(A) Generally.
(1) All peace officers are hereby specifically directed and authorized and it shall be deemed and considered a part of the official duties of each of such officers to enforce the provisions of the state’s Rules of the Road and this title, including the specific enforcement of maximum speed limits, and any other state or village law regulating the operation of vehicles or the use of the highways.
(2) To perform the official duties imposed by this section, peace officers shall have the power:
(a) To make arrests upon view and without warrant for any violation committed in their presence of any of the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Operator’s License Act or this title or of any other law regulating the operation of vehicles or the use of the highways, if and when designated or called upon to do so as provided by law;
(b) To make arrests upon view and without warrant for any violation committed in their presence of any provision of the laws of this state relating to misdemeanors or felonies or of similar village ordinances if and when designated or called upon to do so as provided by law;
(c) At all times to direct all traffic in conformity with law or, in the event of a fire or other emergency or in order to expedite traffic or ensure safety, to direct traffic as conditions may require;
(d) When in uniform, to require the driver of a vehicle to stop and exhibit his or her operator’s license and registration certificate issued for the vehicle and submit to an inspection of such vehicle and the license plates and registration certificate for the vehicle and to require the driver of a motor vehicle to present the vehicle within five days for correction of any defects revealed by such motor vehicle inspection as may lead the inspecting officer to reasonably believe that such motor vehicle is being operated in violation of the statutes of the state, the rules and regulations of the Director of Motor Vehicles or any village ordinance or regulation;
(e) To inspect any vehicle of a type required to be registered according to law in any public garage or repair shop or in any place where such a vehicle is held for sale or wrecking;
(f) To serve warrants relating to the enforcement of the laws regulating the operation of vehicles or the use of the highways; and
(g) To investigate traffic accidents for the purpose of carrying on a study of traffic accidents and enforcing motor vehicle and highway safety laws.
(Neb. RS 60-683) (Prior Code, §§ 5-218, 5-219)
(B) Failure or refusal to obey order.
(1) Any person who knowingly fails or refuses to obey any lawful order of any peace officer who is controlling or directing traffic shall be guilty of a traffic infraction.
(2) Any person who knowingly fails to obey any lawful order of a peace officer shall be guilty of an offense whenever such order is given in furtherance of the apprehension of a person who has violated the state’s Rules of the Road or this title or of a person whom such officer reasonably believes has violated the Rules or this title.
(Neb. RS 60-6,110) (1995 Code, § 5-224)
(C) Obedience to traffic-control devices; exceptions.
(1) The driver of any vehicle shall obey the instructions of any traffic-control device applicable thereto placed in accordance with the state’s Rules of the Road or this title, unless otherwise directed by a peace officer, subject to the exceptions granted the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle in the Rules and this title.
(2) No provision of the Rules or this title for which traffic-control devices are required shall be enforced against an alleged violator if at the time and place of the alleged violation an official device is not in proper position and sufficiently legible to be seen by a reasonably observant person. Whenever any provision of the Rules or this title does not state that traffic-control devices are required, such provision shall be effective even though no devices are erected or in place.
(3) Whenever traffic-control devices are placed in position approximately conforming to the requirements of the Rules or this title, such devices shall be presumed to have been so placed by the official act or direction of lawful authority unless the contrary is established by competent evidence.
(4) Any traffic-control device placed pursuant to the Rules or this title and purporting to conform with the lawful requirements pertaining to such devices shall be presumed to comply with the requirements of the Rules or this title unless the contrary is established by competent evidence.
(Neb. RS 60-6,119)
(D) Authorized emergency vehicles; privileges.
(1) Subject to the conditions stated in the state’s Rules of the Road and this title, the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle, when responding to an emergency call, when pursuing an actual or suspected violator of the law, or when responding to but not when returning from a fire alarm, may:
(a) Stop, park or stand, irrespective of the provisions of the Rules and this title, and disregard regulations governing direction of movement or turning in specified directions; and
(b) Except for wreckers towing disabled vehicles and highway maintenance vehicles and equipment:
1. Proceed past a steady red indication, a flashing red indication or a stop sign, but only after slowing down as may be necessary for safe operation; and
2. Exceed the maximum speed limits so long as he or she does not endanger life, limb or property.
(2) Except when operated as a police vehicle, the exemptions granted in division (D)(1) above shall apply only when the driver of such vehicle, while in motion, sounds an audible signal by bell, siren or exhaust whistle as may be reasonably necessary and when such vehicle is equipped with at least one lighted light displaying a red light visible under normal atmospheric conditions from a distance of 500 feet to the front of such vehicle.
(3) The exemptions granted in division (D)(1) above shall not relieve the driver from the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons, nor shall such provisions protect such driver from the consequences of his or her reckless disregard for the safety of others.
(4) Authorized emergency vehicles operated by police and fire departments shall not be subject to the size and weight limitations of sections Neb. RS 60-6,288 to 60-6,290 and 60-6,294.
(Neb. RS 60-6,114)
(E) Traffic officers. The Board of Trustees or the village police may at any time detail officers, to be known as “traffic officers”, at street intersections. All traffic officers shall be vested with the authority to regulate and control traffic at the intersections to which they are assigned. It shall be their duty to direct the movement of traffic and prevent congestion and accidents. It shall be unlawful for any person to violate any order or signal of any such traffic officer notwithstanding the directive of a stop sign or signal device that may have been placed at any such intersection.
(1995 Code, § 5-221) Penalty, see § 70.99
Statutory reference:
Motor Vehicle Operator’s License Act, see Neb. RS 60-462