Question about if I should appeal (Failure to use Caution / Impeded Open (cellphone))

[AJBeltran]

Hello,

I'm looking for some advice about a citation I got.

I was driving down a highway (45 speed limit) and I came across some road work being done up ahead with 2 cruisers with their lights on. There was an officer directing traffic as one of the lanes was blocked off due to road work. I started to slow down your supposed to of course. When I slowing down I saw a car up ahead being waved on to go through. I was about 100 meters behind so I slowed down to almost a stop but then he started waving me on too so I starting going through slowly.. Then he moved his arms faster telling me to get through so I went faster to around 25 miles.. As I was going through the officer yelled at me to STOP!! I hit the brakes and stopped. I was confused as to why because he had waved me on. Then I rolled down the window he told me I was going 40/45 mph. He stated this because of how I hit the brakes so fast. As I was rolling down the window I had the cell phone in my hand so that blew up into a bigger deal. He said i wasn't paying attention because I was on my cell phone blowing through at 40/45 mph. I was going 25 . NO WAY would i go 40/45 through a small opening with a lot of people working and a small amount of space.

The officer stated he wasn't going to argue with me, I can just appeal as I have the right.

My question is... Should I even try to appeal this or will I just loose the case.

It came out to a $135 fine.

Failure to use Caution $100 89/7C (or 89/70) sloppy handwriting
Impeded Open (Cell phone) $35 90/13

Your advice is greatly appreciated
~Tony

 

[jharris352]

If your depiction of the situation is accurate I would go to court on it. The officer has little proof of how fast you were going and no one said you are actually ON the phone rather than just having it in your hand.

 

[AJBeltran]

I was looking at the mass laws online. For the phone part, I can def get that appealed. For the Failure to use caution, I can use physics to prove how fast I was really going using the weight of the truck, taking tires and abs into account of course, and the approx number of feet I traveled which was about 8 feet. I judged this by the distance I traveled away from the officer telling me to stop. Hard to miss an officer in bright yellow neon traffic jacket in my peripherals, and the officer said I wasn't paying attention...

This the cell phone part is funny...
Chapter 90 Section 13
www<insert period>mass<insert period>gov/legis/laws/mgl/90-13.htm

PART I. ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT

TITLE XIV. PUBLIC WAYS AND WORKS

CHAPTER 90. MOTOR VEHICLES AND AIRCRAFT

MOTOR VEHICLES

Chapter 90: Section 13. Safety precautions for proper operation and parking of vehicles and buses

Section 13. No person, when operating a motor vehicle, shall permit to be on or in the vehicle or on or about his person anything which may interfere with or impede the proper operation of the vehicle or any equipment by which the vehicle is operated or controlled, except that a person may operate a motor vehicle while using a citizens band radio or mobile telephone as long as one hand remains on the steering wheel at all times. No person having control or charge of a motor vehicle, except a person having control or charge of a police, fire or other emergency vehicle in the course of responding to an emergency or a person having control or charge of a motor vehicle while engaged in the delivery or acceptance of goods, wares or merchandise for which the vehicle's engine power is necessary for the loading or unloading of such goods, wares or merchandise, shall allow such vehicle to stand in any way and remain unattended without stopping the engine of said vehicle, effectively setting the brakes thereof or making it fast, and locking and removing the key from the locking device and from the vehicle. Whenever a bus having a seating capacity of more than seven passengers, a truck weighing, unloaded, more than four thousand pounds, or a tractor, trailer, semi-trailer or combination thereof, shall be parked on a way, on a grade sufficient to cause such vehicle to move of its own momentum, and is left unattended by the operator, one pair of adequate wheel safety chock blocks shall be securely placed against the rear wheels of such vehicle so as to prevent movement thereof. The provisions of the preceding sentence shall not apply to a vehicle equipped with positive spring-loaded air parking brakes. No person shall drive any motor vehicle equipped with any television viewer, screen or other means of visually receiving a television broadcast which is located in the motor vehicle at any point forward of the back of the driver's seat, or which is visible to the driver while operating such motor vehicle. Whoever operates a motorcycle on the ways of the commonwealth shall ride only upon the permanent and regular seat attached thereto, and he shall not carry any other person, nor allow any other person to ride, on such motorcycle unless it is designed to carry more than one person, in which case a passenger may ride upon the permanent and regular seat if such seat is designed for two persons, or upon another seat which is intended for a passenger and is firmly attached to the motorcycle to the rear of the operator if proper foot rests are provided for the passenger's use, or upon a seat which is intended for a passenger and is firmly attached to the motorcycle in a side car. No person shall operate a motor vehicle, commonly known as a pick-up truck, nor shall the owner permit it to be operated, for a distance more than five-miles, in excess of five-miles per hour, with persons under twelve years of age in the body of such truck, unless such truck is part of an official parade, or has affixed to it a legal "Owner Repair" or "Farm" license plate or a pick-up truck engaged in farming activities. No person, except firefighters or garbage collectors, or operators of fire trucks or garbage trucks, or employees of public utility companies, acting pursuant to and during the course of their duties, or such other persons exempted by regulation from the application of this section or by limited application by special permit granted by the selectmen in a town or of the city council in a city, shall hang onto the outside of, or the rear-end of any vehicle, and no person on a pedacycle, motorcycle, roller skates, sled, or any similar device, shall hold fast or attach the device to any moving vehicle, and no operator of a motor vehicle shall knowingly permit any person to hang onto or ride on the outside or rear-end of the vehicle or streetcar, or allow any person on a pedacycle, motorcycle, roller skates, sled, or any similar device, to hold fast or attach the device to the motor vehicle operated on any highway. No person or persons, except firefighters acting pursuant to their official duties, shall occupy a trailer or semi-trailer while such trailer or semi-trailer is being towed, pushed or drawn or is otherwise in motion upon any way. No person shall operate a motor vehicle while wearing headphones, unless said headphones are used for communication in connection with controlling the course or movement of said vehicle.

hahaha... Thanks for the reply jharris352