Getting a ticket...

[Roland]

I said it was his fault for not properly responding. Just because she supposedly waved him on does not mean he still has the right of way should she choose to move forward. Regardless, she has the right of way. That he drove aggressively was merely more fuel to the fire. That he did not stop, or even slow down, when she proceeded to move forward was where he was at fault. He did not recognize a hazardous condition, and instead of reacting properly, he reacted rashly and improperly. Thus he was punished, and rightly so. I did not say I agree with everything 100%, nor that I agree with everything at all. I merely stated the reasoning behind his punishment. There are many factors and possibilities surrounding that incident that we are not aware of, and that would / could greatly affect the outcome (i.e. the punishment, or lack thereof). Since we only have a limited amount of information (biased accounts told through an imperfect medium), I chose to lay out what I could given the information at hand.

It is quite possible that the lady was simply rolling forward, so as to be already moving by the time he cleared her path. Even so, to a cop, his continued motion would be cause for concern. That he drove aggressively rather than defensively / cautiously was probably the nail in the coffin for him. Had he not reacted the way he did, he probably wouldn't have gotten even a warning, even if he stopped dead in the middle of the road, thus blocking traffic (provided, of course, he did not block the traffic for any extended period of time ;)).

Regardless of any other factors, he drove aggressively and, under the law, he did NOT have the right of way. That she may or may not have waved him on does not give him a LEGAL right of way. It IS a compelling factor in his favor (if that is what happened; I don't disbelieve him, but I don't necessarily trust that the lady's "signal" was in fact what he took it for; I've seen people supposedly signal me, or someone else, onward only to cut them off without a second glance), but it's not concrete; it's not soundly set in legal stone. Therefore, while it may be enough to sway an officer if there was no other offense committed, it is not enough to stand up if there ARE other offenses, and in fact would turn AGAINST him in the latter case. He is, of course, welcome to contest the tickets, and he may even get off on it, but I hope at the very least he takes away the lesson of proper driving in the end. Otherwise, whether he gets off or not, he'll end up making the same mistake again. And that time, he may not get away so "Scott free".