The Long Way Home
A crossing, a shoulder full of lights, and a borrowed motorcycle
You step off the curb at an intersection with no paint on the road. A car is coming on your half of the roadway and a second is behind it.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
Local ordinances about crossings, the sections on approaching a moving emergency vehicle and on assured clear distance ahead, the rules this same motorcycle section applies to bicycles and snowmobiles, and any civil claim arising from a collision are not walked here. Nothing on this page says who had the right of way in a particular incident or what a particular citation carries.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
5 words · tap one for its definition
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Minor misdemeanorThe bottom rung of the Ohio code. No jail term at all, a fine capped at one hundred and fifty dollars, and a section that says an officer shall issue a citation rather than arrest unless one of four exceptions applies.
- Seizure of a personThe moment a person is no longer free to leave, by physical force or by a show of authority they submit to. Everything the Fourth Amendment requires starts counting from that moment.
- Unmarked crosswalkA crosswalk that exists at an intersection whether or not anything is painted on the road. The driver's duty to yield inside a crosswalk applies at one of these the same as at a marked one.
- Assured clear distance aheadThe rule in division (A) of the speed section: no greater speed than lets the vehicle be brought to a stop within the distance that is clear ahead of it.
- Novice designationA marking on a motorcycle operator's endorsement or license that is effective for one year after the date the endorsement or license was issued. While it is in force the rider wears a helmet, and so does any passenger.