Hold sign, go to jail

[stevewfl]

A Houston woman's attempt to save drivers from a speeding ticket landed her something worse: 12 hours in jail.

As she rode her bicycle home from a grocery store last week near downtown Houston, Natalie Plummer noticed police officers pulling over speeders. After she parked her bike and turned one of her grocery bags into a makeshift sign warning drivers about the "speed trap" ahead, an officer drove up and arrested her.

"I was completely abiding by the law," Plummer told ABC's affiliate KRTK. "I was simply warning citizens of a situation ahead."

http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=16670386

[Bosco]

A Houston woman's attempt to save drivers from a speeding ticket landed her something worse: 12 hours in jail.

As she rode her bicycle home from a grocery store last week near downtown Houston, Natalie Plummer noticed police officers pulling over speeders. After she parked her bike and turned one of her grocery bags into a makeshift sign warning drivers about the "speed trap" ahead, an officer drove up and arrested her.

"I was completely abiding by the law," Plummer told ABC's affiliate KRTK. "I was simply warning citizens of a situation ahead."

http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=16670386

Ve have Vays to make you talk.

It is not the same country as it used to be.

[Mal]

A Houston woman's attempt to save drivers from a speeding ticket landed her something worse: 12 hours in jail.

As she rode her bicycle home from a grocery store last week near downtown Houston, Natalie Plummer noticed police officers pulling over speeders. After she parked her bike and turned one of her grocery bags into a makeshift sign warning drivers about the "speed trap" ahead, an officer drove up and arrested her.

"I was completely abiding by the law," Plummer told ABC's affiliate KRTK. "I was simply warning citizens of a situation ahead."

http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=16670386

Similar court cases in other states have resulted in the precedent that she was within her 1st amendment rights. I hope she takes them to court...

[bbroj]

There was a thread here awhile ago about flashing headlights as a form of "freedom of speech". the OP (I think he was the OP, badcop something or other...) was writing, and vowed to continue writing, tickets for drivers warning other drivers of speed traps by flashing their lights at other motorists. He was using some equipment violation statute that said your vehicle could not be equipped with "flashing lights". I hope someone has challenged those tickets and won. The thread went on for awhile and brought out some heated debate, "badcop" was about the only one who thought he was justified.

[rmwest]

As for head lights in washington state:

RCW 46.37.230
Use of multiple-beam road-lighting equipment. 

(1) Whenever a motor vehicle is being operated on a roadway or shoulder adjacent thereto during the times specified in RCW 46.37.020, the driver shall use a distribution of light, or composite beam, directed high enough and of sufficient intensity to reveal persons and vehicles at a safe distance in advance of the vehicle, subject to the following requirements and limitations:

     (2) Whenever a driver of a vehicle approaches an oncoming vehicle within five hundred feet, such driver shall use a distribution of light, or composite beam, so aimed that the glaring rays are not projected into the eyes of the oncoming driver. The lowermost distribution of light, or composite beam, specified in RCW 46.37.220(2) shall be deemed to avoid glare at all times, regardless of road contour and loading.

     (3) Whenever the driver of a vehicle approaches another vehicle from the rear within three hundred feet such driver shall use a distribution of light permissible under this chapter other than the uppermost distribution of light specified in RCW 46.37.220(1).


[1963 c 154 § 17; 1961 c 12 § 46.37.230. Prior: 1955 c 269 § 23; prior: 1947 c 267 § 5, part; Rem. Supp. 1947 § 6360-25a, part; RCW 46.40.140, part; 1933 c 156 § 3, part; 1929 c 178 § 5, part; 1927 c 309 § 22, part; RRS § 6362-22, part.]


Notes:
     Effective date -- 1963 c 154: See note following RCW 46.37.010.

Essentially if you were within 500 feet and you flashed your brights to warn you will be breaking the law, and I have seen people ticketed for it.

[bbroj]

What are the "specified times"? If it's dark hours, that makes sense to me. If it is during the day, it's simply a way to allow cops to write tickets for drivers warning other drivers of a speed trap. The "badcop" poster also argued that flashing of lights was "interfering with a police investigation". That was a whole other discussion within the same thread. I personally don't buy into either being anything other a cop looking for a law to write a ticket for a behavior he doesn't like.