Walk It Through: The Morning Commute
A lane change, a turn signal, a phone in hand, and a school zone at eight in the morning.
On a four lane road, a driver late for work slides into the next lane without looking long.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One drive to work. A crash caused by the distraction, the points a conviction adds, a commercial driver's rules and the interstate limit are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- School zoneAll school property, including the grounds and any abutting street, extending 125 feet along the road from the school grounds, where the limit is fifteen miles per hour during recess or while children are arriving or leaving.
- Hands-free featureA feature that lets a driver use a phone without either hand, apart from starting or ending it with a single touch or swipe.
- Vehicular homicideCausing a death that follows within one year as the proximate result of injury from driving in reckless disregard for the safety of others.