Janice from Beaumont asks: Officer Antoine, I would like to first welcome you back and say that your presence and article were missed tremendously. I’ll be forever grateful for sitting in a safety-driving seminar you conducted at my place of employment a couple of years ago. My knowledge about Texas driving laws and attentiveness on the roads have been drastically improved since that day, thanks to you.

Officer Antoine, how close can someone stop behind another vehicle at a red light? I was at the intersection of Highways 365 and 69, and this car next to me pulled up at least 5 inches away from the car in front of it. The two vehicles were so close I thought they had bumped. The driver of the first vehicle wasn’t happy because he exited his car and the two drivers started arguing and almost started fighting. The light turned green and other drivers started blowing their horns, so they returned to their vehicles.

Officer Antoine, was the driver in violation of state law for stopping so close to the other vehicle?

Answer: Good question, Janice. First, I must sincerely say “Thank you” for the nice comment. I’m always humbled and honored to receive any positive comments because there are so many deserving hard-working men and women other than me at PAPD who are worthy of such recognition.

Janice, I can vividly picture the altercation you described like I witnessed it myself. There is no law regarding the distance a vehicle must be from another vehicle when they are stopped. As long as the vehicles don’t touch, they are within the limit of the state of Texas Transportation Code. I will add that stopping within inches of a stopped vehicle is not the best driving behavior. It can, as in your case, incite anger and road rage incidents that are already plentiful in the great state of Texas.

So, Janice, a driver can stop as close as they desire, as long as they do not come in contact with the other vehicle.

Dianna from Groves asks: I thoroughly enjoy your column each Tuesday. My question to you is: What should I do while driving and I see a wrecker in my lane of traffic behind me with its lights flashing?  Do I treat it as if it were an emergency vehicle?

Answer: Good question, Dianna. Thanks for being a weekly “Ask a Cop” reader in The News. Dianna, towing trucks are not emergency vehicles in Texas; and they are not permitted to drive on the road of Texas with their overhead lamps activated. The only time a wrecker can activate their lights is when they are stopped on the side of the road.

Larry from Port Arthur asks: Officer Antoine, thanks for this article. My son and I have been going at it about this driving issue. I will admit my son is not a teenager; he is well into his twenties, but I’m seeking your help on this issue.

Here is the question: If I’m the second of two vehicles stopped at a stop sign and the first vehicle proceeds through safely, can the second vehicle go without stopping if no traffic is coming? Officer Antoine, we both believe we are right and the other is wrong. Can you please help us?

By the way, I say that is illegal.

Answer: Good question, Larry. Back when I was a kid playing in the yard, there was a television program called “Father Knows Best.” Your son would do well if he applied the name of that show to that question because you are right.

Larry, your son is practicing a behavior that will either end up with someone injured, having property damaged or a big citation. It doesn’t matter if it was clear for the second vehicle to go, every vehicle has the command to stop when the stop sign is approached.

 

Join Officer Antoine for “Ask a Cop” live on KSAP 96.9 FM, “The Breeze” radio station, every Tuesday for one hour from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Tune in and listen as Officer Antoine discuss in detail the newly released “Ask a Cop” article that printed in The News. You can also tune in via internet at www.ksapthebreeze.org. Feel free to call in and ask your question live to Officer Antoine at (409) 982-0247.

 

Remember to email your questions to rantoine@portarthurpd.com or call 409-983-8673 and leave a message or voice mail question, or mail them to: Ofc. Rickey Antoine, 645 4th Street, Port Arthur, Texas, 77640. If you happen to see me in public you can always “Ask a Cop!”