Today, I was driving and there was a traffic light that was yellow so I stopped. There was a police officer behind me and he almost rear-ended my car. Then he gave me a hard time saying that the light was yellow and I should not have stopped "I almost hit you!" But I say he was the one who was wrong for not leaving a car length between his car and mine....tailgating...following too close. I don't think there's a law that says you can't stop at a yellow light but I'm sure there's a law about following too close. What do you think?
2007-01-06 15:30:07 · 6 answers · asked by tas211 6 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
The cardinal rule of driving is: if you get hit in the rear, it is ALWAYS the fault of the person who hit you, for not leaving enough space between your car and theirs to stop safely. Ask any insurance agent and they will tell you this. Ask any driving instructor. Ask anybody who has had their claim denied because they were the one who did the rear-ending. Shame, shame, shame on that cop for not only driving unsafely, but for trying to blame YOU for the near-accident. So far as the yellow light is concerned, you were well within your vehicular rights to stop at it before it turned red. I do this often, especially if I notice that, up ahead, there is a car about to speed up to the intersection to rev through the green light the nano-second it turns green. It's a judgment call, but, you did nothing wrong/illegal/unsafe. I would consider reporting the cop for unsafe driving practices. HE was wrong.
2007-01-06 15:50:39 · answer #1 · answered by happy heathen 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In New York State you are allowed to proceed through the intersection if you have already entered it on a yellow light. The official rule is ''proceed with caution on yellow''. There is also mention in ''NYS Drivers Education'' classes that discretion is the drivers and if it is not safe to proceed you must stop. So in answer to your question you were perfectly within the laws of NYS if you felt it was not safe to proceed and you chose instead to stop. I won't go into how close the police car was to yours because as everyone knows, cops tailgate people all the time. And as everybody knows, you won't win an argument concerning his fault. Just like bank tellers, lawyers,bakers and every other type of people there is a certain percentage of those that are idiots. Sounds like you weeded one out!
2007-01-06 23:44:52 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, when I learned how to drive xx years ago, I was taught yellow is meant to indicate that the light is changing to red. If you can stop, you should be stopping. If you're already too far into or about to enter the intersection, then you are given that little extra time to clear the intersection. Yes, if their would have been an accident, it likely would have been the driver (police officer)of the car behind you for following too closely.
2007-01-06 23:37:17 · answer #3 · answered by jarrgen 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are required to stop for a yellow light 'unless it is unsafe to do so' (i.e. you're 20 ft from the line and would have to jam on the brakes to stop). I got a ticket for going through a yellow light. I did it because it was a 50 mph road and the guy behind me was right on my ass. The cop pulled us both over and gave us both tickets.
The cop was absolutely wrong. He's the same douche bag who would have given you a ticket if he was monitoring the intersection. You should have told him off and told him to learn how to drive before correcting someone else.
The whole point of having a light between red and green is to give you time to stop if you can. It's no different than a flashing yellow light, which means 'be prepared to stop'. He should have been prepared to stop.
2007-01-06 23:49:52 · answer #4 · answered by normobrian 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually, you are perfectly in the right. Under NYS VTL, a yellow means to proceed with caution. If you could not pass the intersection in time before it turned red, then you should not proceed through. If the officer had hit you from the rear, he was tailgating you or was not paying attention to the road. You didn't do anything wrong. No sweat.
2007-01-07 01:13:05 · answer #5 · answered by Kenneth C 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you were 100% right the officer was just trying to show off
i was once in police car in nyc when i had to serve a mediation subpoena for some one and from the police department till this guy house this two officer were so high on drugs they just had a problem with every one around them and they propberly did it to gain attention from me, some one was dropping of there kids in front of his house they ran out from the cars and screamed like crazy etc. they drove less then a mile distance and violated maybe 100 laws
next time if a officer gives you a ticket for a yellow light just take it and go to court and bring a friend with you as a wittiness and tell the judge that the officer is lying so bad because he wrote on the the ticket that there was no passengers and your friend was with you in the car, the officer will just give up because he wont be able to fight you - talk to them the language they talk to you they are just using the law to dictate people for none sense
2007-01-07 17:43:36 · answer #6 · answered by yoel w 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋