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San Mateo County, CA CVC 21950 (a) Failure to Yield

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dmmmmd

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Millbrae, CA

I was given a ticket for failure to yield to a pedestrian on a right turn.
I was traveling southbound on El Camino Real and turned right (west) onto Millbrae Ave.
There are 2 lanes heading west and 3 lanes (1 left turn only and 2 straight only) eastbound with a narrow concrete divider in between.
When I got to the intersection, the light was green and there were a couple crossing so I stopped and let them pass.
Once the couple are clearly on the sidewalk, I noticed a lady crossing and heading toward my direction but she was probably still in the very first lane (so essentially 3 more lanes before she'd get into my lane), but I waited anyway. We made eye contact and she subtly signaled to me to go ahead w/ the turn as she still had at least 3 lanes to go. So I went ahead and turned. Honestly, I was too shaken up to even plead w/ the cop at that moment but I plan on contesting it. Any chance of winning?

I've done some research and came across these cases. Helpful to cite them during my appearance in court?
- People v. McLachlin
- Parsekyan v. Thompson
- People v Hahn

One more thing, on the citation, the officer had mistakenly noted down the turn. He had it down as traveling North and turning left to West. When in fact it was traveling South and turning right to West. Does that make a difference?

Thank you all.

Here's a view of the intersection on google map - https://www.google.com/maps/place/Millbrae+Ave,+Millbrae,+CA/@37.5984892,-122.3875496,3a,75y,222.27h,79.28t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1smELLpkzfWPVkdN-qII2PuQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DmELLpkzfWPVkdN-qII2PuQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D343.09042%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656!4m2!3m1!1s0x808f77a99e9297c7:0xfc929369ae3f05fb
 


HighwayMan

Super Secret Senior Member
A pedestrian or another driver cannot authorize you to break the law.

I have no time to look at the cases you provided. Why do you think you were not in violation of the statute?
 

FlyingRon

Senior Member
He's going to have to come up with better cites. People V. Hahn is apparently People v. Samuel Simpson Hahn (98 Cal.App.2d Supp. 841 (1950)). This one is closest to the poster's situation, but it's sort of a bad precedent as it ruled AGAINST the defendant.

Parsekyan is a civil case and while it involves a pedestrian acting erratically in a crosswalk, doesn't seem to apply here,.

It's actually People v. McLachlan. Similar claim to Parsekyan. A pedestrian made an unexpected move (reversing direction once they'd crossed). I can't see how it applies here.

Your subtle interpretation of her body language isn't going to be particuarly compelling.,
 
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dmmmmd

Junior Member
A pedestrian or another driver cannot authorize you to break the law.

I have no time to look at the cases you provided. Why do you think you were not in violation of the statute?
Appreciate your input.
If none of those cases would be helpful, can any of you please suggest something that might help?
Are there any cases that state that the distance between the pedestrian and the car to be a consideration factor on whether the driver broke the law?
Thanks in advance.
 

HighwayMan

Super Secret Senior Member
No one will do the homework for you since you have access to the same online resources we do.

If someone very familiar with California traffic law might be able to answer, but I would think that as long as she was in the crosswalk you were required to yield.

Of course, you can always plead you case in court and maybe convince the judge. Or try a TBWD first, so you can take your time and write up a convincing argument.
 

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