How to Contest Failure to Stop for an Emergency Vehicle

My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: District of Columbia

I was driving to Washington, DC from College Park, when all of a sudden I heard sirens. I didn't know where they were coming from so I just stopped. People behind me were beeping at me so I thought that the emergency vehicle was coming from behind me. So I turned left onto another road so I could move out of the cop's way but ended up being in the way of the actual cop who had his sirens on. I quickly pulled up to the side of the road and got mad at myself because I knew what was coming. Once I pulled out of the side of the road, the same cop who had his sirens on had pulled to the side of the road as well and waited for me to pass him and he stopped.

He gave me four tickets for:

1. Failure to stop for an emergency vehicle
2. Failure to operate vehicle appropriately, or something like that - he accused me of looking at my compartment while driving in the ticket notes
3. Passenger behind me didn't have his seatbelt on - my fault, should've checked to make sure but I didn't think you had to have a seatbelt on after 21 years old
4. Failure to provide insurance - I had my license and registration but I've never been asked for my insurance! Again my fault but I feel like this was just over board.

I definitely wouldn't say this in court but if he had a real emergency, why did he stop me? But what should I contest? Would appreciate your help.

The PASSENGER should have been cited for the safety belt violation, not you.


Well maybe I spoke too soon. D.C. law says the driver. Hmmph, and here I thought adults were responsible for their own actions.

The driver is responsible for making sure the vehicle is operated safely whether his passengers are children or adults.

1. I suggest you get your hearing checked. There is a reason during a hearing test the check left and right. 2. Were you taught in driving school to make your driving decisions based on popular opinion or the law?

The driver cannot control the actions of others, and the law sucks. A good driver is paying attention to the road, not rear passengers in the back seat that, at least in this case, are ADULTS. I know it is not much of a consolation, but we have it slightly better in Washington state. Anyone 16 and older gets their own citation for seatbelts.

If the driver can not control his passengers, it is unsafe to operate the vehicle on the public highway in that fashion. It's the same if the passengers through things from the vehicle.

Tell me when the last time was that you were physically able to control the actions of another person bent on performing said action? I get why the responsibility falls where it falls, but I still think it sucks.

If your passenger is not willing to comply with the law, you can pull over and tell him to get out of your car.

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Quoting DC Code § 50-1806. Mandatory Use of Seat Belts - Enforcement of chapter. Subsection (f)

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(f) The driver of the vehicle, except operators of passenger vehicles for hire, shall be responsible for ensuring that passengers comply with this chapter.

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Quoting Mr. Knowitall

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If your passenger is not willing to comply with the law, you can pull over and tell him to get out of your car.

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Yes you can, but that will not score you any points within the "man code" with regard to said passengers :) nor does it change my opinion that the driver should not need to concern himself with what adult passengers are doing or not doing in the back seat, nor that this particular application of the law should apply to the user (specifically failure to use) of the safety belt if they are of a given age. I still think it sucks that your adult friend or child could take off his seatbelt in front of an officer and cause the you to receive a citation.

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Quoting jmkcool2002

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1. Failure to stop for an emergency vehicle
2. Failure to operate vehicle appropriately, or something like that - he accused me of looking at my compartment while driving in the ticket notes
3. Passenger behind me didn't have his seatbelt on - my fault, should've checked to make sure but I didn't think you had to have a seatbelt on after 21 years old
4. Failure to provide insurance - I had my license and registration but I've never been asked for my insurance! Again my fault but I feel like this was just over board.

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I think we're past the point where we are still wondering if you should contest the seat belt violation. Looks like you're stuck with that one. You'll have to provide the other code section numbers from the citation you were given. Also, is it safe to assume that you are insured, just did not carry proper documentation of such?

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Quoting Speedy Gonzalez

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Yes you can, but that will not score you any points within the "man code" with regard to said passengers :) nor does it change my opinion that the driver should not need to concern himself with what adult passengers are doing or not doing in the back seat, nor that this particular application of the law should apply to the user (specifically failure to use) of the safety belt if they are of a given age. I still think it sucks that your adult friend or child could take off his seatbelt in front of an officer and cause the you to receive a citation.

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The law wouldn't prohibit your "friend" from suing you as one of the responsible parties for injuries he/she sustained in case you were involved in an accident while s/he is riding with you. That applies regardless of whether s/he was wearing a seat belt or even in states where seat belt responsibility is that of the adult passenger.

And if that is the case, my car - my rules!

Just sayin'!

I am no expert, but I still can not figure out if the cop had his sirens on, then why would he stop and give you a ticket, possible the emergency was called off. but maybe other can help you and see if there is a way to find out.

The law in most states is that when you hear a siren you pull over to the right and stop and wait. If you can't pull over to the right because of other vehicles or you are already on the right, you stop dead in your tracks and wait.

Drivers of police cars and emergency vehicles are trained to go around stopped vehicles, not to anticipate drivers who are all over the road because somebody beeped at them.

Trouble is, I don't find a specific statute that covers failing to yield to an emergency vehicle but I did find a lawyer's website that says, in DC, you could be cited for reckless driving:

http://www.criminallawdc.com/dc-traf...ffic%20lawyers

Did you get cited for 50-2201.04?

If you did, it's a biggie and you would be wise to consult an attorney.

As for your question about him stopping if he had a real emergency, he could have easily radioed for another officer to substitute while he was taking care of you. Besides, that's really none of your business and certainly not a defense for not pulling over.

I guess my question would be could jmkcool get through discovery what emergency this cop was going to, and why this cop decided that issuing the ticket was more important than proceeding to the emergency.
I would think it is very possible there was no emergency, the cop just in a hurry and got upset, just asking ,

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Quoting davidlarkin1

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I guess my question would be could jmkcool get through discovery what emergency this cop was going to, and why this cop decided that issuing the ticket was more important than proceeding to the emergency.
I would think it is very possible there was no emergency, the cop just in a hurry and got upset, just asking ,

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I don't think that would make any difference as to whether jmkcool committed the violation or not.

Think about it this way.

The cop could have kept on going and radioed jmkcool's license plate and details and another cop could have located him and cited him later with the first cop coming to court to testify.

The results to jmkcool would still be the same: a conviction.

You may be right, but it still does not make sense to me, Say the cop was rushing to an emergency, why would he take the time to remember the license plate, call it in, and then have another officer spend time to track down jmkcool. Second he said it was the same cop that had the sirens and lights on that pulled over ahead of him, waited and then gave him the ticket.,

Like I said before, I know very little of how this will play out in court, but I never heard of an officer with is lights and siren on taking the time to stop and give someone a ticket for not pulling over.

I have seen cops all the time going around people who do not pull over properly, and never once seen or heard of an officer ending a call to an emergency to issue a traffic infraction ticket. Just does not make sense to me,

Not sure you are entitled to them but I would request notes, discovery and if possible 911 dispatch records for that period of time to see what emergency this officer was headed to and if he was called off off of this emergency.