs at every toll booth about yielding to emergency vehicles and changing lanes for cop cars on the shoulder. There is one for the Midway Airport exit and I think there is one at O'hare as well. Also every 1 mile in a construction zone has reminders on the fee/fine for speeding/hitting. As I look out my office window at the I-88 construction I can see a sign about it right now.

_________________________________________
you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

[jonstark 8]

It is a common courtesy I was taught when I started driving in the early 70s.

[JohnRich 4]

Quote

This is a very real law...

It's a good law, and in place in many states.

However, they shouldn't be just sitting on the side of the road with lights on for no reason, just to entrap people who are unaware of the law. It should only be enforced for actual police roadside stops for legitimate purposes.

This is an abuse of the law.

[Gato 0]

Quote

However, they shouldn't be just sitting on the side of the road with lights on for no reason, just to entrap people who are unaware of the law. It should only be enforced for actual police roadside stops for legitimate purposes.

This is an abuse of the law.

I couldn't agree more. I wonder if anyone has gone to trial over this, yet.

T.I.N.S.

[FlyingJ 0]

Quote

It is a common courtesy I was taught when I started driving in the early 70s.

Agreed, though I learned in the 90s.

There was a big media push to let people know about this law a couple years back. Don't remember if it was Florida or Texas as I moved right about the time it was happening, but I recall lots of radio and TV ads.

My only experience with it is here in Texas. I've known two or three people that got pulled over for it, but they were all leaving a local dance hall at the end of an evening and the move over law was being used as a way to check for folks that had been drinking. None of the people I knew had been drinking and they were all let go but reminded of the law.

I don't know the exact details and it doesn't seem to be stated in the Illinois documents, but I recall hearing that your options were either move over or slow down to something like 20 or 25mph under the posted speed limit.

Killing threads since 2004.

[airdvr 197]

License suspension is too harsh for this violation. That's ridiculous.

Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

[Royd 0]

The cause of this law is, assholes who refuse to pull completely off of the road, intentionally causing an officer to stand in the lane of traffic, thus endangering his life.

Maybe there should be an added fine for not pulling off far enough to give the officer 4-5 ft. of clearance between the parked car and moving traffic.

BTW, if she were using common sense while driving, she would have pulled over, unless there was someone directly beside her.

It could have been anyone, not just a LEO, sitting there making a phone call, reading a map, etc., and suddenly pulls back into traffic without warning.

[ChasingBlueSky 0]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/1000239,workerhit061108.article

Worker killed, another injured after hit on I-57

June 11, 2008
Illinois State Police have captured the driver in a hit-and-run crash on 1-57 that police say left one highway worker dead and another seriously injured Wednesday afternoon.

Two right lanes remain closed as of 4:25 p.m. on southbound I-57 after two highway safety workers, contracted by the Illinois Department of Transportation, were struck, Illinois State Police Sgt. Luis Gutierrez said.

Northbound lanes have not been affected, an ISP District Chicago trooper said.

The hit-and-run crash occurred about 2:40 p.m. in the southbound lanes near 119th Street.

The workers, two men, were removing a sign warning drivers about a lane closure due to road work, according to IDOT spokesman Mike Claffey. Both were seriously injured and taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

One worker has died at Advocate Christ, Gutierrez said at 4:25 p.m. The Cook County Medical Examiner's office had not been notified of the fatality as of 4:25 p.m.

The driver also struck a construction truck while fleeing the scene, the trooper said.

Responding troopers apprehended the driver shortly after the crash, Gutierrez said. He remains in custody but no charges had been filed as of 4:25 p.m.

_________________________________________
you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

[Snowwhite 0]

Quote

The cause of this law is, assholes who refuse to pull completely off of the road, intentionally causing an officer to stand in the lane of traffic, thus endangering his life.

Maybe there should be an added fine for not pulling off far enough to give the officer 4-5 ft. of clearance between the parked car and moving traffic.

BTW, if she were using common sense while driving, she would have pulled over, unless there was someone directly beside her.

It could have been anyone, not just a LEO, sitting there making a phone call, reading a map, etc., and suddenly pulls back into traffic without warning.

I have a friend, a local doctor who was traveling to Chicago on 88. Cop car on side of road, by himself. My friend in right lane (lots of traffic in both lanes.) He attempted to pull over, but too much traffic prevented it. He did slow down, but got the ticket anyway. He still drives, so I assume that the loss of license thing didn't happen to him.
My daughter in law just got ticketed in Chicago for talking on her cell phone while driving. Can't remember how much it was but it was steep. btw, she was 8 months pregnant, and calling me to ask about some strange symptoms, but tough luck, pay the fine.

skydiveTaylorville.org
[email protected]

[skymedic 0]

The law is the law.

BUT the reason for this law is that far too often emergency workers are killed while putting there lives on the line. I've had a bag knocked off my shoulder by a car speeding past. literally a foot away from killing me. PLEASE pull over...if you don't you deserve to go to jail.

In the past week there have been over 5 emergency workers killed by drivers not paying attention.

Marc
otherwise known as Mr.Fallinwoman....