Traffic Laws You May Not Know About





This bonus section reveals traffic laws on the books that you may not even be

aware of. The information is taken directly from the 1993/1994 New York

State Vehicle and Traffic Law. You may want to get this book in your state to

see if the laws are similar there. The book is available to anyone at your State

Department of Motor Vehicles office. The office in New York charges $1.00

for this 668 page book.









Make sure it was a cat...





§ 601.Leaving scene of injury to certain animals without reporting.

Any person operating a motor vehicle which shall strike and injure any horse,

dog, or animal classified as cattle shall stop and endeavor to locate the owner

or custodian of such animal or a police, peace, or judicial officer of the

vicinity, and take any other reasonable and appropriate action so that the

animal may have nesscessary attention...





Goes on to specify fines for second and third offenses.





For non-drinkers...





§ 1194. Arrest and testing

(b) Report of refusal. If such a person having been placed under arrest or after

a breath test indicates the presence of alcohol in the person's system and

having thereafter been requested to submit to such chemical test and having

been informed that the person's license or permit to drive and any nonresident

driving privilege shall be immediately suspended and subsequently revoked

for refusal to submit to such chemical test or any portion thereof, whether or

not the person is found guilty of the charge for which such person is

arrested....





No radar detectors in trucks...

§ 397a. Radar detectors prohibited 1. No radar detector shall be used in any

motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than eighteen

thousand pounds. The presence in such a vehicle of a radar detector

connected to a power source and in an operable condition is presumptive

evidence of its use by any person operating such vehicle. Such presumption

shall be rebutted by any credible and reliable evidence which tends to show

that such radar detector was not in use. 2. The provisions of this section shall

not be constituted as authorizing the seizure or forfeiture of a radar detector,

unless otherwise provided by law. 3. A violation of the provision of this

section shall constitute a traffic infraction punishable by a fine of not less than

twenty-five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars.





Don't throw those tickets out...

§ 207. Uniform traffic summons and complaint. 5. Any person who disposes

of any uniform traffic summons and complaint in any manner other than that

prescribed by law shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.





Get your car off the hook.

§ 236. Creation, personnel

5. Release of an illegally parked vehicle. a. A parking violations bureau of a

city with a population of one million or more persons may impose vehicle

release penalties in accordance with the provisions of paragraph b of this

subdivision, provided that the commissioner of transportation of such city has

established a procedure for the towing and impoundment of illegally parked

vehicles which permits the release, at the site of the underlying parking

violation, of an illegally parked vehicle which has been hooked to a tow truck

in preparation for towing from such site if:





(1) the owner or other person lawfully entitled to the possession of such

vehicle appears and requests the release of such vehicle before the tow truck

is in motion,.........





Successful Speeding Notes:





From July 1994 Car & Driver





1.Select Proper equipment

Avoid bright red performance cars

Non-descript mouse-gray "family" cars pass by unnoticed

Choose sports sedans such as Taurus SHO, Infinity Q45, etc.

a GOOD Radar Detector





2.Recognize the threat early





Avoid excessive speeding on sparsely traveled highways. There will be no

radar cover for you. This applies to both day and night driving. Pay attention

to Radar alerts, especially X-band "blips" on a rural highway. This may turn

out to be K-band bouncing of a car in front of you. Learn to recognize

"threat" vehicles, such as Mustang LX's, full-size Chevrolets, Dodge

Diplomats, Plymouth Grand Fury's, etc. Identifying "threat" vehicles:

windshield pillar mounted spotlight, stabilizer bar underside car ( especially

on Chevrolets ), wide performance tires. Rules apply whenever vehicle

approaches from front or rear - slow down for positive identification!





3.Maintain good daytime scan





Golden Rule #1 restated: Innocuous cars may pass unnoticed. Slow down

when approaching underpasses - enforcer may be on far side behind the

concrete. Be suspicious of vehicles parked on the inside or outside shoulder

until a positive I.D. is made. Check On-ramps: give a quick look to the top of

the on-ramp. Slow down whenever you notice a vehicle behind you matching

your speed for a positive identification. The vehicle matching your speed will

not be getting smaller in your rear-view mirror.





4.Maintain a good night scan





Moving up on an enforcer vehicle: learn to identify taillights. Good example

is the Mustang LX. Immediately look for the folded in spotlight. Prime rule

for nighttime driving: drive fast enough so that all head- lights of passed

motorists reduce rapidly in size. Any air of headlamps that maintains the same

distance will need to be identified.









5.Practice Stealth, deception, and "hiding"





Find a "hare" who is pleased to demonstrate that his car is better than yours.

Drop back to a safe distance and enjoy the radar shield. Do maintain your

rear scan though. Run at times with lights, then at times without, hiding

yourself in front of a group of trucks when you change illumination. The

reason for this is that an enforcer, having "noticed" you from a long distance

back, will be looking for a certain as-yet-unidentified vehicle with lights ( or

without ) as he moves quickly up through traffic. Suddenly, he is in

identifiable range of a vehicle similar in size and shape to the one he believes

may have been violating, only now the illumination is different from what he

saw before, thus rendering him unsure. Following rules #2 and #3, you will

have slowed down to quasi-legal speed. This will confuse the officer,

especially if you have removed your radar detector from the windshield or

visor. Placement and removal of the radar detector is crucial. The unit should

be directly in front of you so that a following threat vehicle cannot see it. If

you believe you have been actively "noticed", hide in front of a large truck,

accelerate while under cover, and exit any off-ramp or rest area. You will

have nothing to lose at this juncture.





Any time an officer moves in on you, remove the detector at once and place it

in the seat next to you. If you are in imminent danger of being stopped,

execute the following emergency procedure in sequence: (1) remove detector

and jam under seat; (2) wipe off suction cup or other tell-tale marks with

moistened index fingertip, and (3) Replace the cigarette lighter ! An empty

cigarette lighter is a dead giveaway to the officer that he is dealing with a

chronic offender. He will treat you accordingly.





6.Beware of slow moving "clumps"





Clumps are largish groups of vehicles covering all lanes and maintain a near-

legal speed. Most "loose" clumps will contain one enforcer vehicle at the

front ( usually a marked cruiser, and one in the middle or at the tail of the

clump. The vehicle at the rear will usually be unmarked and looking for lane

changing and in-and-out weaving. Knowledge of rule #2 will make him a

dead giveaway. Beware of curves, crests, and grassy medians. Instant-on may

be placed so that the violator can be "shot" just as he crests the hill, before he

has a chance to react. Slow down - its safer.





7.Avoid unprofessional and provocative behavior





The smart motorist does not alienate others. Slow to a moderate speed when

passing other motorists. One of the benign-looking minivans you just ran off

the road may contain an off- duty officer with a notebook and a phone. Avoid

provocative license plates and bumper stickers: "How's my driving ? Call 1-

800-EAT-SHIT" will not give you any breaks when stopped by an officer.





8.Maintain a high level of attention at all times





Raid motoring is a serious business. Stay focused. Distractions are all

incompatible with rules #1-9.





9.Behave correctly when stopped





Chronic fast driving will get you stopped sooner or later. Observance of rules

#1-9 will make this much, much later, but not "never". Do not act blase'. A

cocky stance of "OK, so you got me" is provocative. SO is attempting to

argue that there must be some terrible mistake - you know you were under the

limit. Do not forget to remove your detector and follow the other steps

mentioned in rule #5. Be courteous, candid and contrite. Trembling while

handing over your license demonstrates that this situation is unusual and

terrifying to you. It shows respect for the law and fear of punishment. Answer

the question "Do you know how fast you were going ?" with "Truly, I don't -

my mind must've been wandering". "But I must have been going over the

speed limit, or you wouldn't have stopped me." Note that you were not

speeding deliberately - no "late for work" excuses !