What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MD
This happened to me in PG County about a week ago, in a large parking area of a shopping plaza. This area is divided into separate parking lots in front of different stores. In the middle of the area there is also a path that leads to a large street nearby. There are parking lots and stores on both sides of the path.
I was exiting one of the lots onto the path and wanted to make a left turn.
Each exit from the lot is two-car wide. Since it's not marked as one-way, I assumed that, as usual, you exit the parking lot on the right and you enter on the left. As I was getting into my car, I noticed two police cars on the same parking lot. It looked like there was some minor activity there like a fender bender and they just finished their investigation. One of the two cops drove to one of the exits and I approached the same exit.
The cop stopped at the exit, but he was standing on the LEFT side of the exit facing outwards. I approached the exit on the RIGHT side and stopped. I assumed that the cop that was standing to the left of me was either observing traffic or waiting for the other cop to catch up. So I looked both ways and determined that I could safely make a left turn. The path was not car-free, but they were far enough for me to turn.
As soon as I made my turn, the cop pulled me over. He claimed that he was actually planning to go STRAIGHT to a parking lot on the other side of the path, and then gave me a ticket for making an unsafe left turn.
Can I go to court and plead not guilty hoping to get the ticket dismissed. Wasn't the cop actually violating the rules by standing on the left side of the exit? Is there anything that I can say in my defense to make a convincing argument? Or am I better off pleading "guilty with explanation"?
The ticket itself is not huge: $90. But I am afraid that my insurance premium might go up considerably since I recently had a small accident after which the premium already went up.
Thanks.
This happened to me in PG County about a week ago, in a large parking area of a shopping plaza. This area is divided into separate parking lots in front of different stores. In the middle of the area there is also a path that leads to a large street nearby. There are parking lots and stores on both sides of the path.
I was exiting one of the lots onto the path and wanted to make a left turn.
Each exit from the lot is two-car wide. Since it's not marked as one-way, I assumed that, as usual, you exit the parking lot on the right and you enter on the left. As I was getting into my car, I noticed two police cars on the same parking lot. It looked like there was some minor activity there like a fender bender and they just finished their investigation. One of the two cops drove to one of the exits and I approached the same exit.
The cop stopped at the exit, but he was standing on the LEFT side of the exit facing outwards. I approached the exit on the RIGHT side and stopped. I assumed that the cop that was standing to the left of me was either observing traffic or waiting for the other cop to catch up. So I looked both ways and determined that I could safely make a left turn. The path was not car-free, but they were far enough for me to turn.
As soon as I made my turn, the cop pulled me over. He claimed that he was actually planning to go STRAIGHT to a parking lot on the other side of the path, and then gave me a ticket for making an unsafe left turn.
Can I go to court and plead not guilty hoping to get the ticket dismissed. Wasn't the cop actually violating the rules by standing on the left side of the exit? Is there anything that I can say in my defense to make a convincing argument? Or am I better off pleading "guilty with explanation"?
The ticket itself is not huge: $90. But I am afraid that my insurance premium might go up considerably since I recently had a small accident after which the premium already went up.
Thanks.
