In most cases, police officers are exempt from following traffic laws and road codes and are allowed to break a number of rules in the event of an emergency. From speeding and ignoring signs to running red lights, police officers are generally allowed to get away with it. The Pennsylvania State Police partnered with Commonwealth Media Services to create a video dedicated to traffic stop safety. Our goal is to educate drivers on what to expect during a stop in order to ensure the safety of everyone involved.
Learn what drivers should do, and should do, if stopped by police. Answers to some of the most common questions about traffic stops are also covered in the video. Officers aren't always required to turn on lights and sirens when responding to a call. In some cases, wearing them tends to slow down traffic.
When it is necessary to get to the destination as quickly as possible, officers may disobey traffic laws. For example, officers can run a red light if they are aware of public safety. He asked under what circumstances police officers can ignore speed limits and other traffic laws. Police drivers and their apologists may well believe that cops are exempt from traffic regulations, but force policy and law say otherwise.
Most, if not all, agencies will state in their SOPs that they must do everything they can to obey all traffic laws. They follow the policy of force and obey traffic laws at all times, just like the rest of us, except in justifiable circumstances. Therefore, to detect traffic violations, they sometimes need to drive faster than the speed of traffic to find more vehicles. In Texas there is a law in the transportation code that basically says that the rest of the traffic code does not apply to the will of an officer on patrol duty.
So, it may seem like they're just abusing their power, but there's probably a good reason they're disobeying traffic laws. Police officers can ignore speed limits and other traffic laws when answering emergency calls or pursuing fleeing lawbreakers.
