Cops that Speed and ride your tail......

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kg4fxg

kg4fxg

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You don't have to drive the speed limit. Back roads 3AM and just you and police. Today, raining like crazy, interstate full of water every so often hit huge puddles that would send my other car hydroplaning. When conditions are like this I prefer to drive 55. Most are doing 80+. Which is why there are so many accidents. But that is Atlanta.
I just need to figure out what rules to obey? They never ticket here for driving with headlights off, or when it is raining and you have no headlights on. Wearing headphones, no problem. No taillights? So what.



Is it legal to drive 10 to 15 mph below the posted speed limit?
A lot depends on the type of roadway.

Posted on most highways and interstates is a minimum speed of travel that motorists, strictly speaking, have to abide by. But whether that law is frequently broken or if police enforce it is another question entirely.

In 2009, no one in Brunswick, New Hanover or Pender counties was charged with driving below the posted minimum speed, according to the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts, which compiles data on charges and convictions for counties across the state.

Tom Crosby, a spokesman for AAA Carolinas, said driving 10 or 15 mph below the posted speed limit is legal unless otherwise noted. If a motorist’s sluggish speed is disrupting traffic, however, an officer may cite the driver for impeding traffic flow.

A motorist also can be cited for impeding traffic if he or she is traveling at the speed limit but traffic is flowing much faster, Crosby said.

And that is a violation more commonly enforced. In 2009, 29 drivers in New Hanover County were cited for impeding traffic by slow speed. Four were charged for the same violation in Brunswick County last year and two were charged in Pender County, according to the administrative office.

“It’s a judgment of the officer,” Crosby said about writing tickets for impeding traffic. “As an organization, we always advocate obeying the speed limit. But you have to be aware of those around you.”

ATLANTA, Ga. - Sometimes, drivers in Georgia get pulled over because they were breaking a law they just didn’t know about.

Police understand that drivers are less aware of certain laws, as those are the ones they see broken often.

Here are a few laws that police say many drivers seem not to know exist:

1. You can be pulled over for going the speed limit.

Last year, Georgia passed the “Slowpoke Law,” which requires that drivers in the left lane on a Georgia highway, interstate or expressway must move over if a faster car approaches them. Slow drivers cannot linger in the left lane, even if doing the speed limit.



2. You must move over one lane not just for police cars, but also for assistance vehicles and garbage trucks.

Under Georgia’s “Move-Over Law,” drivers must move-over for emergency vehicles stopped on the side of the highway. This includes police vehicles, Department of Transportation Highway Emergency Response Operator vans and garbage trucks.

“People have been moving over for the blue lights, but not for amber lights,” said Cpl. Guy Fedak, with the Savannah-Chatham police. “The law applies to all emergency vehicles and HERO wrecker services with the yellow lights.”

Georgia passed the law in the aftermath of growing numbers of police, emergency technicians and DOT workers being killed during routine traffic stops, crash responses and highway constructions projects across the nation. More than 30 states have move-over laws.

If heavy traffic will not allow you to move over, the law says you should slow down to 10 miles per hour below the speed limit.

And this year, Georgia added to the law, requiring drivers to move over for garbage trucks as well.

“The whole idea is try to let everybody move over one lane, so no one’s having to worry about their safety,” said Guy Young, vice president of the Georgia Motor Trucking Association.



3. It’s illegal to use the center lane to merge into traffic.

The center lane cannot be legally used for any purposes besides making a left turn. Drivers should not enter the center lane before they are 300 feet from the location where they will turn left, per Georgia law.

“Drivers often will use the center lane to merge into traffic, or they will enter it well before they legally can,” Fedak said. “The laws says that it only be used to make left turns, and you can’t be in the center lane more than 300 feet. You can’t use it as a merge lane.”



4. You can legally drive without wearing shoes. But you cannot wear headphones.

Waits said many Georgians believe the law forbids driving without shoes on. That’s false.

“The law that most people think exists about driving barefoot - it never has existed in Georgia,” said Vidalia Police Chief Frank Waits.

It is, however, illegal to drive with headphones in both of your ears.

“You can wear in one ear, but not in both ears,” Waits said.

5. Neither the driver nor the passenger can have an open alcoholic beverage.

“People do not know it’s illegal to drive with an open beer or drink,” Waits said. “The driver knows they know can’t, but the passenger doesn’t know they can’t either.”



6. No part of your tag can be obstructed from view.

Drivers will often cover their tags with illegal frames or covers, often in an attempt to foil cameras designed to catch running red lights and speeding.

Fedak said before you buy a tag frame or cover, check that it will not illegally obstruct the view of the tag.

In Georgia, the entire tag must be clear and unobstructed, a law he said is unique to Georgia.



7. A bicycle classifies as a vehicle.

“A lot of people don’t realize that a bicycle under the Georgia law is considered a vehicle, and the law requires that bicyclists follow the same laws a vehicle do,” Fedak said.

This includes stopping at red lights and riding on the correct side of the road.



8. You have to turn your headlights on in the rain (and shouldn’t rely on your auto-lights).

Georgia law requires car headlights to be turned on when it’s raining. But often people will rely on their automatic lights, which do not turn on the rear lights as well.

“You still have to turn your headlights on because it illuminates your front and rear lights,” Fedak said. “Even though you have daytime driving lights, you have nothing on in the back.”



9. If all the traffic lights go out at an intersection, the law requires drivers to treat it as a four-way stop.

When the traffic lights are not working at an intersection, drivers must treat it as a four-way stop. Meaning right-of-way goes to whoever comes to the stop first.

“They think because they’re on the main highway, they have the right-of-way,” Fedak said. “But the law says you have to treat it as a four way stop.”



10. It’s illegal to text in a car - even if the car is stopped. It’s illegal to text while driving in Georgia.

And because the law does not specify if the vehicle must be moving, then drivers should also refrain from texting when stopped at a traffic light or stop sign.



11. It’s also illegal for drivers under the age of 18 to use a cell phone at all.
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Well, let's see. I live in the country. Large neighborhood surrounded by horse farms. At 3AM, again 3AM, no one is out and about except DEER. My last car Mini Cooper Coupe (AKA like Mazda Miata) the deer were larger. I see groups of 6 or 7. So I drive slow. Sorry, I don't have a light bar or off road lights.

Thanks

I think what you are overlooking is, at 3am, is when all the drunks and illegal activity takes place. By driving under the limit, you may appear to a LEO that you are stoned/drunk and trying to overcompensate by going slowly.. just something to consider.

and yes, LEOs often are not the best example of driving behaviour.
 

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I was coming home from work and was nearing my house and while I take a route that has no stop signs in my path, there are stop signs on the intersection traffic. So I am cruising through when a police cruiser runs a stop sign and almost t-bones me. After that, I purchased a dash cam.
 
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You don't have to drive the speed limit. Back roads 3AM and just you and police. Today, raining like crazy, interstate full of water every so often hit huge puddles that would send my other car hydroplaning. When conditions are like this I prefer to drive 55. Most are doing 80+. Which is why there are so many accidents. But that is Atlanta.
By default, going with the flow of traffic is always safer. Going either slower or faster than the cars around you increases speed differential -- which is what causes drives to make bad decisions (sudden braking, unsafe lane changes, tailgating, etc) that, in turn, cause accidents.

Now, I'm not saying that it's safer to drive 80+ in the rain than it is to drive 55. What I am saying is it's safer to not be a rolling roadblock, just as it's safer to not be a speeding, racing maniac.
 
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kg4fxg

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I would agree. I don't know the car well yet but my other one would hydroplane all the time. Light and only 2 seats absolutely no back seat at all. In Atlanta express something like 7 or 8 lanes. I avoid the right two or three as those are all 18 wheelers. The far left is the pay lane. So basically I have two lanes to my right they can pass me and the rest of the lanes on the right mostly big rigs. Fortunately for me on the expressway I am not blocking folks they zip right on by no problem.
 

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I would agree. I don't know the car well yet but my other one would hydroplane all the time. Light and only 2 seats absolutely no back seat at all. In Atlanta express something like 7 or 8 lanes. I avoid the right two or three as those are all 18 wheelers. The far left is the pay lane. So basically I have two lanes to my right they can pass me and the rest of the lanes on the right mostly big rigs. Fortunately for me on the expressway I am not blocking folks they zip right on by no problem.
Decent tires that aren't worn bald should be pretty good in the rain. If not, then invest in better/newer tires.

Passing on the right is a no-no in many locales, whether it's just common courtesy or legally mandated. Forcing others to pass on your right adds unpredictability to the traffic flow, and that's where the bad decisions come from.

What I do is hang out in the left lane and go as fast as they're going, then move to the right when I get a chance or when my exit comes up. I don't like sitting to the right and dealing with merging/un-merging traffic (especially around here as some onramps aren't designed to let drivers get up to speed easily). So, I stick to the fast lane, go faster than the right lanes, and occasionally shift right to let the rare much-faster driver pass me (and hopefully they'll attract the cops).

One general rule I've heard is, "In the slow lane, go only as fast as the person in front of you. In the fast lane, go as fast as the person behind you." It makes sense, too. You really can't push someone to go faster, so don't bother hassling a slower car in front. And in the fast lane, if the guy behind you really wants to go faster than you want, move over and let him go.

On your expressways, then, I'd do either:
- Stay near the trucks that populate the far right lanes, but go a bit faster and avoid being right next to them
- Stay far left, go faster than everyone to your right, but keep an eye in the rearview and move out of the way when a speeder starts catching up.

I've begun to prefer simple two- or four-lane roads. Reducing lane choices makes it simpler for drivers to decide what to do.
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