Motion to Suppress - Vehicle Code Section 21658(a) - Weaving, Lane-Straddling

This is Part II of the web series dedicated to Motions to Suppress in the State of California that was previously only published to my Google+ Following; but is now also available through my blog on Google Blogger.

Part II of this series focuses on California Vehicle Code Section 21658(a) - Weaving or Lane Straddling. Most people erroneously believe that all incidents of weaving or lane straddling constitute a violation of California Vehicle Code Section 21658(a); however, this is not true, as not all incidents of weaving or lane straddling constitute an actual violation of this statute.

For instance, in U.S. v. Colin (9th Cir.2002) 314 F.3d 439, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a traffic stop for an alleged violation of Vehicle Code Section 21658(a) was unlawful because there was neither “pronounced weaving,” nor a “weave for a ‘substantial distance’”; rather, the vehicle simply “touched the right fog line and the center yellow line each for 10 seconds, after legitimate lane changes”. In Colin, the officer also cited CVC § 21658(a) as a basis to detain the defendant, but the Colin Court rejected this contention based on the following reason:

Touching a dividing line, even if a small portion of the body of the car veers into a neighboring lane, satisfies the statute’s requirement that a driver drive as “nearly as practical entirely within a single lane”…

As the above-referenced excerpt demonstrates, not all forms of weaving or lane straddling are objective violations of California Vehicle Code Section 21658(a). 

If you were stopped for an alleged violation of California Vehicle Code Section 21658(a), Weaving or Lane Straddling, contact Peter F. Iocona and the Orange County DUI Attorneys from The SoCal Law Network today for a free consultation and case evaluation by calling: 949-305-0343 or by completing our Orange County Confidential DUI Consultation Form.