[Chat] Ticketed for talking!

[Emil Volcheck]

Hello, neighbors,

After the CVCBDMA Board meeting, I drove back and gave Steve Gewirtz a
lift.  Steve and I both live on the 3000 block of Guilford, and I
stopped across from his house, right before the intersection of
Guilford and 30th.  We chatted for a little while about politics, then
Dave Barnett drove by in the opposite direction, on his way home I
assume.  I hadn't seen him for a while, so we both rolled down our
windows to talk.  Then I saw a police car pull up behind me, with
bubble lights.  Dave moved on, and I pulled my car closer to the side
to get out of the way.  The police gave me a $50 ticket for impeding
the flow of traffic.  I was really surprised because I was in the car
the whole time, with the hazard lights on, and I moved almost as soon
as I saw someone behind me was trying to get by.  Certainly when Dave
moved, I believe the police could have gotten past me.

The police starting ticketing me right after I turned the corner and I
let Steve off.  Steve asked the officer what the problem was, and they
told him to back off, gave him a 5-second warning.  That seemed a
little harsh.

I think I remember hearing recently that Dana Moore was given a ticket
when she was stopped out in front of her house loading or unloading
from her car, and that the judge threw it out.

I'm planning to tell the judge I'm innocent, and Steve says he'll come
with me.

Does anybody have any thoughts about this situation?  It seems kind
of extreme.  I feel like I should have been entitled to some signal
like a honk or yelling "move along" before they decided I was
blocking traffic.

--Emil



-- 
Emil Volcheck
volcheck at acm.org
http://acm.org/~volcheck