Traffic violation

[KATEYR08]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? FLORIDA
I am 47 years old and just received my first traffic ticket. I was pulling out of a parking lot and at a "stop" sign, it is a divided highway, in front of me there was a "one way" sign. I pulled across the road to make a U-turn because I was going in the opposite direction and was immediately pulled over. There was no sign there other than the "stop" and "one way" so I'm not quite sure what I did wrong. The ticket was for "violation of a traffic control device" and was $166! I have seen many, many people do the same thing so whatever I did wrong was definitely not an obvious violation. We drove back afterwards to be sure there was nothing there stating "no u-turns"
My other thought is why did I not at least get let off with a warning with my perfect driving record?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[asiny]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? FLORIDA
I am 47 years old and just received my first traffic ticket.

Having a clean driving history may help.

I was pulling out of a parking lot and at a "stop" sign, it is a divided highway, in front of me there was a "one way" sign. I pulled across the road to make a U-turn because I was going in the opposite direction and was immediately pulled over. There was no sign there other than the "stop" and "one way" so I'm not quite sure what I did wrong.

When driving on a one-way street... you can't make a u-turn (posted or not).

The ticket was for "violation of a traffic control device" and was $166!

Was there a citation number on the ticket? Also, you failed to follow the direction of the posted sign.. the traffic control device (one-way sign) was posted... you had to drive in the direction it was pointing upon exiting the parking lot.

I have seen many, many people do the same thing so whatever I did wrong was definitely not an obvious violation.

Just because others you have seen have not been 'caught' does not mean it's ok to do it. And whatever you do, if you goto court, NEVER bring this up.
Using your logic, I have seen people steal and shoplift and nothing happened, so I should be able to, right? There was no 'no shoplifting' sign posted.

We drove back afterwards to be sure there was nothing there stating "no u-turns"

As above, the you violated the posted traffic control device - pointing the opposite direction to which you drove.

My other thought is why did I not at least get let off with a warning with my perfect driving record?

The officer does not care whether your driving record is clean or not. If this was the case, no-one would ever have issue on their abstract because warnings would not show up and it would seem they never did anything wrong.

Depending on what the citation number was (it could be a simple fine cost and nothing more) - I suggest you turn up to court on the appearance date and speak to the judge (from what I can find Florida does not use prosecutors for traffic violations). He may be simpathetic... again, this really depends on what scale this violation falls under.

 

[Free_Advice]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? FLORIDA
I am 47 years old and just received my first traffic ticket. I was pulling out of a parking lot and at a "stop" sign, it is a divided highway, in front of me there was a "one way" sign. I pulled across the road to make a U-turn because I was going in the opposite direction and was immediately pulled over. There was no sign there other than the "stop" and "one way" so I'm not quite sure what I did wrong. The ticket was for "violation of a traffic control device" and was $166! I have seen many, many people do the same thing so whatever I did wrong was definitely not an obvious violation. We drove back afterwards to be sure there was nothing there stating "no u-turns"
My other thought is why did I not at least get let off with a warning with my perfect driving record?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

Looks like your ticket is for disobeying a stop sign. If the sign is properly posted your chances of winning is slim. $166 for a sign violation .. seems very high .. you could go to court & see if they'll knock it down before trial.

Not happy with the fine? Call your legislature members & complain.

 

[KATEYR08]

Looks like your ticket is for disobeying a stop sign. If the sign is properly posted your chances of winning is slim. $166 for a sign violation .. seems very high .. you could go to court & see if they'll knock it down before trial.

Nope, it was definitely for the u-turn, that is what is stated on my ticket. I am definitely going to try to at least get it lowered, I thought it was expensive also.