I-85 northbound to Atlanta during morning rush hour consists of 4 lanes of dense traffic moving at 75-80 mph. Some faster. Not me, though.
The right side shoulder is wide, no problem getting pulled over there.
There is a left “shoulder”, barely one car-width wide, between the high-speed inner lane and the concrete barriers that seperate the noth from the southbound lanes.
Every now and then, I will see a police officer in the process of a traffic stop with both vehicles occupying the narrow median shoulder. Trucks barreling past with barely a foot to spare.
This scares the crap out of me. It seems highly dangerous.
I have read accounts, many resulting in fatalities, when vehicles in that situation are side-swiped or rear-ended.
So, my question is: Does a driver, being signalled to pull over by a police officer, have the option to travel to a safer location, or would he be charged with evasion?
Obviously, the police officer is deemed to have the better judgement. Which leads to my next question for any officers reading this: Is it worth it? I know you have to do your job.
I remember getting an email that warned against someone impersonating a police officer in a traffic stop and raping/killing a young lady. It said that you always have the right to not stop immediately waiting until a safer area to stop, such as a service station. It also suggested that you call 911 and tell the dispatcher what you are doing. Don’t know if its true, but it makes sense to me. However the law does not have to make sense to me.
The one time that I was pulled over for speeding while on a freeway, I made my way over to the right until I got to the next exit, got off the freeway, and then stopped. So long as you’re signaling and your intentions seem clear (meaning, you aren’t being erratic in how you’re driving once the sirens go on), I don’t imagine you’re going to have a problem with the officer.
I realize that I’m speaking anecdotally here, but this is also just common sense. The police officer is human, too, and doesn’t want to be in an unnecessarily risky traffic situation any more than you do.
As I understand it, when the police come up behind you with lights flashing, you are expected to pull to the right side of the road as soon as it is safe to do so (or proceed to another safe area as described above).
However, there will always be some idiot like the ones you have seen, who will pull over to the left side, where there is not sufficient room. In this case, the officers will usually try to take care of business where the car is stopped.
… and then get an extra fine for using a cellphone while driving! 
I can only back up the anecdotal evidence so far – safely pulling over without dillydallying hasn’t appeared to ruffle any feathers.
Are you sure it was a traffic stop and not a disabled vehicle that was unable to get to the right shoulder?
Here in Texas a law just recently went into effect that mandates that drivers either move over a lane or slow down 20 mph below the speed limit when approaching an emergency vehicle on the shoulder of the road. Makes sense to me.
I’ve seen these on I-85 also, and I-75 too. Atlanta is crazy with this. I got pulled over once, it took me a full mile to get to the right shoulder safely, and the cop didn’t say a word. In fact, he let me off with a warning, maybe partially because I didn’t put his life in danger needlessly.