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Should I fight this ticket for running a yellow light?

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wertask

Junior Member
I live in Michigan which MI law basically states that I am supposed to stop at a yellow light if I can safely do so.

Situation: I was traveling down a road w/ a speed limit of 40. A car pulled out in front of me which caused me to slow down to 30 mph. We continued down the road and this car did not speed up, in fact it was just coasting and slowly slowing down. I was not able to go around him as there were cars approaching from behind me in the next lane over. We traveled about 0.1 miles maybe before reaching the light where we were going ~20-25 mph. At this point the car in the lane next to me had passed us and was making a right turn at the light. There was another car behind that car and was at about a car distance further from the light than I was. The car in front of me moved to the left turn lane when we were maybe about 100 feet from the light. As I began to floor it to get back up to the speed limit the light turned yellow. I decided to go through as I felt that I was at the point of no return. The car in the next lane over that was slightly farther from the light was able to stop in time (I feel like he was more ready to stop as he was farther, behind a car that was turning (as most people cover the break), and not in the beginning of the act of flooring the accelerator). But anyways I went through going eastbound, the cop was at the light going southbound and he pulled me over stating that other people were able to stop so I should have been able to stop also. On the ticket it says that the light turned red when I was under the light. According to various sites I googled the stopping distance with reaction time included averages about 85-105 feet when traveling 25-30 mph. I feel that my reaction time would have been slightly decreased as I was in the act of flooring the accelerator and I would have to finish that act before switching to slamming on the break which would cause my stopping distance to be farther. At no point was I speeding. I think that if I was going 40 mph at the time this wouldn't have been an issue but because I started at 25-30 mph, I think it gave the illusion that the other cars around me were under the same circumstances. There was no cars in the opposing left turn lane and no pedestrians around. There was a car behind me so I felt it to be safer to continue through than to slam on my breaks to stop. The cop told me I won't get any points after the informal hearing but I don't want to pay anything or have this on my record if I don't have to.

Sorry if the story is confusing or if I am clearly in the wrong. I don't think I am and I think that this law has a large gray area in the "stop if it's safe" part that makes it difficult to say whether it is right to go through or not. I think if I slammed on the breaks I could have stopped before blocking traffic but I think I still would have went over the stop line. I think I was right at the point of no return.
 


Dave1952

Senior Member
The law says "(b) If the signal exhibits a steady yellow indication, vehicular traffic facing the signal shall stop before entering the nearest crosswalk at the intersection or at a limit line when marked, but if the stop cannot be made in safety, a vehicle may be driven cautiously through the intersection."
From your post it sounds as if you were accelerating and not paying attention to the traffic signals. The cop will testify against you. What's your defense?
Why do you believe that your reaction time would be decreased by accelerating? Why do you think that having a faster reaction time will help your situation? Shouldn't you have responded quicker to the light?
 

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