Trying to turn right was improper passing?

[billyssweethear]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
NJ. I got a ticket for improper passing. I was on a 4 lane highway, in the right lane, coming up to a traffic light, with my blinker on to make a right turn. I moved onto the shoulder of the road, maybe a few hundred yards before the corner. A police man had me pull off the roadway into a parking lot, and gave me a ticket for improper passing. I wasn't trying to pass traffic, I was trying to make a right hand turn.

 

[LillianX]

You got the ticket for using the shoulder of the road for driving. My best guess is that the officer wrote it for improper passing because that is most commonly the reason people drive on the shoulder when there is a perfectly good road, just to the left.

 

[You Are Guilty]

Righteous ticket.

39:4-115.� The driver of a vehicle or the motorman of a streetcar: a. intending to turn to the right or left at an intersection where traffic is controlled by traffic control signals or by a traffic or police officer, shall proceed to make either turn with proper care to avoid accidents and, except as provided in b. below, only upon the "go" signal unless otherwise directed by a traffic or police officer, an official sign or special signal; or b. intending to turn right at an intersection where traffic is controlled by a traffic control signal shall, unless an official sign of the State, municipality, or county authority having jurisdiction over the intersection prohibits the same, proceed to make the turn upon a "stop" or "caution" signal with proper care to avoid accidents after coming to a full stop, observing traffic in all directions, yielding to other vehicular traffic traveling in a direction in which the turn will be made, and stopping and remaining stopped for pedestrians crossing the roadway within a marked crosswalk, or at an unmarked crosswalk, into which the driver is turning. [highlight]Both the approach for and the turn shall be made as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway,[/highlight] unless such intersection is otherwise posted.

"Roadway" means that portion of a highway improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular travel, [highlight]exclusive of the berm or shoulder[/highlight]. In the event a highway includes two or more separate roadways, the term "roadway" as used herein shall refer to any such roadway separately, but not to all such roadways, collectively.

 

[FlyingRon]

If you passed people on the shoulder, it's improper passing. You don't get to drive off the road to get around people just because you're turning.