Well once again one of our fine staties picks me out of the heard to give a hefty speeding ticket, he claims i was doing 91 and passing on the right. on mass pike during rush hour (going into the city) (hit me with laser had not time to slow down)

Despite the fact that he waved me over, and i drove until I found a safe spot where he could almost park next too me and i was nothing but polite and curteous to him, he still hit me up with a 360 dollar ticket, 260 for speeding and 100 for passing on the right

I thought i heard somewhere that it techically is not a law that you cannot pass on the right? is this true?

Anyone have any advice for me? Im definitly going to mail it in not guilty, but in the past i have done that, gone to court, the cop never showed, and they have offered a reduced fine, which i accepted, this is almost 400$ tho, so even if they split it in half it will still be a solid 180, IF they split it in HALF.

this sucks

I really hate mass

Mean while we got stupid dipchits doing 50 in the left hand lane on the cellphone driving at the same speed as the guy in the center lane.

fricken a

 

Does suck....but if you were speeding what did you expect?

If you were going 91 and passing on the right....I'd be glad not to aget a wreckless driving tickets.

 

I'd be real interested to see what chapter of the MGL they cited for passing on the right.

 

mgl 89.2 covers passing on the right. it explicitly allows passing on divided highways. that is assuming you weren't using the breakdown lane or in a construction zone ( free from obstructions)

 

Nice, good find!!, i have been searching the Mgl myself!

 

It's very possible that they didn't cite him for a MGL...The Pike is a Private Road...They may have cited him for a CMR...Code of Massachusett's Regulations (a lot of CMR's mirror MGL's so that you can be cited for certain violations even if you're not on a public way, due to a lot of MGL's requiring that you be on a public way...if not there's always...

CHAPTER 89. LAW OF THE ROAD


Chapter 89: Section 2. Passing vehicle traveling in same direction


Section 2. Except as herein otherwise provided, the driver of a vehicle passing another vehicle traveling in the same direction shall drive a safe distance to the left of such other vehicle; and, if the way is of sufficient width for the two vehicles to pass, the driver of the leading one shall not unnecessarily obstruct the other. Except when overtaking and passing on the right is permitted, the driver of an overtaken vehicle shall give way to the right in favor of the overtaking vehicle on visible signal and shall not increase the speed of his vehicle until completely passed by the overtaking vehicle.

The driver of a vehicle may, if the roadway is free from obstruction and of sufficient width for two or more lines of moving vehicles, overtake and pass upon the right of another vehicle when the vehicle overtaken is (a) making or about to make a left turn, (b) upon a one-way street, or

 

Oops Bolton, must have missed your post...LOL

 

Thank heavens I have Riggs to share the explanation of motor laws with now


Without the OP stating what chapter/section he was cited for, we can only assume that it was C89s2. The other applicable laws for passing on the right would be 720CMR9.06(4), which is for failure to use care in passing and C89s4a which is also for failure to use care in passing but more often used for improper use of a marked lane. I would venture to guess that passing anyone at 91MPH during rush hour would be considered unsafe. However, it was stated that the fine was for $100. C89s2 and C89s4a are $100 offenses. The CMR violation is a mere $20. So, we know it was not the CMR.

I am not of the opinion that speeding is a terrible thing. However sometimes it is not appropriate. Almost 30MPH over during rush hour would probably be one of those times. That being said, all you have to lose by appealing is the court cost which is like $35 if you lose, so what the heck... Keep in mind that any time you are ticketed, it is noted on your record. If you have appealed and won in the past, the offense is listed with a "NR" next to it for "not responsible". It does not disappear. The magistrate will take the frequency of successful appeals into account when making their decision. The officer does not need to be present at the magistrate hearing, only at the court date if the driver appeals the magistrates hearing.

 

yeah i'm an expert at that one. years ago at the rt117/rt110 intersection I was on the bike and stopped in the right hand lane at the light. This was before they had it designated as a turning lane only.

I had been following a pickup truck piled with crap and saw no reason to make an iffy pass on 117 through the flats. so I just pulled up even at the red lights. light turned green and i just drove off ahead of the truck. dear sweet officer brown stopped me at the top of the hill giving me all kind of crap about making the roads safe and tired of picking up bodies and all kinds of $hit.

eventually got it thrown out for court costs.

 

sireousrex, thanks for the info, Tho it was techinally rush hour, I was going against the flow of traffic (going into the city) and trust me, no one was in danger, the officer did write 902' on the ticket, which i assume means the distance he shot me at, which in my mind seams kind of far, and also shows that no one was in front of me for quite a distance

also on the ticket where he wrote the offence, its the most illegible thing i have ever seen, ill try to scan it for you guys at work tommarow, but this might be part of their plan to keep us in the dark about what we are being ticketed for