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Traffic was stopped on I76, so I followed 4 other cars onto the shoulder to our exit (approx 100' away) and cop only stopped me and issued citation. I had right turn signal on and was going at a safe rate of speed (15 mph), any chance to beat this? I'm new to Pennsylvania, the citation was a (3909 I) but I can't find that anywhere. Second part to this is that I can file my decision online within 10 days but cop hadn't filed it within the 10 days, does that mean anything?
Unfortunately your state doesn't put its statutes online, and the only free version I know of is partial and a few years out-of-date. Do you happen to know the citation of the statute you allegedly violated? Often it will be on the ticket.
Typically, whether or not your speed is slow, passing on the shoulder is an offense which can result in a citation.
Verbally it just states that I passed over the line onto the shoulder, it doesn't even give location...Does that matter? As to the citation, it just says 3909 I in the section/subsection block.
Update on this... I decided to fight this and went to traffic court. My cop didn't show up and after watching the judge dismiss the 6 cases before me without even needing anything other than a not guilty plea from the other person, I decided to plead not guilty as well.
The actual verbage written on my citation was that I passed 4 cars, unsafely on the shoulder of the road. The way I explained it to the judge was that I passed 4 stopped vehicles, while following the flow of traffic onto the exit ramp with turn signal on and going approx 15 mph. All of which was true and not an exaggeration.
Judge didn't want to hear it, put me down and said I was guilty, end of story. Not sure if this helps anyone in similar situation if you are thinking about fighting a ticket like this.
I don't believe that you should have testified against yourself. You should have told the judge you were innocent, took a great deal of effort getting to traffic court and that you were disappointed that your accuser failed to appear. It seems likely it would have been dismissed but you'll never know.
I thought about that right up until the time a state trooper stood up and approached the bench. Maybe Pennsylvania has some law that allows cops to stand in for one another?
You're right. In PA the officer with court duty that day presents all of the cases on the docket. The officer who wrote your ticket is only required to appear on the day of the trial...if you plead not guilty.
BTW - In PA using the shoulder of the road, as you described, is in violation of the law. Unless you are directed to do so by an LE officer.
In other words - no cuts. It's also a violation to detour through private porperty, such as a gas station, to avoid a traffic light. Just in case you're tempted to try that one. :)
I may have misunderstood but I thought he had already pleaded not guilty and was there to argue his case.