Traffic Law Question
 

My wife and I have been arguing this for years and I just finally thought about it to ask...

When you are coming out of a parking lot for a restaurant, etc, do you HAVE to stop by law?

Re: Traffic Law Question
 

No. Not by technical law. The more general laws of yielding to oncoming traffic and driving safely would apply but only if the actions continued onto the public road. Within a private parking lot though no particular traffic laws can be enforced like they can on public roadways as I understand it.

I had an accident once in a parking lot that was entirely my fault. I didn't get a ticket because it was a private lot. The cop even said when he got to the scene that he couldn't write a ticket. He just handled the situation as a mediator type and made note of the descriptions of the accident for insurance purposes.

Re: Traffic Law Question
 

I guess to be more accurate they don't by default enforce most traffic laws. Particular localities can adopt ordinances enforcing some or all traffic laws. But some traffic laws apply regardless of public or private roads like DUI and such.

In this case of stopping the answer is almost assuredly no. Absent a stop sign they can't even require you to stop on a public road unless not stopping would be reckless. Even with a stop sign on a private road they most likely don't have an ordinance particularly enforcing that law on private roads.

Re: Traffic Law Question
 

THANK You! That's exactly what I thought.

Re: Traffic Law Question
 

I should have fucking gone to court because I got a ticket for the exact same thing.

I knew I wasn't going to get out of the ticket initially because I said "Excuse... whats the problem sir".... and she responded with "It's Maim".

Dagger.

Re: Traffic Law Question
 

Another sort of unrelated question.

I recently stopped driving and forgot to turn my tags in. I have an outrageous (3000$) fine for not turning them in. Is there anything I can do about this?

It seems ridiculous to charge me 3000$ for something that insignificant. I'm in college and really can't afford that BS.

Re: Traffic Law Question
 

[quote=RobH4413;608889]Another sort of unrelated question.

I recently stopped driving and forgot to turn my tags in. I have an outrageous (3000$) fine for not turning them in. Is there anything I can do about this?

It seems ridiculous to charge me 3000$ for something that insignificant. I'm in college and really can't afford that BS.[/quote]
Your probably getting fined for having valid tags and not having insurance. In Va. its a $500 fine and you can go through a process to appeal the fine but not sure in MD. I have had customers who sold the car and showed proof to DMV and they let them slide. If MD allows an appeal your going to have to show that the car was either sold or not in use. The second one is tough to prove.

As for the stopping coming out of the parking lot. Its an implied law that you must stop or yeild to trafic. If you fail to do so and cause an accident you can be charged with failure to stop or something like that. Even if you do stop your its almost 100% of the time your fault.

Re: Traffic Law Question
 

[quote=TheMalcolmConnection;608867]My wife and I have been arguing this for years and I just finally thought about it to ask...

When you are coming out of a parking lot for a restaurant, etc, do you HAVE to stop by law?[/quote]

if you are coming our of a parking lot with no control signals (stop sign, traffic light) onto a street/roadway there is the antiquated "boulevard rule". which simply stands for the proposition that the lesser roadway must yield to traffic on the greater roadway (i.e. a boulevard).

ive handled accident cases which occured entirely in a parking lot and they are very difficult as there is no real right-of-way.

lol i recently handled a DUI cases in which the guy was arrested for DUI as he was pulling out of a parking space at a gas station. i briefly mentioned that the parking lot was private for the customers of the gas station and therefore it was not a public roadway in which the police would have jurisdiction . . . . fortunately it plead out.

go skins!!

Re: Traffic Law Question
 

If the commercial property has a right of access onto the highway, it's the same as coming out of your own driveway and the boulevard rule would apply. As to that rule, if an accident occurs, the person exiting the driveway is presumed to be in the wrong.

If the commercial property does not have a right of access AND there is a posted stop sign at the exit THEN you would have to stop.

Without govt. control of the access AND a traffic control device, it's the boulevard rule.

Re: Traffic Law Question
 

[quote=JoeRedskin;608964]If the commercial property has a right of access onto the highway, it's the same as coming out of your own driveway and the boulevard rule would apply. As to that rule, if an accident occurs, the person exiting the driveway is presumed to be in the wrong.

If the commercial property does not have a right of access AND there is a posted stop sign at the exit THEN you would have to stop.

Without govt. control of the access AND a traffic control device, it's the boulevard rule.[/quote]
Sure if you want to be all smarty pants lawyer I guess

Re: Traffic Law Question
 

[quote=firstdown;608934][B]Your probably getting fined for having valid tags[/B] [B]and not having insurance[/B]. In Va. its a $500 fine and you can go through a process to appeal the fine but not sure in MD. I have had customers who sold the car and showed proof to DMV and they let them slide. If MD allows an appeal your going to have to show that the car was either sold or not in use. The second one is tough to prove.

As for the stopping coming out of the parking lot. Its an implied law that you must stop or yeild to trafic. If you fail to do so and cause an accident you can be charged with failure to stop or something like that. Even if you do stop your its almost 100% of the time your fault.[/quote]
does it matter if your not driving? i think up here you can get away with this, as long as your not behind the wheel

Re: Traffic Law Question
 

Outstanding. I just pwned my wife. Thanks for all the help.

Re: Traffic Law Question
 

[quote=dmek25;608981]does it matter if your not driving? i think up here you can get away with this, as long as your not behind the wheel[/quote]

I'm going by Va. laws but I'm sure its about the same in most states and the answer to your question is no. They only look to see if you had valid tags and if you had ins. If you cannot show you have coverage then they fine you. Now you can appeal and in some cases if you can show 100% that the car was off the road they may let you off. The two cases I can think of is a customer had his car at a repair shop when his ins ran out but he got coverage back before driving the car. He used the papper work from the shop and from his insurance co. to show that when the car was parked it had no ins. but that he did have ins when he picked it up. He won his appeal. I had another customer who had his car in HIS garage working on it and let his ins run out. He had receipts to show he was working on the car but did not have a that third party to back him. In his case he lost.

Re: Traffic Law Question
 

[quote=FRPLG;608871]No. Not by technical law. The more general laws of yielding to oncoming traffic and driving safely would apply but only if the actions continued onto the public road. Within a private parking lot though no particular traffic laws can be enforced like they can on public roadways as I understand it.

I had an accident once in a parking lot that was entirely my fault. I didn't get a ticket because it was a private lot. The cop even said when he got to the scene that he couldn't write a ticket. He just handled the situation as a mediator type and made note of the descriptions of the accident for insurance purposes.[/quote]

What he said...no stop sign, no need to come to a full stop but using caution is advised because main road drivers always have right of way.

Re: Traffic Law Question
 

[quote=FRPLG;608978]Sure if you want to be all smarty pants lawyer I guess[/quote]

Well, I always try to wear my smarty pants. Except when I can't find them and they become my F'ng pants. (Wouldn't it be great if we could tell when women were wearing their F'ing pants?)

Re: Traffic Law Question
 

[quote=RobH4413;608889]Another sort of unrelated question.

I recently stopped driving and forgot to turn my tags in. I have an outrageous (3000$) fine for not turning them in. Is there anything I can do about this?

It seems ridiculous to charge me 3000$ for something that insignificant. I'm in college and really can't afford that BS.[/quote]
holy shit

go to court, apologize profusely

Re: Traffic Law Question
 

[quote=JoeRedskin;609006]Well, I always try to wear my smarty pants. Except when I can't find them and they become my F'ng pants. (Wouldn't it be great if we could tell when women were wearing their F'ing pants?)[/quote]
:lol::lol::lol:

Re: Traffic Law Question
 

[quote=tryfuhl;609109]holy shit

go to court, apologize profusely[/quote]

I'm betting that is a DMV fine for not having ins. while stll having valid tags and its not a court issue.

Re: Traffic Law Question
 

Actually, I am pretty sure you can contest it. I think I had a witness do so in one of my cases sometime ago. It was either tags or lack of insurance fine. Call the DMV and see if they will let you submit an affidavit of non-driving. Be sure your insurance is cancelled and you may want to try and cancel it back to the date you stopped driving. Unlikely they will allow that, but they may if you submit an affidavit of stating you have had no accidents and waive any liability from the date forward.

Fines like this are tough. When it comes to this stuff (tags, licenses, insurance) you need to handle things pronto. Otherwise, it will come back to bite you because a lot of these types of fines are statutorily mandatory and the gov. [I]cannot[/I] modify them. (The double edged sword of preventing favoritism/abuse v. creating draconian penalties).

Re: Traffic Law Question
 

[quote=JoeRedskin;609364]Actually, I am pretty sure you can contest it. I think I had a witness do so in one of my cases sometime ago. It was either tags or lack of insurance fine. Call the DMV and see if they will let you submit an affidavit of non-driving. Be sure your insurance is cancelled and you may want to try and cancel it back to the date you stopped driving. Unlikely they will allow that, but they may if you submit an affidavit of stating you have had no accidents and waive any liability from the date forward.

Fines like this are tough. When it comes to this stuff (tags, licenses, insurance) you need to handle things pronto. Otherwise, it will come back to bite you because a lot of these types of fines are statutorily mandatory and the gov. [I]cannot[/I] modify them. (The double edged sword of preventing favoritism/abuse v. creating draconian penalties).[/quote]

The only way we will ever back date coverage on a car is if the owner shows that the car was sold and no longer in their name. An affidavit saying they had no claims is worthless because if something would have happened the customer would have filed a claim.

Re: Traffic Law Question
 

I know the "no-accident" affidavit exists and have used it several times in the past. Just don't remember the context anymore. Also, insurance co.'s will backdate if there is proof the car was "undrivable". Again, talk to your insurer and DMV and see if something can be worked out.

Whatever you do - don't wait around on this. Every day matters.

Re: Traffic Law Question
 

As I recall, the affidavit is a "no accident/hold harmless" statement. Which means, no matter what subsequently arises, you are releasing the insurer from providing coverage during that period. It's all part of the statutory scheme requiring mandatory auto insurance.

Re: Traffic Law Question
 

[quote=TheMalcolmConnection;608994]Outstanding. I just pwned my wife. Thanks for all the help.[/quote]

Congrats, when is the due date?