I was recently driving in beautiful Pacifica, CA and got a ticket. I wanted to see what other people thought about this situation and what I can do about it/if what the officer did was legal.
I was driving to a meeting with my business partner, who was supposed to be giving me directions. I came to this intersection, http://img26.picoodle.com/img/img26/4/6/11/f_Snapshot200m_ce97085.jpg . I was where the car is at the stop sign. I needed to go right, but I had missed the little divider. We were late to the meeting and I had never been here before so I was a little frantic. I could see the cop behind me, but I turned my blinker on to try and turn right onto the street. A car was coming towards me going onto the same ramp (they didn't have a stop sign). They stopped for me and waved me on and I proceeded to turn right onto the street. Instantly the cop pulled me over. He came up to the car and said that he pulled me over because the other car didn't have a stop sign. I told him I had never been here before, we were late, and that I had my blinker on and made eye contact with the other driver and he waved me on. He asked for my insurance and I gave him one that was a month or two expired (I was unaware). He said "OK, well I am going to just write you up for the expired insurance." He went to his car and wrote the ticket. While he was doing that, another policeman joined him and they wrote the ticket for about 10 minutes. He came back and said "Ok, when you get your insurance just bring it in. Can you sign here?" I signed and then later looked at the ticket, he had written me a ticket for 22101(d) and wrote "turn sign." I was completely caught off guard. I had no idea why he would mislead me like that, and what this 22101(d)- turn sign meant. There were no signs of any sort saying no turn and I had my turn signal on. I went to the station where they had him come down as my business partner and I talked to him. He said that he wrote me a ticket because the guy coming the other way didn't have a stop sign and that the turn I made was illegal. When my partner asked why he didn't explain anything of this to us, he got irate, turned to him and said, "First off you aren't the driver so you can't say anything, and second I can do what I want!" He then went on to say to me, "If you want I can give you another ticket for the insurance. Would you like that?"
My question is two part. First, is the turn I made illegal? At an intersection like the one in the picture, are you allowed to turn right if you missed the island (if it is safe to do so)? And furthermore, is there a law that requires the officer to explain what he is issuing a ticket for? I feel like there are laws out there to protect the people from things like this, I had no idea what I was issued a ticket for, it just does not seem fair at all.
Any help or suggestions would be extremely helpful, thank you.
I was driving to a meeting with my business partner, who was supposed to be giving me directions. I came to this intersection, http://img26.picoodle.com/img/img26/4/6/11/f_Snapshot200m_ce97085.jpg . I was where the car is at the stop sign. I needed to go right, but I had missed the little divider. We were late to the meeting and I had never been here before so I was a little frantic. I could see the cop behind me, but I turned my blinker on to try and turn right onto the street. A car was coming towards me going onto the same ramp (they didn't have a stop sign). They stopped for me and waved me on and I proceeded to turn right onto the street. Instantly the cop pulled me over. He came up to the car and said that he pulled me over because the other car didn't have a stop sign. I told him I had never been here before, we were late, and that I had my blinker on and made eye contact with the other driver and he waved me on. He asked for my insurance and I gave him one that was a month or two expired (I was unaware). He said "OK, well I am going to just write you up for the expired insurance." He went to his car and wrote the ticket. While he was doing that, another policeman joined him and they wrote the ticket for about 10 minutes. He came back and said "Ok, when you get your insurance just bring it in. Can you sign here?" I signed and then later looked at the ticket, he had written me a ticket for 22101(d) and wrote "turn sign." I was completely caught off guard. I had no idea why he would mislead me like that, and what this 22101(d)- turn sign meant. There were no signs of any sort saying no turn and I had my turn signal on. I went to the station where they had him come down as my business partner and I talked to him. He said that he wrote me a ticket because the guy coming the other way didn't have a stop sign and that the turn I made was illegal. When my partner asked why he didn't explain anything of this to us, he got irate, turned to him and said, "First off you aren't the driver so you can't say anything, and second I can do what I want!" He then went on to say to me, "If you want I can give you another ticket for the insurance. Would you like that?"
My question is two part. First, is the turn I made illegal? At an intersection like the one in the picture, are you allowed to turn right if you missed the island (if it is safe to do so)? And furthermore, is there a law that requires the officer to explain what he is issuing a ticket for? I feel like there are laws out there to protect the people from things like this, I had no idea what I was issued a ticket for, it just does not seem fair at all.
Any help or suggestions would be extremely helpful, thank you.