At approximately 1:30 in the morning, I was traveling north on Route 11 (Wyoming Avenue). After going around a turn, I was surprised to see a police cruiser parked in my lane, without any hazard lights or sirens on. I slowed down to a crawl, and when the vehicle did not move, I proceeded to go around it.[1] [2] As I went around the car, it moved forward; I was driving slowly and I stopped in order to avoid an accident. Both vehicles were parked for approximately thirty seconds, and since the cruiser refused to move, I continued on my way. The cruiser tailgated me for approximately two miles without turning on its sirens. I chose to pull into a parking lot in order to let the officers get around me. The car proceeded to follow me into the parking lot and block me in. Then, a blonde female officer exited the vehicle. The first words out of her mouth were What the hell is wrong with you?
She then accused me of passing her moving vehicle on a two-lane road (Which is not true, seeing as the road had a shared left-hand turning lane and she was not moving. Moreover, the section of the road in question was not even located in Edwardsville). She also stated that I should wait for a stopped vehicle to move and that it is illegal not to (which I did, and her statements are contrary to state laws governing moving vehicles), and when I questioned her about this, she asked me, What if there was a person on the road, a question which was unnecessary due to my slow speed. Her partner was equally belligerent, demanding to know who we were, what we were talking about, and where we were going. After talking on the radio for approximately ten minutes, she returned my license and said that I would be getting a citation in the mail. I asked her what the citation would be for, and she replied, Youll find out as she was getting back into her vehicle. Her partner lit a cigarette, and they departed before I could even ask for a badge number. At this time, we believe that her vehicle was simply waiting for a car full of kids to come around that corner, seeing as there was no other reason for her vehicle to be parked in the right-hand lane on a completely deserted road.
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[1] This is allowed in Chapter 33, Subchapter A, Section 3301 Pennsylvania Law covering rules of the road in general, which states that traveling in the opposite lane is allowed When an obstruction exists making it necessary to drive to the left of the center of the roadway, provided the driver yields the right-of-way to all vehicles traveling in the proper direction upon the unobstructed portion of the roadway within such distance as to constitute a hazard.
[2] Additionally, Chapter 35 (Special Vehicles and Pedestrians), Subchapter C (Rights and Duties of Pedestrians), Section 3542 (Right-of-way to pedestrians in crosswalks), Part C states that Whenever any vehicle is stopped at any crosswalk at an intersection or at any marked crosswalk to permit a pedestrian to cross the roadway, the driver of any other vehicle approaching from the rear shall not overtake and pass the stopped vehicle. This implies that, in the absence of a crosswalk, it is acceptable to overtake and pass a stopped vehicle.
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