Thanks for the feedback guys. I actually went ahead and paid the ticket, since my court date was actually yesterday (!!). I went to the court just to see what the environment was like and whether I'd be comfortable making my case by pleading not guilty, but I couldnt find a place to park! I got there 20 minutes before and there were many others in my situation, plus a long line of people waiting to get into the court.
Could I have made an argument? Possibly. I had the same thought as maestro- the cop probably wouldnt have known that the sign had been removed (no chance of it being knocked down by another car- it was up on the electric wires with the signal).
It just chafes that while what I did was illegal, it was in no way dangerous or stupid, and has since been deemed legal, presumably due to someone realizing how unnecessary the sign was (but I can't be certain of the reasoning behind this).
Finally, I just saw the hassle it was going to be to have to eventually return to the court for trial that I just didn't want to deal with it. I kinda wish I had though....the only other thing I didn't want to risk was having to pay more than the ticket, which I was told was a possibility by the court clerk I spoke to on the phone- depending on what the judge felt- if I had been proven guilty during a trial.
Could I have made an argument? Possibly. I had the same thought as maestro- the cop probably wouldnt have known that the sign had been removed (no chance of it being knocked down by another car- it was up on the electric wires with the signal).
It just chafes that while what I did was illegal, it was in no way dangerous or stupid, and has since been deemed legal, presumably due to someone realizing how unnecessary the sign was (but I can't be certain of the reasoning behind this).
Finally, I just saw the hassle it was going to be to have to eventually return to the court for trial that I just didn't want to deal with it. I kinda wish I had though....the only other thing I didn't want to risk was having to pay more than the ticket, which I was told was a possibility by the court clerk I spoke to on the phone- depending on what the judge felt- if I had been proven guilty during a trial.