Heres a saftey question of mine, And this probably changes from state to state but here we go. In sioux city IA last night, Truck started to vibrate badly ( never did figure it out) But went to pull over on the side of the road came over a hill and was inches away from rear ending a police officer out doing his stalkin of the speeders. Now the thing that really concerns me is this. He didnt have any lights on and this was at 11:30 pm. He was just sitting out there So the main question is, Isnt it illegal for you to sit on the side of the road without some kind of warning light? I know my father got ticketed for leaving ihs car on the side of the road without hazzards one time. Also thought it was illegal for the police to hide, and sitting on the side of a ditch with yourl ights off to me is hiding haha. And on top of all that he was doing it right on the crest of a hill. And to top it all he wanted to give me a wreckless driving for exiting the highway at too high of speeds or some crap like that. So, is there a law to keep your lights on at night? And can they hide like that anyway?

 

That would depend on the state laws where you live.

 

Hmm..... I have never had a problem with the Sioux City police before, however a lot of officers in this area like to sit at night with their lights off.

What area of Sioux City where you in?

 

mmmmm Im going ot say Sioux City, Im aware of North Sioux and south sioux haha. Im kinda new to the area. I go to Western Iowa Tech.

 

In Texas....at least to my knowledge....there is no requirement for lights to be on and there is nothing prohibiting them from hiding. I have seen both many times.

 

Well yeah i know they dont have to be in your sight for them to ticket you, Ive seen that many times hiding on other sides of a bridge (interstates) and what not. But I was always under the impression that when ur on the side of the road Cop or not you had to have some kind of warning lights on your vechilce that it was sitting there for oncomming traffic so they wouldnt hit it. To me it seems like a fun way to make a couple hundred or hey even million, just go hit one sometime haha.

 

I'm not saying it's not a good idea to have lights on....or even that it SHOULDN'T be a law....but I don't think it is....at least not in Texas. I never pull off on the shoulder without turning my hazards on though....even during the day time.

 

You didnt make it clear whether or not if he was IN the road or on the SIDE of the road. If he was OUT of the lanes of traffic...NO lights are required. If he was in the lanes of travel..that is a different story.

It's be hard for him (or any other officer) to bust speeders, drunks, reckless drivers, etc if he sit on the side of the road with his lights on warning oncoming traffic that he was hiding.

 

Different places, different laws. I have heard of laws about not being able to hide,.........I thought I had dreamed it. BIGC, let's talk more about that hide you was going to see, that had you drivin 9 over :P ;D

 

Around here I believe they are required to have thier parking lights on.

 

He was on the shoulder.not exactly the "travel" portion but still on the road haha. Still lookin into it, trying to find stuff on the net but, so far all i found are fines for certain citations haha. oh well

 

Disabled and parked vehicles on the roadside if newer than 1960 will if in original condition are required to have reflective devices for this reason. If not in the driving lane it is not required in most places to have a hazardous vehicle with lights on but most request you leave the hazard flashers on when disabled. Commercial trucks are required to carry flares and triangles. I am a bit confused as the vehicle you refer to suddenly appeared over the hill and almost rearended it while pulling to the side. You are giving the impression you were travelling extremely fast and you had a serious emergency not allowing gradual slowing with mechanical difficulties. Coming this close to the patrol vehicle also must have been noticed by the officer and did he offer to assist. Sounds to me like bitterness for some poor defensive driving technique and retalitory actions to defend them. It would appear that some of the details of this story are missing and now you are asking for ways to substantiate with our help your claims. Most patrol vehicles even when coming across suddenly have enough lights and OEM reflective devices to be noticable. I know from experiences unless distracted when driving in contravention of law I will be very alert to where they might be hiding to prevent wallet lightning from striking. PK

 

We need to adapt this sytem to our vehicles.


Caddy's heads-up night vision.
Good for those pesky deer, and those pesky patrolman on the side of the road at night.