Conditions Requiring Reduced Speed

Defendant appealed the decision of the trial judge sustaining the violation of R.I.G.L. 1956 § 31-14-3 (Conditions Requiring Reduced Speed).  The charging Trooper testified that he was assisting another Trooper with a motor vehicle stop on Route 95, stopped in the breakdown lane with his cruiser’s emergency lights flashing, when Defendant passed without reducing his speed or yielding the lane as required by the statute when passing an emergency vehicle with its lights flashing.  The Trooper testified that there were no vehicles behind Defendant at the time Defendant passed the Trooper’s position.  Defendant argued the judge’s decision was an error of law because the Trooper did not provide specific testimony that Defendant could have changed lanes or reduced speed in a safe manner.  The Appeals Panel agreed that the statute requires a motorist to reduce speed or change lanes only if the reduction in speed or lane change can be accomplished safely, but that the Trooper’s testimony that no vehicles were behind Defendant indicated that the reduction in speed could have been made safely.  Therefore, it was not necessary for the Trooper to expressly testify that the reduction in speed could have been made safely.  Accordingly, the Appeals Panel sustained the violation.

State of Rhode Island vs. Nicholas Gelfuso, C.A. No. T14-0024 (June 17, 2014).pdf