What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Michigan
I was out in Romulus, MI, by the airport yesterday, trying to keep my daughter napping. I got pulled over for apparently disregarding a stop sign. At first, when I saw his lights flash, I had absolutely no idea why he would pull me over. I'm exceedingly careful while driving with my daughter because of an accident I had years ago (a guy "didn't see a red light" and slammed into me). The officer seemed to have made up his mind to give me a ticket before even approaching my car. When I said that I knew I had come to a full stop, he rudely told me to "put my car in drive" (I did) and then said, "That's a REAL stop". When I asked which stop sign this had happened at, he mumbled something about when I turned, which just confused me even more because I hadn't turned at all! I had been going straight on the road! This is the first time I've ever even been pulled over, never even gotten a parking ticket, so I was nervous. I thought maybe I would be let off with a warning, but the officer handed me my ticket and said they had a "zero-tolerance policy".
So I guess my questions fall to this: Is "disregarding a stop sign" the same as a rolling stop violation? It seems harsh (to me) to put a rolling stop in the same category as blowing the sign. And, since I at least want to have my side of the story heard, how often do officers not show up to court? What should I say? I'm almost 100% certain I stopped all the way (there's a bit of nagging doubt, but I think that's from getting the ticket) but there's no way to prove it one way or the other.
I was out in Romulus, MI, by the airport yesterday, trying to keep my daughter napping. I got pulled over for apparently disregarding a stop sign. At first, when I saw his lights flash, I had absolutely no idea why he would pull me over. I'm exceedingly careful while driving with my daughter because of an accident I had years ago (a guy "didn't see a red light" and slammed into me). The officer seemed to have made up his mind to give me a ticket before even approaching my car. When I said that I knew I had come to a full stop, he rudely told me to "put my car in drive" (I did) and then said, "That's a REAL stop". When I asked which stop sign this had happened at, he mumbled something about when I turned, which just confused me even more because I hadn't turned at all! I had been going straight on the road! This is the first time I've ever even been pulled over, never even gotten a parking ticket, so I was nervous. I thought maybe I would be let off with a warning, but the officer handed me my ticket and said they had a "zero-tolerance policy".
So I guess my questions fall to this: Is "disregarding a stop sign" the same as a rolling stop violation? It seems harsh (to me) to put a rolling stop in the same category as blowing the sign. And, since I at least want to have my side of the story heard, how often do officers not show up to court? What should I say? I'm almost 100% certain I stopped all the way (there's a bit of nagging doubt, but I think that's from getting the ticket) but there's no way to prove it one way or the other.