Legal Question in Traffic Law in Georgia
I was stopped by a deputy in a rather small town in Georgia. That morning there was a house fire about 5 a.m., it was located on the main road that goes through town, this road is one way and at the point of the house fire it is 3 lanes wide. I came through town about 8:15 a.m., traffic was medium (as stated on my ticket)... As I approached the scene, the fire dept. had a vehicle parked in the right hand lane, blocking the lane(with one of there small trucks) and had a cone out in the right lane; the deputy was traveling in front of me in the center lane, I slowed down and moved into the center lane too, behind the deputy and another car or two..before we got to the scene, the deputy and the other vehicles that were in front of me, moved into the left hand lane, by this time there was more traffic coming up behind me and on the left hand side. I slowed down to apx. 20 mph (this was a 35 mph zone) - and proceeded to drive by the fire truck (I was in the center lane) that was parked in the right hand lane (very close to the curb) & they did have their lights on. There were several fireman sitting on the sidewalk and standing around - as if resting / finishing up from the earlier fire... none of them were in the road, or even close to the lane I was traveling in. As I approached the next interesection/red light - there were additional cones staggered in the right hand lane, as if indicating that all lanes were opened back up. As I proceeded to move into right hand lane, I noticed the deputy had crossed back over from the far left lane & was now pulling from the roadway on the right hand side... At this time, he was not completely out of my lane; but he had stopped and the car in front of me slowly drove around him, and I did too-even though I was unsure of what he was doing.... After I drove past him, he pulled in behind me and cut his lights on. I was reaching my destination at that time and pulled into a parking space. He came and asked to see my license & insurance card....I gave these to him and asked What I had done... He informed me I failed to give the Fire truck a lane of traffic..... He gave me a ticket and cited me with "move over law" violation. At this time I had heard of the law...but did not know all the details (I do now!), but even so, I feel that I followed the law - as there was traffic on my left & behind me - For me to have been able to have moved in the the far left lane, I would have had to come to a complete stop....which could have been MORE dangerous than slowly passing by in the center lane.... my next questions??? if there was to be no travel in the center lane, why didn't the fire dept move their Expidition (maked with Emergency emblems) into the center lane and the cone, so no travel would have been possible in that lane??? I feel that this officer was unfair in issuing this citation...at this time I am planning to go to court and dispute this ticket. Can you give me your opionion on this? Thanks so much for your help... Also, I've been driving for 25+ years... have only had a couple of speeding tickets (over 15 years ago!) and have NEVER been to Court!!! so this is all a NEW experience for me! Any advice will be greatly appreciated!
1 Answer from Attorneys
Get an attorney, he/she may be able to speak with the DA and officer to minimize your fine and or reduce it to a warning. Sounds like you truly didn't mean to 'break their law.'
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