Pull over

pull over is a US slang expression that means to "force the automobile (and by inference , the driver )to the side of the road. So , in that respect you were correct in your initial understanding of the term---" to the side of the road." Usually this is a term reserved for an action that is necessary because of an emergency or a special circumstance, such as;

"Bill pulled his car over (to the side of the road) because he had a flat tire"

or The police pulled Bill over (to the side of the road) to issue him a speeding ticket"

Ive bracketed the term (to the side of the road) since it is usually understood although rarely stated in a sentence. Its just one of the short cuts and semi slang expressions used in US English.

Just remember that the term almost always refers to the vehicle , and naturally includes all persons in the vehicle at the moment of the action. The frozen cadavers were bodies of other humans who, being dead, could not really drive and should be thought of as cargo rather than passengers. The driver was just trying to become a type of individual we usually call a "smartass" which , in this case he interpreted the law to fit his circumstance.
This was an attempt at a little humor in the news. To me, its a bit like laughing in the graveyard (another slang expression)
I hope that helps.

Close.

The "other person" in this case wasn't in the car with the man though. The other person was a police officer who was in his/her own vehicle. The police "pull you over" by driving their car up behind you and putting on their flashing lights as a signal for you to "pull over".

The idea of a car pool lane is to get people to drive to/from work together so those lanes are limited to cars with a minimum number of passangers (usually 3 or 4).

In this case a man was driving in the car pool lane and was "pulled over" (forced to the side of the road) by the police for being in the car pool lane and being the only person in the car - normally that will get you a ticket if you do that.

The man claimed he wasn't the only person in the car because he also had 3 dead bodies (cadavers) with him.

Why do you believe there was another man driving with him initially? The story does not mention anyone other than the driver and three dead bodies in the van. Apparently human remains only count as cargo. I wonder if the driver appeared in court to contest this. Your first definition of "pull over" is the correct one.

oristarA- The man was driving alone, with three frozen cadavers. (bodies).
In a carpool lane, there needs to be a certain amount of passengers in each car. Big cities often use a "carpool lane" during the hours when people are going back and forth to work. Because there is more than one person in the car, less autos are on the road. That gives the people in the carpool lane the advantage of moving along faster than people in the regular lanes.

The policeman "pulled him over" (made him stop and talked to him). The reason was that the policeman only saw one person in the car. The man's excuse, was because he had the frozen bodies in the car,that the bodies should be counted as passengers. The driver's contention was that he was therefore entitled to drive in the carpool lane. The policeman disagreed, and the driver was issued a traffic ticket for disobeying the law.

Hmmm, I think that someone should break this down into com ponents for oristar.
I failed to mention the concept of CARPOOL LANE , and fishin has confused the issue a bit . Kirtsen and Phoenix are actually most correct in that there is nothing of additional information given from which we may interpret a different understanding

The guys in a carpool lane with three dead bodies

He feels , by right, that these 3 dead bodies count as passengers

A cop "Pulls him over" because the 3 dead bodies cannot be seen, unless (aw jeez, this would be terrible) unless the guy had the dead bodies propped up so theyd look like passengers. Apparently this did not occur because the print stated he had the 3 cadavers in the back of the van he was driving (this assumed they were , more or less, stacked up like firewood in a pile.

The cop, being capable at interpretation of the spirit of the law, disagreed with the van drivers insistance that the 3 dead bodies count as passengers , and, subsequently issued the van driver a citation

Had I been the cop, I would have issued another citation for not having seatbelts on all his passengers.

I've got it clearly now.
All of you, together, have made "an" excellent explanation!

Thank you!

farmerman- My next question: What was the driver doing with three frozen cadavers? I hope that the policeman clarified THAT issue. Now, if it had been in Jersey City...........................

( Aside to Oristar- Jersey City is a place where members of the Mafia have been known to dump people whom they have killed!)

This would normally be a "cut from the life of the mob" story line tailor made for THE SOPRANOS
See, Christopher, the hothead, has whacked thee jamokes, and has, temporarily stored them in the meat locker at the BA DA Bing.
So , keeping up with his penchant for neatness, he decides to properly dispose of the cadavers in a easilly handleable form viz, frozen. Hes going to deliver them tpo a rendering plant where they would be cooked down and packed into pet foods. Then, hes driving across the Verazzano on his way out to a rendering plant in Westport, when , just like something Christopher would do, he drives in the HOV lane and gets pulled over. Thus begins the story wherein Tony is chewing Chris out for being so stupid, and this has Chris on a hot seat , similar to the Joey Pants character (forgot his name)

Oristar, I have to thank you for getting me to look at the english language with a keener eye. It's fun to see the phrases you come up with, that seem so natural to me, and come to look so weird upon closer inspection.

A Pull Over ------- animal, vegetable or mineral


In the UK a Pull Over is a term used for a sweater or sweat shirt. You pull it over your head, thus if it's a bit cold, you put a Pull Over on to keep warm.
A lot safer & no cops involved.

Is it a dialect or slang in UK oldandknew? I assumed it just has a short history. Right?

It's a standard word in the U.S.

Hehe, it is pullover, not Pull Over. It is different between the two!

yes it's all one word ----- pullover.

when i was in san francisco one time, i was woken up by a cop yelling at a driver, "get out of the car and assume the position"

position in all things is crucial, inc pullovers.