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"When the clock strikes midnight, a new state law will give police across Alabama more power at the scene of wreck.\"In previous years, our legislature has not given us power to investigate a traffic crash, and write tickets at the scene of a traffic accident, where prime of facie evidence was present,\" Clanton police Capt. Neil Fetner said.Fetner and other officers can now\u00A0 hand out tickets to drivers who they determine are at fault.Fetner, who works with the Alabama Association of Chiefs of Police, had a hand in drafting the legislation, which was recently passed and signed by Gov. Robert Bentley.\"Nothing is going to be mandatory for the departments to do this,\" Fetner said. \"The legislative act by Rep. Phillip Pettus in the last session only is only permissive, so it only gives the officer authorization to issue the citation if he so chooses.\"Fetner said neighboring states have similar laws in place, and Alabama is 30 years behind.\u00A0Fetner said the new law will add more accountability at the scene of car crashes. He said judicial proceedings will remain the same once a citation is given."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.wvtm13.com/article/new-state-law-gives-police-ability-to-issue-tickets-at-car-accident-scenes-1/3837281>