Scott’s Law in Illinois
By Just Stupid on May 29, 2008 in Stupid Laws
We received this email the other day…
This is just a warning about something that happened to my friend Denise.
She Was driving on I-88 in the right lane. She was not speeding.
There was a Illinois Police car sitting in the right shoulder with the lights on. The officer was sitting in the car. There was no one pulled over.
She continued in the right lane and passed him.
She was immediately pulled over by the cop and cited for Violating Scott’s law which I found is a law that requires you to move over (if possible) to the left lane if an emergency vehicle is on the side of the road.
She pleaded ignorance of the law but was given a ticket and was assigned a Mandatory court date for which she appeared.
She spoke to the judge and he Asked Her if she wanted a trial.
She said that she could not testify that she did not commit the violation but that she was unaware of the law. She pleaded guilty and was fined $100.00. She thought that was it.
Two weeks later she received a notice from the Secretary of State that her license has been suspended for 3 months because of this Violation.
She spoke to the Secretary of State office as no one ever mentioned that she would lose her license.
As expected, they did not care and if she wanted a hearing on the matter or a hearing to ask for a license to drive to work, she Could expect a hearing date in about 3 months.
Just wanted to warn everyone about this. I was not aware of this law although I usually move over anyway.
Apparently, in 2007, the state police issued a record number of tickets for this offense.
We thought you might find the following article from snopes.com interesting: http://www.snopes.com/politics/traffic/moveover.asp
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AlKaholic | Nov 9, 2008 | Reply
D’uh,That is a “Common sense” law that has been enacted in a few states.Law enforcement officers have enough to worry about,without worrying about dodging morons in cars running about 65-70mph….
mattk | Jul 4, 2009 | Reply
Scotts Law is not stupid and if you think so then dont move over and see the judge… this year my dept. will be conducting many scotts law enforcement sites not just on the e-way we will place 3-4 emergency vehicles on the side of the road and if you dont move over or slow down go to court… this law is meant to save lifes if you dont like it ohhh well spend the money in legal fees
John | Jan 11, 2010 | Reply
Scotts Law stupid?!!! Not at all. Don’t be foolish; this law will save lives, period. Check out footage of officers being killed and badly wounded by other drivers while performing their duties roadside. If you still think it’s a stupid law after observing a few videos on youtube you’ll prove my point about a LOT of humanity…
( No matter how low the bar is set, stupid people always find a way to limbo right under it.)
tami | Jan 15, 2010 | Reply
Whats stupid is idiot people that will not move over. For anyone that thinks this is stupid you would not want to be the one that has to jump in the ditch to avoid being hit by an idiot that does not respect anyone elses job and will not move over. I’ve been there and do that on a daily basis. Its the best law I’ve seen in along time to protect myself and my drivers. Its not going to kill you to slow down and move over but it may kill someone else by not. If you don’t like it dont drive!!!
tami | Jan 15, 2010 | Reply
ps: Really glad your friend got suspended now maybe she’ll think twice
dustin | Jan 20, 2010 | Reply
i just wish minnesota would enforce the move over law….ive been setting on the roadside with officers and have cars just fly by and rock the tow truck as im loading. Scotts law is not stupid it keeps the stupid drivers off the road for a very short period and makes them think FLASHING LIGHTS MEANS SLOW DOWN
Adam | Jan 20, 2010 | Reply
I am really disappointed that you as a website would allow this to be published. The only thing stupid is the article itself! How many Fire Fighters, Paramedics, EMTs, or Police officers have to be killed in the line of duty for people to get the hint. A missouri State Trooper gave his life on Christmas day because someone ignored our states move over law on a 4 lane highway with minimal traffic. The only thing that would be better is if the police were allowed to shoot people who don’t move over. watch a video of what happens in Iraq when you are told to move over and don’t. If you had any sense at all you would consider that maybe the officers like going home to hug their spouse and kids at the end of the shift. that is if they can avoid the next retard like you!
Chicago Towman | Jan 20, 2010 | Reply
Why don’t you try working 2 feet from traffic zipping by at 70-80 MPH. It’s not fun or safe. This law is designed to help protect roadside workers (such as myself) and the motorist’s who drive the highways. I’ve had a right front tire blow out at 65-70 mph, and instantly the car jumps half a lane minimum, or a whole lane if you’re not holding the wheel tight. If that happened while you were passing a 20,000# tow truck, or highway truck, (and you rear end the stopped truck) your chances of surviving are less than 10 percent. Wouldn’t you rather move over or even slow down to save both of our lives, and not get that fine?
Centuryonly | Jan 20, 2010 | Reply
Please don’t forget about the towing operators. 60 of us are hit and killed each year by idiots like that. Is how fast you get to where you’re going more important than one of us making it home to our family tonight?
Jason | Jan 21, 2010 | Reply
Im in Australia and have heard about this law …I wish they would bring the law in our country ..
caitlin | Feb 8, 2010 | Reply
scotts law is stupid when they are pulled over on the left. my fine: $600. absolutely ridiculous when NO ONE WAS IN DANGER. the fine for speeding through a work zone where people are walking around: $375. stupid.
Tim | Mar 10, 2010 | Reply
I know Illinois doesn’t protect it’s citizens very well from police abuses and entrapment, but pigs are essentially creating a road hazard to catch people breaking a law that I couldn’t even find on il.gov. The defensive driving course the state of Illinois sponsors/supports considers vehicles on the shoulder a hazard, so why are you going to hang out there for no legitimate reason (i.e.: RTS, or “gasp” helping a motorist).
Andrew | May 3, 2010 | Reply
Only ignorant people who don’t research the abuse created by these types of “laws” could possibly like them.
Leaving emergency vehicles on the shoulder when there is no emergency, solely as a way to hand out tickets, is clearly entrapment. Not too mention unnecessarily adding more dangers to the public’s commute.
If only about 12 police in the whole US die per year from this, then no crack-down is needed. WAAAAYYY more die from drivers in the left lane that are supposed to stay right unless they’re passing, but yet that has failed to properly be enforced even though it has been around for decades.
The vagueness in the fines is beyond ridiculous too…
Russ | Jun 16, 2010 | Reply
Come on people! Selfish little Bastards!! Pull over! I don’t care if it’s an emergency vehicle or not, I move over away from them. This really pisses me off how people don’t care until their the ones getting hit.
Only 12 police!! How many have to die before you think it should be enforced? 50, 100, how many? If people are dieing because of someone driving in the left lane, then maybe you shouldn’t be driving!!
Caleb | Aug 5, 2010 | Reply
Being an emergency worker myself, I believe that this law is important. If you don’t think so try standing on the side of the road next to an ambulance at a car accident scene as people fly by 60 mph on a 2 lane highway mere inches from you.
This law is also to cover construction workers and tow truck operators. Come on its common since and common courtesy. God forbid slowing down or changing lanes make you 10 seconds later to where you are going. Citations are issued to prevent accidents. If you know to move over or slow down you will be more aware of your surroundings and keep us workers safe. The consequence for you hitting us is $10,000 and up to 14 years in jail. Remember that when you are on the road near us
greg | Aug 19, 2010 | Reply
The law is good, but placing the cars just to ticket drivers is wrong. Anyway, cops are only good for writing tickets, so that is what they do. When there was a drug dealer in my building, they never showed up when people called reporting that customers are breaking into the building to buy drugs. It is safer to write tickets. The suspension of DL should be invalid as judge should inform her about it.
Andrew | Aug 19, 2010 | Reply
To clarify to the people after me:
I totally agree that it’s fine to have a law for this, but it should just be a small $50 fine or else have a warning the first time, small fine the next, etc.
The reason I say that is because you have no way to be presumed innocent with this law because the cop isn’t paying attention to you, he hasn’t assessed the traffic around you and IF you can even get left. And if he only sees you after you pass him and startle him/them, he’s only seeing the rear of a car from a standing position with only his word saying you didn’t slow down. With no way to get evidence, you’ll lose everytime. They don’t have to prove anything “beyond a reasonable doubt” since it’s not a criminal case, so you’ll always lose in a he-said she-said with police.
It happened to me in almost that same way. They happened to both be pulled over right at the start of a speed change so I had already been slowing down, but I couldn’t go left at all so I went down to about 35 in a 45, and my left tires were on the edge of my lane(I don’t drive giant SUVs). A cop pulled me over and claimed I “JUST FLEW BY!” when I never would even risk injuring/clipping a cop, that would be like suicide. What I do a lot though, is downshifting to a lower gear which revs the engine higher and slows down the car, in unison with braking when needed. Many police are skeptical of me around corners and pulsing traffic because it “sounds” like I might be speeding. I told him precisely what I observed including the makes and sizes of the cars around me, the speed limit change, and that I noticed them there far before cars in front of me hit their brakes. His tone changed after that and didn’t even write me a warning.
In contrast, it would be incredibly easy to prove a left-lane squatter because his full attention would be on them and how they’re blocking traffic for miles when they have plenty chances to move right. Just like the girl in this story, ignorance of the “keep right” law is not a defense for breaking it. They try to police speeders themselves which only ends up in an angry driver(s) and rear-end collisions all over our commute.
They’re very emotional about protecting their own, but what about protecting the public they’re supposed to be serving!