Right Turn Only

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? FL



I was issued a ticket for not following statute 316.074 which is Violation of Traffic Control Device. Specifically for not obeying a right turn only at a painted median.

I came to a stop sign from a road to the side of a major road US 17-92 near SR434 in Longwood, FL. At the stop sign it says Right turn only. Directly in front of me is a left turn lane where if I go straight across and turn right into the left turn lane I can do a Uturn. The manuever going across US 1792 does not require me to go veer left to get into the left turn lane. It is a straight shot. I had to turn right into the left lane, so isn't this still a legal right turn?

Also, I asked the officer if he ever gives breaks for tickets. His response was "Not if I pull them over" He than stated "I usually pull people over for speeding, but only if they are doing more than 13mph over the speed limit since anything less than that would have me working too much" That in itself would somehow discredit the police officer in my opinion. Would that be a point to argue the decision making skills of the officer allowing people to go much more than the standard speed, but give me a ticket for this? By the way, there were absolutely no cars coming on this normally busy road and my wife was a witness to everything he stated.

right turn only means right turn only. You didn't turn right.

The manuever going across US 1792 does not require me to go veer left to get into the left turn lane. It is a straight shot. I had to turn right into the left lane, so isn't this still a legal right turn?

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that doesn't make a lot of sense. Either it was a straight shot or you turned right and entered the left turn lane.

I suggest the point of the sign is to prevent exactly what you did; cut clear across the highway in order to ultimately go to the left.

By the way, there were absolutely no cars coming on this normally busy road

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did the sign say right turn only except when the road isn't busy?

He than stated "I usually pull people over for speeding, but only if they are doing more than 13mph over the speed limit since anything less than that would have me working too much" That in itself would somehow discredit the police officer in my opinion.

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How would that discredit the officer? If anything, it shows that he doesn't pick on every little infraction. That would tend to show he felt your action was egregious enough to actually warrant a ticket.