The best option with this sort of ticket is the route of a plea-bargain to a reduced charge. Not knowing about this being the law will not gain any sympathy from a Justice of the Peace. It is the law in most US states and Canadian provinces. In some US states you can serve jail time for it. The only defence for not moving over is that it was impossible to do so. If the emergency vehicle has its lights on, you must move over.

hwybear wrote:Even if it was not a law, common courtesy and defensive driving should be thought of and move away from anything on the shoulder.

To add to that, there is no way of knowing if said vehicle will suddenly pull back onto the highway without looking. If people can make sudden U-turns in front of transport trucks they can pull out just inches in front of speeding cars. If I see a stopped vehicle, I move over. If you're looking ahead, there's always a gap to find and time to move into it. Had to do that a couple of times heading through the Chatham/Kent area over the weekend, including for a stopped cruiser at the 122 km marker.

Sorry just happened to notice this thread.

bear will know this.

Last week on 401 there was an accident at side of the road.

He has his lights on so i moved over didnt want that ticket, thats for sure!

Now what happens if the officer is at the side of the road and out of his car but he has no lights on??? Lets say he has pulled someone over turns off his lights and is giving the guy a ticket.

Do we have to move over?

And what if the officer is at the side of the road trying to hide doing speed enforcement is it fine to go right by or is it the law to move over?

You are not required by law to move over unless the lights are on, but common courtesy would be to move over if there is enough room in the centre lane.

Squishy wrote:You are not required by law to move over unless the lights are on, but common courtesy would be to move over if there is enough room in the centre lane.

BANG ON ..... emergency lights must be activated

hwybear,

Thank you for that information, no lights were flashing, just two cruisers parked on the right shoulder when I passed. This is good to know and I'm grateful that I don't have to travel this strip of highway very often.

Then you request for the complete disclosure. See what they wrote down.

During court, you ask the witness (cop, provided they show up), "were the light on the cruisers activated?"

Does a police officer have to have a reason for being at the side of the road with it's lights on?...or can they just sit there doing paperwork waiting for someone to screw up. Like entrapment

I will always have my lights on when on the shoulder and that is completing my "paperwork" from the previous stop which is more than justified.

Now personally, unless I have someone stopped, another cruiser has someone stopped OR the person I just sent on their way is merging onto the highway and up to speed, I won't bother anyone.

However, come bring your office chair and put it 2ft from the travelled portion of the highway and see how you feel when someone drives so close to your chair that it shakes.

I went to whats called a "first attendance" this week and met with a prosecutor instead of going right to court. I had been charged with failing to slow down and proceeding with Caution. But had been told I was pulled over for not getting into the left lane. I had slowed down and had moved my car to the white dotted line as I could see he had no one pulled over. I truly felt I had proceeded with caution. She obviously felt I had too as she dropped the ticket, and agreed that he had used the wrong charge in the first place, She also made note that police should not be on the side of the road with there lights on if they have no one pulled over.

But lesson learned and I will make sure I move over the next time no matter what the case.