77
You are not reading a law book here and you should not interpret a driving test so literally. It's quite clear that the question implies you should follow all of their instructions regarding how to proceed through traffic. Sometimes those instructions do involve "breaking laws" such as driving on the wrong side of the road or proceeding through a traffic ...
49
It seems like the officer should have to present at least some kind of evidence that the alleged crime occurred.
Testimony is evidence. Officers can and do abuse this, but courts tend to give them the benefit of the doubt, so they typically attribute greater weight and credibility to a police officer's testimony than to that of a defendant.
35
Let's be quite brutal here.
Inexperienced driver doesn't mean the driver made a mistake. Lots of friends in the car doesn't mean they interferred with his driving. Loud music in the car is totally legal. "Perhaps was distracted" - "perhaps" you were distracted by looking at the passengers of this car instead of yielding?
It seems that you ...
24
How do free-speech protections in the United States apply in public to corporate misrepresentations?
It is legal to be wrong, it is legal to say false things in public (leaving out defamation), and it is legal to buy and manufacture signs that say false things. Moreover, the sign does not make a false statement, in that legal liability is distinct from moral responsibility. In fact, the sign helps to decrease their legal liability. Via this sign, you have ...
21
The policeman ordered, right as he took a step out of his car "Turn it off!" - which is a lawful demand to prevent the biker from possibly kicking the gas and running. As the driver did not seem to comply (from the policeman's PoV) during his walk over to the bike, he enforced the order himself by turning off the bike and confiscating the key for ...
20
I assume you're talking about this case: Bus lane camera mistakes woman's sweater for number plate.
No he couldn't just ignore it - because that doesn't actually result in it getting put in front of a human (judge or otherwise). Instead the fine would escalate and ultimately be passed to a collections agency. Only challenging the Penalty Charge Notice (as ...
19
This varies greatly by state, but the pedestrians "right of way" is quite a common misconception. Pedestrians do not always have the right of way, but you're also not allowed to just run them over if they're in the middle of the street. That's why states have jaywalking laws, and a lot of people don't realize that they can be ticketed for it - because it's a ...
17
European viewpoint:
"Innocent until proven guilty" relates only to the criminal process.
There is also an "administrative process" where the traffic control pretty much belongs, as well as other matters where the government exerts control, e.g. food quality.
In the administrative process, the inspector's findings are considered true ...
16
There are multiple questions on different areas of law, but I will answer purely on any criminal liability arising by the drivers concerned and leave the question(s) on civil liability to others.
The general rule to avoid creating unsafe situations appears to be in the Royal Decree of 1 December 1975, at Article 7, which states (via English translation):
7....
15
I believe the answer you seek can be found by searching for the terms "(desired state name) statutes pedestrian crossing."
In the case of the state of Florida, there are references to the situation you describe. Some of it appears slightly contradictory, but the ones that apply are not ambiguous:
(10) Every pedestrian crossing a roadway at any ...
12
Edit:
There is a forum that discusses the Ontario Highway Traffic Act, and this is apparently a question that gets asked a lot. To sum up the discussion, because of O.Reg 615 of the French Language Services Act, there is a possibility that you can challenge uniligual signs in French service regions like Toronto. The reality is, Toronto never adopted the ...
12
However, if it's his word against mine ...
I don't know the US point of view, but I have read that in Germany the courts evaluate the "evidence" (which includes statements of witnesses) by importance.
If your word is against the word of the police officer, the court will judge the two statements the following way:
The police officer is trained to ...
11
It is true that in the US, valid Federal law supersedes state law or regulation when there is a conflict. Precisely because of this, state laws and regulations are normally carefully written to avoid such conflicts.
It is very unusual for a federal law issue to apply in traffic court. The question does not say what Federal law issue you think will apply to ...
10
People can take their personal cars through the Channel Tunnel from Great Britain to France. They don't actually drive their cars through the tunnel, but going by car is a perfectly normal way to travel between those two countries. That's probably the most well-known place where drivers will switch from driving on one side of the road to the other, but there ...
10
It's legal
The Ohio Court of Appeals has addressed a nearly identical situation in State v. Paseka.
The relevant law is, as you noted in the question, R.C. 4511.39, which states, in relevant part:
No person shall turn a vehicle or trackless trolley or move right or left upon a highway ... without giving an appropriate signal
The facts in this case are ...
9
In New York State, vehicle registration requirements (including the requirement to display license plates) are under Title IV of the Vehicle and Traffic Law. Title IV refers to "motor vehicles." However, Section 125 of the law, which defines "motor vehicle" for the purposes of the law, states that:
Every vehicle operated or driven upon a public highway ...
8
I have beaten all but one of my traffic tickets just by going to court. In one case, the judge threw out the charge because he couldn't read the officer's handwriting on the ticket. In another, the officer charged that I was parked in a "no parking" zone on a particular street (at night), but gave a cross street where parking was, in fact, allowed.
8
Apparently, people are citing these cases for the proposition that there is a right to drive a car without a license (several facebook accounts making this claim have been shut down and a document making this argument is signed with the Biblical name of God). This is frivolous poppycock reserved for conspiracy theory crackpots that also never works.
A ...
8
When a pedestrian is in a clearly marked crosswalk, and didn't suddenly leap out in front of an oncoming car, the vehicle operator is legally obligated to stop. Stop, not merely slow down, see for example RCW 46.61.235
The operator of an approaching vehicle shall stop and remain stopped
to allow a pedestrian or bicycle to cross the roadway within an
...
8
Now after 4 years I still can't get it off my mind and it's consuming
me thinking that I was fooled into believing that the rule of law was
the norm in this country (not the jungle law) and the beautiful
constitution we have is not there just to look pretty, but something
we can rely on.
So, at this point, do I need legal help? Or mental help or ...
8
How do free-speech protections in the United States apply in public to corporate misrepresentations?
As a general rule in the United States, in the case of an accidents between a leading vehicle and a following vehicle, the leading vehicle is usually not responsible for the accident as the following vehicle is the one with the duty to avoid colliding with the second car. Considering that the most likely speed to encounter a truck with sufficient speed to ...
8
Yes
A police officer (or other emergency service driver) will turn their lights and siren on as soon as they have a need to do so. This may be in response to something they've seen or in response to an emergency call. Since you can't see and hear what they can see and hear this may seem sudden or arbitrary to you.
Your obligations, as spelled out in the 2019 ...
8
australia
The rules for pedestrians are in Part 14 of the Road Rules (NSW rules linked but they are uniform across Australia).
The relevant rules are Nos 230 Crossing a road—general and 234 Crossing a road on or near a crossing for pedestrians
They say:
230(1) A pedestrian crossing a road—
(a) must cross by the shortest safe route, and
(b) must not stay ...
7
Yes, you pretty much have to. While one person convinced one Justice of the Peace that the English-only signs were invalid in 2004 (and then pled guilty on appeal), in 2011 an attempt to argue that the signs were invalid was rejected by lower courts, and the Ontario Court of Appeal refused to hear that case while commenting that they considered the 2004 ...
7
Using two states as examples:
In California, emergency vehicle operators are exempt from pretty much the entirety of the rules of the road (VC 21055). They can pass you on the right if they want to. Department policy might say no, but that depends on department policy and the details of their emergency vehicle operation course.
However, California law ...
7
This is an excellent explanation.
All Australian jurisdictions have (in general) common road rules. In NSW these are enacted by Road Rules 2014 regulation under the Road Transport Act 2013.
The relevant provision is Clause 306:
306 Exemption for drivers of emergency vehicles
A provision of these Rules does not apply to the driver of an emergency vehicle if:
...
7
You may be entitled to compensation for reasonable costs related to restoring your window to its previous state. If you sue, you will have to present your actual expenses and show that they are reasonable. Ultimately this boils down to how much it really costs to clean the glue off your window. A safe bet is to take it to a few reputable dealers/shops, get ...
7
This question is meant to be within the scope of "using the road" - Option (B) is wrong where, for example, there is a traffic light stuck on red for all sides, and someone directing traffic.
If you were to kill someone because a person - even if a "signal person" (which is really just a person in some slightly special clothing) told you to, you would be ...
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible