Traffic Law Question

A motorcycle officer passes you in the left lane while you are in the right lane; his lights are blinking, but there is no siren. He pulls into the intersection you are approaching, and stops traffic (your light was already red, anyway). What do you do?


I signaled my braking and stopped at the red light, and waited for a signal from the officer.

Said signal took the form of him angrily yelling “Get off the road!” at me.

Of course, had I been a car, with a full rear-view mirror, I would have seen the speeding funeral procession coming up from behind; however, since I was the only vehicle (other than the officer) on the road ahead of the procession, I had no indicators like other people pulling over, and I didn’t see anything with the quick look over my shoulder after the cop passed me.

My sense is that I did something incorrect, since the cop was obviously annoyed at my ignorance, but I’m not sure how I was supposed to know they were back there.

Now, had the cop been using his siren, I would have heard it coming from behind me and pulled over anyway. I assume they weren’t using sirens because it would disturb the funeral procession or something. I’m not sure why they were going so fast; maybe they were late. Then again, I don’t really “get” the fancy hearse funeral anyway. Have a nice prayer service and launch my ashes into space.


Comments

8 responses to “Traffic Law Question”

  1. He was probably just cranky.

  2. I would have seen the speeding funeral procession coming up from behind

    The what? That’s very weird — I think of funeral processions as traffic-destroying nuisances when they shut down intersections for fifteen minutes while a hundred cars drive through at two MPH. :^p

    Also, given that the cop was clearing the road for them, they couldn’t manage to drive around your bike?

    I think the cop was just cranky and/or a dick.

  3. You remind me what a reckless cyclist I’m becoming…

  4. Yeah, normally, a funeral procession takes like 5 minutes to pass because they’re going 2 mph. This one was going 30, easily.

  5. You’re one of those light runners I glare at?

  6. I agree. Perhaps the funeral was for someone he knew.

  7. Wow, this baffles me.

  8. ::cough:: I only run lights if I know there are no cars coming; I’m actually quite concerned with being run over at a busy intersection. However, I’ve noticed a deplorable tendency to weave, especially in traffic…

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