Would a cop really pull you over for this?

well if you’re staying on your side of the road then it isn’t a traffic violation

@applesaucemanny assuming you cross the double yellow lines…

Could they? Yes. Would they? Perhaps.

You have plenty of room within your own lane (without crossing the lines) to get over and not hit someone on the side of the road. If you crossed into the next lane yes it is a violation.

@Ansible1 then I agree with what @tinyfaery said

i doubt they would as long as there isnt oncoming traffic that you’re veering into. on multiple lane highways it’s almost always posted that you need to move over for stopped or emergency vehicles so if youre able to without it being dangerous then i dont think its a problem.

It would only be a violation if you crossed a double solid line. But even in that case, it would be unlikely that you would be cited unless you created an even more dangerous condition. For example if there was on coming traffic that also had to swerve out of the way of you. Normally police will only cite you (in the situation you describe) if you act extremely carelessly.

@Memisis yeah I def. would not do this if there was on coming traffic, i meant if there were no other cars and you were about to pass a person (riding/running etc.) on the side of the road, and was safe to move into the middle of the road just to avoid any danger…

If the officer sees that you’re making this move to avoid someone or something in the vicinity of your vehicle, the police officer doesn’t have sufficient probable cause to pull you over unless what you did was performed dangerously or recklessly. If the officer did pull you over because, as you stated, he was in a bad mood and acting like a jerk, this would be an opportunity to contest the ticket in court because it is a frivolous traffic citation.

@Bluefreedom great answer thank you.

@Ansible1. You’re welcome.

An officer can pull you over for any reason. The law says the cop needs a reason and reasons are manufactured easily enough.

my girlfriend got pulled over, and got a ticket for having beads hung over her mirror, an obstruction of view… cops will get you for anything if they’ve had a bad enough day.

I’ve never known a cop retarded enough to pull someone over for being safe… but then I haven’t been to Arkansas either. (ok ok.. it’s a joke.. i’m sorry Arkansas)

In California, you have to slow down when passing someone like this.
Also, you will need to signal when crossing lanes. Even if you are going right back.

I had this happen the other day, the most important thing to do is if you are going to cross the striped line, put on your emergency four ways. Also, I always slow down when there are people or stopped vehicles on the side of the road and apply my four ways so that others know there is a situation that demands caution up ahead. If the person on the side of the road steps out into your lane, you want to be able to stop. If the people behind you don’t like it, tough. Can you imagine going through life with the guilt of killing some innocent person with your car because you were worried about pissing off the guy with the misfortune of following you?

Never worry about the people behind you, they don’t matter; that’s why they are back there. =)

Here in Illinois, you can cross the center line in order to avoid obstacles “moving or fixed.” I suspect it’s the same most places.

Technically, if you cross into another lane without using your turn signal, you have committed a traffic violation, and this is cause for a cop to pull you over. However, if you use your turn signal and cross fully into the other lane (assuming the line is only striped and not solid), this is a legal maneuver.

If you were to make the lane change safely even without using your turn signal, I would doubt that a cop would pull you over, as he / she would likely see that you were simply trying to be a safer driver by getting further away from the motorist on the side of the road.

@ABoyNamedBoobs03 that is a driving obstruction. Anything hung from the rear view mirror bigger than your thumbnail is a distraction. The cop was in the right to do so. Who needs freaking beads on the rear view mirror anyway? What the Hell does that mean? Driving isn’t a right, and that’s why we have laws.

@evelyns_pet_zebra lol it was a rosary, I hardly see how that is such a travesty, and certainly not worth a 215 dollar fine and a court date….

@ABoyNamedBoobs03 if you have been driving as long as I have (30+ years) you realize that anything larger than your thumbnail is going to block your view of oncoming traffic, even from a distance. For comparison, holding a nickel between your thumb and forefinger at arm’s length is the approximate size of the moon in the night sky. A car is MUCH smaller than the moon, and even 300 feet away, that same car can easily be blocked by beads (or anything else) hanging from your mirror.

Drivers have enough distractions, and our vision isn’t as great as we would like to think, and besides that, just because you can hang things from your rear view mirror, that doesn’t mean that you should. Why would anyone hang rosary beads on the mirror? Is she advertising her religion or is it in case the Pope rides in her car, so he can see she is a good Catholic?

It’s like those CD holders that go on sun visors. If I had a dollar for everytime I’ve been blinded by sunlight reflecting off someone’s visor CD collection, I could quit my job and spend my days on the corner, waving at the other people driving by. =)

May I also remind people that a police officer’s JOB is to “protect and serve” the Majority of cops don’t pull people over all willy nilly just because they’re having a bad day. If you swerve over the yellow line, whether it’s to avoid someone on the side of the road or not, you’ve become a point of interest in that you could possibly be inebriated. If you’ve been pulled over and ticketed for swerving… it’s because you committed a traffic violation.
(like ‘pausing’ at a stop sign, trying to beat a yellow light, “only going 5–10MPH over the posted speed limit…)
You can’t be the one to decide which law to obey and which you’re going to disregard.