running red light on a left hand turn- CA

[aquariustwist]

What is the name of your state?Hi,
I live in Los Angeles, and yesterday was pulled over for running a red light during a left hand turn (from a 2 way street onto another 2 way street.) The officer said I was in the cross walk as opposed to the intersection, and therefore I ran the light. In my opinion my vehicle was partly into the intersection as the light was changing- I was waiting in a line to turn and the person at the front hesitated for an abnormally long amount of time before making their turn. Also, the officer was 6 lanes and a large divider away from me, in an intersection where there are two sets of lights which are staggered in their turning (I know this sounds confusing, sorry!) I definately could not see the cop's car, as several lanes of stopped traffic were between us when I started my turn (the cop himself said, "you couldn't see us" as an example to make me feel lucky that I wasn't hit by on oncoming car that I couldn't see while in the intersection.) My question is, should I contest this citation? I can't find any clear laws about turning in intersections, and unfortunately there are no witnesses. This is the first time I've ever been pulled over in the 5 years I've had my license- I really do follow traffic laws.
Thanks for your help!
Erin

[Pugilist]

The OP wrote:

"The officer said I was in the cross walk...."

I hope you can get him to repeat that "on the stand," because that sounds like a perfectly legal turn to me. I am in CA and just phoned my local friendly knowledgable traffic officer who told me that you just need to have one inch of your front bumper into the crosswalk (over or beyond the first line you come to) before the light turns red. Then, even if the light has been red for some time by the time the doofus in front of you makes his turn, you are legal to complete your turn. (With one unusual exception - if the intersection is gridlocked and you are just going to add to the pile up, then you are not good to go!)

I am going to go beyond just saying that it is "legal" for you to complete that turn in that situation. It is IMPORTANT for you to proceed. If everyone in a congested city didn't complete those last minute turns, the capacity of the left turn lanes would go down by one car per signal cycle. Since only 2-5 cars are able to make a left during a cycle, subtracting one car from that would reduce flow by 20 - 50 %.

Along the same line, on those occasions when you are the doofus in front, it is important for you to pull into the intersection sufficiently so that the guy in back of you can get his nose over that line. That courtesy from you will make him a lot less angry at the world, and maybe he will be courteous back at you someday.

Just call me Miss (car) Manners.

I would contest the ticket. The officer is not likely to show up, in which case the ticket gets dismissed. But you will want to prepare, anyway, and for that I recommend that you go to the library and ask for the books on how to fight your ticket.

Oh, and while I'm at it, I'd like to ask the idiot who's in the car in front of me reading his Blackberry (I'm in the northbound fast lane on the 5 while I'm typing this - ain't technology wonderful) to either speed up, or move to the # 2 lane. (We definitely need a Lane Courtesy campaign here in CA.)

Pug

[aquariustwist]

Thank you so much, this absolutely makes my day. I'm hoping I can find my own friendly traffic officer to speak to about the laws regarding left turns, because they are so ambiguous (the ca drivers manual certainly doesn't get anywhere near this detailed.)! I'll definately contest, I really can't afford $350... Thanks again!

[aquariustwist]

Hey all,
I'm still trying to figure out if I should contest my citation or not- I'm worried that if I do, I will not be able to go to traffic school if I lose. I know that is the case for most courts, but I cannot find anything on the San Pedro court website about it (that is where my case is assigned.) I tried to call them and waited on hold for half an hour, but was then disconnected when the system deemed it had not been 21 days since my citation. Does anyone know anything about this court?
Thanks a million,
Erin