Driving in Illinois and passing vehicles with flashing lights

[Bobby DiDomenico]

In case some of you will be towing thru Illinois, please be aware that to make it safer for police and other emergencey workers the state has been enforcing a newer law, and they will ticket you for not slowing down and moving over a lane when passing stopped emergency vehicles.

I'm not sure how to make these work as links, but you can copy and paste them:

http://www.isp.state.il.us/docs/1-163.pdf

http://www.topix.com/forum/state/il-...EKGMTJK62BMI9V

from http://www.sj-r.com/News/stories/20573.asp
Scott's Law a surprise for drivers 6 years later 'Education period' for motorists over, state trooper says
By JAYETTE BOLINSKI
STAFF WRITER
Published Friday, November 23, 2007
The driver of the tan Lexus sport utility vehicle never saw it coming.

He was incredulous when the Illinois State Police trooper who pulled him over Wednesday afternoon walked up to the window and explained the infraction. 'So you're telling me I had to move over and change lanes when I went by?' 'Yes, sir,' Price replied. The man's wife, sitting in the passenger seat, was ticked.
'All the people speeding out here and you're writing him for this?'
Yes, Price replied again, then returned to his patrol car to check the man's license and write a ticket for violating Scott's Law, now referred to as the 'move-over law.'
Moments earlier the driver had failed to move out of the right lane as he passed another trooper who was out on a traffic stop. Price, pulled off on the shoulder behind the other trooper, saw it happen.
'He's really not going to like the news when I tell him he has to appear in court,' Price said as he typed information from the Clayton, Mo., man's driver's license into the patrol car's laptop computer.
Indeed, the driver was mad when Price returned to the Lexus to present him with the ticket. His wife was angrier, though, shaking her head in disbelief.
'This is the most distasteful experience I've ever had with law enforcement,' she shot back at Price. And with that, the SUV pulled back onto Interstate 55 for points north.
Price has seen the reaction before.
'I probably get more arguments with this violation than with anything else,' he said.
Scott's law, signed into law in August 2001, requires motorists to use extra caution around emergency vehicles. When approaching a police car, firetruck, tow truck, roadwork truck or any other emergency vehicle with flashing warning lights, drivers must change lanes and slow down.
There is some discretion involved on the part of police. In some cases, drivers simply cannot change lanes because of clogged traffic. In those cases, they must at least slow down. It's up to the officers to decide if they should issue a citation.
The law was enacted after Scott Gillen, a Chicago firefighter, was struck and killed by a drunken driver Dec. 23, 2000, while assisting at an accident site on the Dan Ryan Expressway.
A veteran law enforcement officer, Price knows what it's like to stand on the shoulder of a highway with cars, semitrucks, buses, recreational vehicles and large trucks whizzing by inches away.
'They come close. I've been out there before and they hug that white line. The wind shakes you,' he said.
Penalties for violating the law include a fine of not more than $10,000. In addition, if the violation happens while a person is driving under the influence, his or her driver's license can be suspended for anywhere between 90 days and two years, depending on whether property was damaged or someone was injured or killed.
Price said he believes word of the law is getting out, though there still are numerous violations.
A review of more than 30,000 tickets logged with the Sangamon County circuit clerk since May shows 77 have been written here for violating the move-over law. Violators must appear before a judge.
A spot check of the tickets shows the majority of them were written by state troopers, though there are a few issued by Springfield, Chatham and Auburn police officers. Offenders often are fined $200 and given court supervision.
Price said he went to court on one of the tickets recently, and the judge found the accused driver guilty after he admitted he slowed down but didn't change lanes - even though there were no vehicles preventing him from doing so.
After the law went into effect, state police had an 'education period' during which they mostly issued warnings to violators. That period is over, and the troopers consistently write tickets for Scott's Law violations, Price said.
'I think it's getting better. It's still not 100 percent compliance, but it's getting noticeably better,' he said.

[Ed Fernandez]

I drive a flatbed and do quite a few jobs on both highways and country roads where the speed limit is 50-55 mph and believe me I wish I could grow a pair of eyes in the back of my head(That would come in handy for watching faster cars chasing me in eliminations).More times than not truckers (tractor trailers,tri axle dumps and straight rigs usually give you the courtesy of either slowing down or moving over,unfortunatly not always.The biggest offenders in my experiance are the soccer moms in their SUV's
yakking away on their cell phones.It only takes one incedent to end it all for you.A former driver for my company was killed on the NJ Tpk. last year by a woman with a small kid in an SUV.She rolled it 3 times and went home afterwoods the Towman was waked in a closed coffin,no bull****,true story.We all need to be more attentive when behind the wheel.Just my 2 cents in an over priced world.

Ed F.

Again, we are all slaves by defacto segregation. Thanks J.P. Morgan!

[Ed Fernandez]

Originally Posted by Jason Fuller

Cops, Bums, or Criminals. You pick the name.

Really easy to pick off speeders or traffic violators as opposed to real crime enforcement. Victemless crime goes a long way and a lot easier to fine and make money off of. Isn't that right?

Again, we are all slaves by defacto segregation. Thanks J.P. Morgan!

Nice post.I'm sure if some yahoo clipped your sorry *** on the highway you'de be singing a different tune.
Then that cop,bum criminal couldn't arrest the offender fast enough.It's no wonder we cant get a concensus on our problems with NHRA.

Ed F.

[Bob Pagano]

Same law in TX and AR

All I'm tring to say is have a reasonable law like, pull off the nearest exit so the rest of the drivers on the road don't hve to slow down and tie up traffic.

I've been in siuations where nobody would let me in to the other lane, even half a mile ahead of time with blinker on and slowed down.

This sorry *** has had enough of you Ed!

[Bob Don]

Ohio and North Carolina also have the same law and Massachusetts is contemplating it. Mr. Fuller: I raced NHRA Stock in the 70's and 80's before becoming a police officer. I have 25 years on the job now. Let me show you the horrific aftermath of needless traffic accidents that change people's lives forever. We recently had a state trooper in the breakdown lane (lights flashing) with a disabled motorist. She was rear-ended by a drunk driver at over 100 mph. That trooper is now a confined to a wheel chair and is more or less incoherent - for the rest of her life! These are not victimless crimes. I fail to see the unreasonableness of slowing down and getting out of the way.

"She was rear-ended by a drunk driver at over 100 mph"

Okay, there is a reason for the police helping a person, but pull the "Offenders" over at a rest area or a exit or something else where it does not affect the other drivers. Thats what I said earlier.

Don't make me the bad guy because I think about solving the "Whole" problem. Well except for the times where people are broke down or what have you.

[SSDiv6]

Originally Posted by Jason Fuller

"She was rear-ended by a drunk driver at over 100 mph"

Okay, there is a reason for the police helping a person, but pull the "Offenders" over at a rest area or a exit or something else where it does not affect the other drivers. Thats what I said earlier.

Don't make me the bad guy because I think about solving the "Whole" problem. Well except for the times where people are broke down or what have you.

Jason...I 've been told that Ed has a big fat ***...

[Marty Buth]

Jason,

You are out of line with your comments. Put your self in the shoes of the police officers and other emergency workers before you make blanket statements that are totally incorrect. My son in law is a police officer and he doesn't resemble any of the names you threw around with no respect.