Well, now, isn't that nice? Everybody's getting along, and D.C. solo practitioner Mark Zaid is retreating from the thought of suing the Montgomery County Police Department to challenge traffic tickets written for improper use of flashing lights.
Zaid, recall, was written up for flashing another driver in Bethesda in April to warn of a speed trap. He challenged the ticket and won. The officer didn’t show up for court. Zaid demanded an apology from the police department after a judge tossed the ticket. In responding to press inquiries, police administrators said that there’s nothing illegal with a flash of headlights. (Police are quick to note they don’t encourage this move.)
So now the Montgomery County police chief, Tom Manger, has formally told Zaid that the police officer who pulled over Zaid and wrote him up acted outside the scope of his authority. Manger sent Zaid an e-mail July 24 that said, among other things: Appropriate action has been taken with the Officer involved to prevent a recurrence.” The chief did not elaborate.
“It is not our policy, nor do we train our officers to use this statute for citing drivers who flash their headlights to warn other drivers as they approach police traffic enforcement sites,” Manger said in the e-mail, which Zaid distributed to The Washington Post and to The National Law Journal. (Click here for the piece in today’s Post.) “It is not always easy...but when we make a mistake, we need to admit it, and fix it,” Manger also said in the note.
Manger said the department, in reviewing the use of the statute to cite motorists who flash headlights, sought opinions from state prosecutors, county attorneys and members of the Maryland General Assembly. “There is little consensus. This is the basis for our conclusion that Officers should not use that statute for cases like yours until it is resolved,” the chief wrote.
In response to the chief’s e-mail, Zaid said in a letter to the chief: “I also appreciate the affirmation that appropriate action has been taken to ensure my type of situation does not re-occur absent legislative clarification of the law. I can assure you that I do not hold any concern over whether the investigation conducted was an honest one, nor have I lost any confidence in the MCPD.”
Zaid said that beyond "anything surprising developing, which I do not anticipate, I essentially consider this matter closed.”
Texas State Tropers will stop you and give you a ticket for faulty head light if you flash your lights to warn motorist of speed traps. The one that stopped me yesterday was very upset and said, I saw you flash your lights to warn the other motorist, so I am giving you a ticket for a faulty head light. Cost $150 in Texas I guess in Texas a State Tropper can give you a ticket for whatever he feels he wants.
Posted by: Ed | February 18, 2010 at 12:51 PM