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Robert asks: Can you share from your experience what do you believe is the most common law broken while operating a motor vehicle?

Answer: The most common violation that is committed by motorists, in my opinion, is SPEEDING. I’m talking about those that are exceeding the maximum posted speed limit. If the speed limit sign is 30 mph, and the motorist travels 31 mph or greater, that’s the most common violator on the roadway. Motorists seem to think the speed limit sign is a suggestion and not the LAW! The speed limit sign is the maximum allowed safe speed for that road. If you exceed that speed, you are NOT driving safely. The speed law is so commonly broken that I won’t generally stop a violator unit they are 10 mph over the posted speed limit. Speeding kills on the roads of Port Arthur, Jefferson County and the State of Texas. Speeding is one of the top causes of traffic crashes that result in injuries and ultimately fatalities in Texas.

Shell asks: I see this huge truck park ad cover 2 1/2 parking spots at Lowe’s, and out of the blue comes a police car. Now I’m sitting back getting ready for the officer to give a ticket to the driver because parking like that was totally wrong. To my surprise, the officer just passed the truck like the parking violation didn’t exist. Is there a reason why the officer passed the truck without addressing the parking violation?

Answer: It’s not my practice to answer for another’s officer’s action, especially when I wasn’t there to witness the incident, but I’m comfortable and pretty certain answering this one. The answer to this is the parking violation you described is NOT a parking violation. I know it seems as though it should be, but in Texas it’s not. A Texas police officer ONLY enforces disabled parking and fire zone violations in Texas. That don’t mean you’re completely “out of the woods” when it comes to taking up extra lanes in a private property lot. The manager of said establishment can call and have the vehicle towed at the owner’s expense. So bad parkers beware!

Join Me, Officer Antoine and the CREW Stephen “Buzzard Boots” Mosley, Lelo “mouth of Hwy 69/73” I Washington & Tejas “Lil Man”Morning Star for Ask A Cop live on KSAP 96.9 FM The Breeze every Tuesday from 1 to 3 p.m. and beyond. Call in questions at 409-982-0247. You can also email questions to rickey.antoine@portarthurtx.gov or leave a voicemail at 409-983-8673. 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!”