Traffic Safety and Enforcement
Traffic enforcement is where Massachusetts procedure is most technical, and where captains get sued for their officers' shortcuts.
Core rules
- G.L. c. 90C, § 2: a citation must issue within four days of the violation. Missing the deadline requires dismissal unless a statutory exception applies, such as death, hospitalization, absence, or a request for a complaint.
- Civil motor vehicle infractions run through the Registry; criminal offenses go to court by complaint.
- OUI, G.L. c. 90, § 24: per se at .08; drivers under 21 are subject to the .02 standard under c. 90, § 24P.
- Implied consent: refusal produces a license suspension, 180 days for a first offense and longer with prior offenses, and the refusal is admissible only with proof the statutory warning was given.
- Melanie's Law added ignition-interlock requirements and enhanced repeat-offender penalties.
- G.L. c. 90, § 17 bans handheld phone use while driving; c. 90, § 7AA requires child restraints for children under 8 and under 57 inches, rear-facing under age 2.
- Leaving the scene of property damage falls under c. 90, § 24(2)(a).
- Chapter 90 highway aid, c. 90, § 34, funds local road work and drives many traffic decisions.
Worked example
An officer stops a weaving car at 0200, observes slurred speech, and administers field sobriety tests. The driver refuses the breath test. The officer reads the statutory consent warning verbatim, documents the refusal, and files the citation the same shift. Because the citation is timely and the warning documented, the refusal is usable. Filed on day six with no exception, the case likely fails.
Traps
Assuming the four-day rule is waivable; reciting the consent warning from memory; and charging OUI without recording the observed clues.