Failure to Yeild (North Carolina)

[Enochi]

Okay here is the situation. I made a U-turn at an intersection I immediately pull over when I see blue lights come on.

Officer comes over and first asks why I was making a U-turn. I told him I needed to go the other way. Next he asks why I made a U-turn during a red light. I answer that I thought it was green.

He leaves an goes back to his car for about 20 minutes then comes back with a citation. He then informs me that I did not run the red light but that I had failed to yield right away to incoming traffic and that I had preformed an unsafe moving violation but since I was cooperative he was dropping the unsafe moving violation and just giving me the failure to yield.

Now I have not had any ticket in over 3 years and I swear I didn't seen anyone across from me when I made the U-turn. What can I do to fight this because I cannot afford to have my insurance increase.

 

[ecmst12]

Plead not guilty, go to court, and hope for the best.

 

[sandyclaus]

Okay here is the situation. I made a U-turn at an intersection I immediately pull over when I see blue lights come on.

Officer comes over and first asks why I was making a U-turn. I told him I needed to go the other way. Next he asks why I made a U-turn during a red light. I answer that I thought it was green.

He leaves an goes back to his car for about 20 minutes then comes back with a citation. He then informs me that I did not run the red light but that I had failed to yield right away to incoming traffic and that I had preformed an unsafe moving violation but since I was cooperative he was dropping the unsafe moving violation and just giving me the failure to yield.

Now I have not had any ticket in over 3 years and I swear I didn't seen anyone across from me when I made the U-turn. What can I do to fight this because I cannot afford to have my insurance increase.

The problem here is that the officer appears to be in the right here. You THOUGHT the light was green when you made the U-turn, but you should have KNOWN that it was before proceeding with your turn against oncoming traffic. If you couldn't tell whether or not the light was green, then how could you possibly swear that there was no oncoming traffic when you made the turn?

It WAS an unsafe moving violation, and you are very lucky that all you're looking at is a failure to yield. Instead of trying to figure a way to avoid your responsibility here, you should be considering that you could be far worse off here. You DESERVED the ticket. Your driving poses a higher risk, and you DESERVE the higher insurance premium that goes with that.

 

[RedemptionMan]

Call the court clerk and ask them that if you have no tickets on your record if you can get probation or even pay a civil penalty for the infraction. If you have no tickets on your record which it sounds like you do not then you should be good to go with 6 months of traffic probation and if you do not get another ticket during that time this one will not be going on your record. No increase in insurance premiums or other things several posters here seem to think you deserve.

 

[Enochi]

The problem here is that the officer appears to be in the right here. You THOUGHT the light was green when you made the U-turn, but you should have KNOWN that it was before proceeding with your turn against oncoming traffic. If you couldn't tell whether or not the light was green, then how could you possibly swear that there was no oncoming traffic when you made the turn?

It WAS an unsafe moving violation, and you are very lucky that all you're looking at is a failure to yield. Instead of trying to figure a way to avoid your responsibility here, you should be considering that you could be far worse off here. You DESERVED the ticket. Your driving poses a higher risk, and you DESERVE the higher insurance premium that goes with that.

I was quite certain that I turned on a green light. And I did! However when the officer opens with the Question stating that I did turn on a red light it tends to make one not want to outright accuse the officer of being mistaken and to 2nd guess oneself.