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Ticket for driving on left of center on a 1 lane gravel road

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NW_hiker

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Washington

Ticket by a Olympic national park police officer for driving left of center on a wide one lane gravel road. (Have photo of road to show judge.) Sheer drop on the right. Park police officer came flying around the corner headed down and had to slam on his brakes. Ticket has correct federal staute referring to state violation. RCW 46.61.125. Will be heard in federal court.

Do I have a case? Does RCW 46.61.125 (2) apply?
"(2) The foregoing limitations shall not apply upon a one-way roadway, nor under the conditions described in RCW 46.61.100(1)(b), nor to the driver of a vehicle turning left into or from an alley, private road or driveway."
 


cepe10

Member
Even if it is two way travel...

when the centerline is not marked it is going to be tough for the prosecution to meet it's burden of proof - namely that you were left of that non-marked centerline...

a good question for cross may be "exactly how far left of the non-marked centerline was I"?

then:

How did you get by if I was blocking your travel lane?

sounds like the officer was driving too fast for the conditions and the sight distance. -you may want to go to terra server http://www.terraserver.microsoft.com/ and get the curve radii...

In a case like this the officer may not show or if he does he may show an apparent vindictive behavior as well -which the judge may not like.
 

moburkes

Senior Member
I understand your point. But, I was only referring to the one-way roadway question. I'm trying to figure out if its a one-way roadway that he was on, or was the officer approaching him from the rear?:confused:
 

Some Random Guy

Senior Member
It is not a one-way roadway. It is one lane wide, according to you.

In order to prove your case, I would suggest measuring the width of the roadway compared that to a standard two lane road. Pictures of the dropoff and the road (with your start and end points of measurement would be good too.

Don't know if the judge will care, but its best to have proof of your arguments.
 

NW_hiker

Junior Member
Cop coming down the hill around a blind corner. Girlfriend was going up the hill. She was slightly left of center on a gravel road with a clear one lane gravel track. Cop came around the corner and had to vear right. Girlfriend veared right too. Very lightly traveled dead end road to a trailhead/campground. I'll post a photo of the road later. She took photos. It was starting to get dark. Cop stated he was giving her a ticket because she forced him off the road.

The feds have a real scam going. They require you appear in court for the arraignment. They make it really easy to pay the fine though. :rolleyes:
 

NW_hiker

Junior Member
Trial date approaching

Okay. Trial date is approaching. Any additional advice?

I noticed that the officer didn't have my girlfriend sign the violation notice (Defendants signature). Is that normal or grounds for it to be thrown out?
 

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