I was ticketed under GA’s Move Over Law just before midnight in February after cresting the top of the hill on the 4 lane I-985 and finding a police cruiser with lights flashing. Since the cruiser was just over the hill and I had a car to my immediate left and one on my rear, we all slowed but there wasn’t enough distance to either stop or pull over before getting to the cruiser.

Interestingly, there was an empty Nissan Altima in front of the cruiser. (I say empty but have no way of proving it, however I could not see anyone (officer or citizen driver) outside either the cruiser or the Nissan.) Immediately after I passed the pull over site, a second cruiser turned on previously unlit headlights and pulled out, hit his blue lights and pulled me over.

I asked him why I was pulled over because I knew I was going far below the speed limit and he quickly explained that it was because I was in violation of GA’s Move Over Law. I had just relocated to GA and was unaware of this law, which is certainly no excuse, but I also knew that it was impossible for me to either stop or pull over because: (1) the car on my rear and to my left; and (2) the distance from the hill top to where the cruiser with lights on was located was too short of a distance to come to a complete stop.

I explained that I could not pull over or come to a stop on the freeway and the officer didn’t even attempt to counter, discuss or explain himself. He wrote me the ticket, handed it to me with the standard court date explanation and quickly left for his car.

When I got home, I did a Google search on the Move Over law to learn more about it and I have no issue with the spirit of the law but considering the circumstances, I saw no possible way of how I could have avoided violating it. I then found a blog outlining a series of complaints against the Flowery Branch Police Department for staging these scenarios to nail folks like myself. Why? The fines are about 5 times as much as a speeding ticket and it’s much more efficient as a revenue generator.

One blogger even said not to bother challenging the ticket because he did and the result was having the fine increased. Another blogger said that it’s impossible to get a fair hearing in the Flowery Branch Municipal Court because the judge is essentially in on the scam. It’s just too lucrative for them to pass up.

After consulting a lawyer in the family, I was advised to get my case moved out of municipal court and into the state court. She said that would be the only way I would get a fair and objective hearing. (We’ll see how that turns out.)

My suspicions were confirmed after going to the court date at Flowery Branch and arriving at 5:50pm to find that the line stretched from the City Hall doors down the block and around the corner. My 2.5 hours in that line was actually an educational experience as a tax paying citizen. Google reflects the population of Flowery Branch at 6,145 people. I estimated that there were over 300 people in that line and I had the good fortune of speaking with several of them as we waited. Only one of the people I spoke with was a resident of Flowery Branch.

When I finally got into the court room, it was shocking to see the number of city staff and police officers in the room. (Another less than relevant observation was the level of gross obesity among all but one of the officers.)

I am now a member of NMA and I plan to apply the principles in the article regarding protesting such activity. One of which contacting businesses. The day before my ticket, I had sent out a bid request to numerous North GA dealers for purchasing a new truck. I received calls back from dealers in Hall County and Rabun County and I told both of them that I would not consider purchasing vehicles from them due to the actions of their municipal police officers. (I have not been pulled over in Clayton, GA but I’ve seen the Clayton PD’s speed traps in action and I’m confident that they’re abusive.)

For now, I won’t even purchase a gallon of gas in Flowery Branch.