Q: Can you get a ticket in the mail without being pulled over?
I was on my way to work on a road (45 mph) when I suddenly met a bus coming in the opposite direction (I was going north bound, the bus south bound) I absolutely feel terrible, the bus was preparing to stop (the lights suddenly began flashing), but the arm was not extended yet. I also felt I couldn't stop fast enough with traffic behind me. Will I receive a ticket in the mail? Will I be notified by an officer? There was a vehicle that passed the bus after me too.
A: The Minnesota Statute Section 169.444 requires a driver to stop when the school bus is "displaying an extended stop-signal arm and flashing red lights." If you read the statute, you'll see that there is a subdivision asserting a petty misdemeanor offense for an owner not driving where the vehicle is claimed to have violated the statute. This means that the bus driver can note the plate number on the car with vehicle description (and perhaps a limited description of the driver), report that, and have a citation mailed to the owner of the vehicle. In that context, without a traffic stop by a police officer confirming driver identity with a drivers license, the state could be expected to have a big problem proving the identity of the driver. Presumably, that is the reason for the petty misdemeanor provision for owners.
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