John Macartney wrote:
> However, my trip is going to be keeping to some very tight
> schedules and the last thing I want is some gun-toting bloke
> appearing at my driving window and telling me I can't proceed because
> I've "infringed" some law I ought to know all about - but don't.
You should just as easily be worried about being stopped by
some gun-toting officer who won't let you proceed because
you've "infringed" some law that doesn't exist.
The problem is that the vehicle code is fairly lengthy and
involved, and most police officers have plenty to deal with
besides vehicle stops, particularly special cases like you are
describing.
As someone who drives unusual vehicles I have learned some
of the best ways to deal with officers unclear on the law.
Re: http://Daveola.com/History/Section_7.html
Search for multiple occurrences of "Dave Fought The Law, And The Dave Won"
My experience is that you'd be much more likely to finish
your trip if you:
1) Do some research. For all the states you are going to drive
in, you want to find the DMV website ("Department of Motor Vehicles")
and look up the VC ("Vehicle Code"). I believe that all of
the 50 states have their VC online.
2) Print out the relevant parts of the vehicle code to bring along.
3) When stopped, happily and politely present said VC to officer.
#3 is very tricky, because it turns out that cops (definitely
here in the USA) really *hate* to be told they are wrong. They
are used to being on the other side of the power dynamic, so
you have to play it very carefully and make sure you are still
in deference to their "power" in the situation, otherwise you
will find yourself hauled in over an incorrect interpretation
of the law.
As someone who has a short fuse with officialdom, I can
understand how this will be difficult, but for pragmatic
reasons I suggest snipping that fuse if possible. :)
Good luck in the states!
Dave
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Dave Ljung Madison http://GetDave.com/ 415 341-5555
------------ "Preferred over shiny round objects 2-to-1" ------------------
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