Ticket for illegal U-turn San Francisco

[gabam]

I made a u-turn today and was stopped by a police officer and was given a citation which says "U turn over double solid yellow lines" When I was stopped my initial reaction was that I told the officer I'm very sorry and I won't do it again I'll be careful next time I was hoping that he would let me go with a warning but he did not listen to me and ask for my driver's license and registration and insurance and wrote me a citation. I think when police officers pull over people they have a camera on their body of some sort so after he turned off the camera he told me that I should listen to him carefully I was very nice to him and respectful and followed his orders so maybe he liked that behavior of mine and he explained to me that I should get a court hearing date and come to the court and there it could be amended into a parking ticket so that I don't get any points on my driver's license and just pay the fine. I asked him sir is such a thing possible and he repliedyes that he was positive. I again asked him, sir can you please help me will you be there at the court when I will be at the court in the front of the judge? He said of course I will be there at the court, if I don't show up your ticket will just go away.

What do you think is such a thing possible can police officers and judges turn you turn tickets into parking tickets? Do I still have a chance at the court why did he tell me all that? He could have simply handed me over the ticket and walked away. I don't know why he told me that, why he explained everything to me? What should I do, can you please guide me?
Looking forward to your kind replies
Thank you

 

[quincy]

I made a u-turn today and was stopped by a police officer and was given a citation which says "U turn over double solid yellow lines" When I was stopped my initial reaction was that I told the officer I'm very sorry and I won't do it again I'll be careful next time I was hoping that he would let me go with a warning but he did not listen to me and ask for my driver's license and registration and insurance and wrote me a citation. I think when police officers pull over people they have a camera on their body of some sort so after he turned off the camera he told me that I should listen to him carefully I was very nice to him and respectful and followed his orders so maybe he liked that behavior of mine and he explained to me that I should get a court hearing date and come to the court and there it could be amended into a parking ticket so that I don't get any points on my driver's license and just pay the fine. I asked him sir is such a thing possible and he repliedyes that he was positive. I again asked him, sir can you please help me will you be there at the court when I will be at the court in the front of the judge? He said of course I will be there at the court, if I don't show up your ticket will just go away.

What do you think is such a thing possible can police officers and judges turn you turn tickets into parking tickets? Do I still have a chance at the court why did he tell me all that? He could have simply handed me over the ticket and walked away. I don't know why he told me that, why he explained everything to me? What should I do, can you please guide me?
Looking forward to your kind replies
Thank you

I just read through your posting history on this forum. It might be a good idea for you to take a refresher course in driving.

Some tickets can be reduced but I would not trust that your U-turn ticket will become a parking ticket just because the police officer said the ticket could be amended. Your best chance of having a ticket reduced is to have an attorney assist you in court.

And you should not miss any scheduled court hearing. Read your ticket carefully.

Good luck.

 

[gabam]

I just read through your posting history on this forum. It might be a good idea for you to take a refresher course in driving.

Some tickets can be reduced but I would not trust that your U-turn ticket will become a parking ticket just because the police officer said the ticket could be amended. Your best chance of having a ticket reduced is to have an attorney assist you in court.

And you should not miss any scheduled court hearing. Read your ticket carefully.

Good luck.

So do you think I should go for the traffic school and avoid points being added to my license?

 

[quincy]

So do you think I should go for the traffic school and avoid points being added to my license?

If traffic school helps you avoid points on your license then it sounds as if that would be a smart course of action.

But I don't know California traffic laws. I just seem to be the only one answering questions in this section of the forum tonight.

 

[gabam]

If traffic school helps you avoid points on your license then it sounds as if that would be a smart course of action.

But I don't know California traffic laws. I just seem to be the only one answering questions in this section of the forum tonight.

In California you can take the driving school to avoid points on your license but you can only do it every 18 months I've never had a ticket before so I'm sure I'm eligible to take the driving school. But this ticket amendment that the officer was talking about seemed more attractive to me. Do you think I should do everything myself or I should contact an attorney? What do you suggest?

 

[quincy]

In California you can take the driving school to avoid points on your license but you can only do it every 18 months I've never had a ticket before so I'm sure I'm eligible to take the driving school. But this ticket amendment that the officer was talking about seemed more attractive to me. Do you think I should do everything myself or I should contact an attorney? What do you suggest?

You are an Uber driver, right? If you believe another ticket is going to affect your license (and therefore your occupation), consulting with an attorney in your area would not be a mistake.

 

[CdwJava]

That would be a "no" on their converting it to a parking ticket.

Also, what code section was written on the citation?

 

[gabam]

That would be a "no" on their converting it to a parking ticket.

Also, what code section was written on the citation?

So why did the officer say such a thing? Why would he say such a thing if he did not really mean it?

 

[gabam]

You are an Uber driver, right? If you believe another ticket is going to affect your license (and therefore your occupation), consulting with an attorney in your area would not be a mistake.

Yes you're right I'm an Uber driver and this is my only source of income driving for Uber is not easy my friend if I would be driving for myself I've never gotten any ticket.

 

[quincy]

So why did the officer say such a thing? Why would he say such a thing if he did not really mean it?

The police are allowed to lie. I think he probably said what he did to encourage you to show up in court. Whether what he said gave you false hope or not, you still need to show up in court if there is a hearing scheduled.

Do you have the code section, as was asked for by CdwJava? CdwJava was a police sergeant in California so he can be a good source of information for you.

 

[gabam]

The police are allowed to lie. I think he probably said what he did to encourage you to show up in court. Whether what he said gave you false hope or not, you still need to show up in court if there is a hearing scheduled.

Do you have the code section, as was asked for by CdwJava? CdwJava was a police sergeant in California so he can be a good source of information for you.

21460(a) CVC

 

[gabam]

You are an Uber driver, right? If you believe another ticket is going to affect your license (and therefore your occupation), consulting with an attorney in your area would not be a mistake.

I already pay $460 every month for my insurance because I told my insurance company that I drive more than 50000 miles a year

 

[CdwJava]

So why did the officer say such a thing? Why would he say such a thing if he did not really mean it?

There is no element in the law that would truly permit it. But, if the court is willing to ignore the elements of the law regarding some municipal code parking offense, there's not likely to be anyone who will object.

San Francisco IS an unusual place. And, they may have decided to circumvent state law and allow the city to pocket the fines of a parking ticket instead of turning most of it over to the state and to the court. Of course, by converting it to a parking ticket, the COURT loses out on a larger chunk of the money from any fine, so there is also no great incentive to do such a thing.

The officer may have been speaking out of his ass. Or, this is yet another bizarre thing they might do in SF.

 

[CdwJava]

Here is the section you were cited for:

21460.
(a) If double parallel solid yellow lines are in place, a person driving a vehicle shall not drive to the left of the lines, except as permitted in this section.​

Interesting that you were cited for THAT, rather than an unlawful U-Turn. Did you make the U-Turn at an intersection? Or, was the turn conducted in the middle of the street?

 

[gabam]

Here is the section you were cited for:

21460.
(a) If double parallel solid yellow lines are in place, a person driving a vehicle shall not drive to the left of the lines, except as permitted in this section.​

Interesting that you were cited for THAT, rather than an unlawful U-Turn. Did you make the U-Turn at an intersection? Or, was the turn conducted in the middle of the street?

I did it in the middle of the street crossing a double yellow lines. And the officer also suggested that I could have done a u-turn at the intersection where I had 4 stop signs and it was safe for me to do so.
So what do you think, what should I do? This Uber driving is so stressful I need to find any other job as fast as possible after I get rid of my debts.