Failure to use turn signal justifies stop. In DUI case SCOVT affirms denial of motion to dismiss that argued failure to signal a turn while in designated turning lane was not illegal.

State v. Kevin W. Cook, 2018 VT 128 [filed 11/30/2018]


EATON, J. Following his conditional guilty plea to driving under the influence, defendant Kevin Cook appeals the trial court’s denial of his motion to dismiss, in which he argued that his failure to signal a turn was not illegal under the circumstances and thus did not provide a reasonable, articulable suspicion for the arresting officer to stop his vehicle. We affirm.

Preparing to turn right onto Main Street, defendant drove into the right-turn-only lane . An officer watched defendant make the right turn from the designated right turn lane without signaling and stopped defendant’s car for that reason. During the traffic stop, the officer smelled alcohol on defendant and conducted field-sobriety tests. Ultimately, defendant was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI).

Defendant contends that he was not required to use his signal because the only legal path his vehicle could take from a right-turn-only lane was to turn right, as he did.

In relevant part, § 1065 provides that “[a] right or left turn shall not be made without first giving a signal of intention either by hand or by signal in accordance with section 1064.” 23 V.S.A. § 1065(a). Section 1064 explains that “[t]he signals provided for in section 1065 . . . shall be used to indicate an intention to turn, change lanes, or start from a parked position,” id. § 1064(e).

The Vermont Legislature could have enacted turn-signal statutes that specifically exempt the requirement of turn-signal use when turning in the anticipated direction from a turn-only lane. It is not up to us to substitute our judgment for the Legislature’s, even were our judgment to differ.

Because Vermont’s motor-vehicle statutes required defendant to signal before turning, we conclude that the officer here had a reasonable, articulable suspicion of wrongdoing. The motion to dismiss was properly denied.