Written by Gregory Monte.
I am writing this blog post about an incident I observed on my commute to work today. While making my way on Route 17 through New York state in early morning rush hour traffic, I was travelling in the right lane at about 60 mph. A NY state trooper passed me on the left and then proceeded to tailgate very closely a motorist in the left lane of the highway. It was very clear to me that he did this in order to “suggest” (intimidate) that the driver in front of him move over.
It was also very clear to me that he was violating NY VAT Section 1129(a):
“The driver of a motor vehicle shall not follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent, having due regard for the speed of such vehicles and the traffic upon and the condition of the highway.”
Keep in mind that the cop’s overhead lights were not on and he was not on his way to some accident scene.
When regular citizens tailgate other cars in the manner I observed this morning, they are not only considered jerks for violating the motor vehicle code, they are also endangering other motorists around them. And yet, cops do this all of the time with impunity. In fact, the trooper in question repeated this behavior at least five more times. When the initial motorist pulled over to the right lane, he continued to tailgate every other driver in the left lane until he was free to go about his “business.”
When I see cops tailgating, rolling through stop signs, failing to signal when turning, speeding without overhead lights on, etc., it reminds me of the two-tiered system of “justice” we have in this country:
Justice or “Just-US.”
All too often regular citizens get the “Justice” while cops and other privileged people get the “Just-US” treatment.
You can read a recent example of this in a post I uploaded last week: No DUI for Police Chief: Justice or “Just-US”. As the title suggests, a police chief got out of a DUI that any other ordinary citizen would have been arrested for.
My Free Resources
Applying the Traffic Ticket Defense Method to Challenge a Citation.
This is a seven-page, detailed explanation of my three-step method for challenging any traffic ticket. I use the “Driving at a Safe Speed” statute from Pennsylvania to illustrate this method, but it can be applied to any other statute that you might be cited for in the vehicle code.
In addition, no matter what state you live in, the procedure is the same: you need to understand the statute you allegedly violated, look for technicalities in that statute and (most importantly) find case law to support/reveal those technicalities.
Click to Download the Free “Applying the Traffic Ticket Defense Method to Challenge a Citation”
The Pennsylvania Stop Sign Defense Strategy in a Nutshell.
This is a one-page, eight-point summary of the strategy I discovered while researching ways of beating unfair stop sign tickets. It is specifically geared to Pennsylvania but can also be applied to most other states.
Click to Download the Free “Pennsylvania Stop Sign Defense Strategy in a Nutshell”
My Son’s Opening Trial Statement at the Court of Common Pleas.
This is an elegant, one-page, powerfully concise expression of my defense strategy.
The Brief – My Son’s Case Brief for the Court of Common Pleas
- An eighteen-page argument for why an illegal stop sign is not enforceable.
- Requested by the President Judge at Wayne County, PA, Court of Common Pleas.
- A highly distilled application of the Pennsylvania Stop Sign Ticket Defense.
Traffic Ticket Defense Blog 