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Turned right at a light that was turning red

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lueyh

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

The Ticket was for turning/running a red light.
I was coming off the freeway so there were cars behind me I turned as soon as the light was turning and there was a motorcycle cop hiding on the sidewalk behind a pillar. I could have stopped at the light but could have rear ended if I did that so I turned. is there any way to fight one of these tickets?
 


Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

The Ticket was for turning/running a red light.
I was coming off the freeway so there were cars behind me I turned as soon as the light was turning and there was a motorcycle cop hiding on the sidewalk behind a pillar. I could have stopped at the light but could have rear ended if I did that so I turned. is there any way to fight one of these tickets?
What is your defense?
 

justalayman

Senior Member
that the light was yellow when I started the turn and if i would have slammed on the breaks I would have caused an accident. I dont know this is my first ticket.:mad:
how do you know you would have caused an accident? Maybe the guy behind you was actually paying attention and would have stopped before hitting you.


21452. (a) A driver facing a steady circular yellow or yellow arrow
signal is, by that signal, warned that the related green movement is
ending or that a red indication will be shown immediately
thereafter.
(b) A pedestrian facing a steady circular yellow or a yellow arrow
signal, unless otherwise directed by a pedestrian control signal as
provided in Section 21456, is, by that signal, warned that there is
insufficient time to cross the roadway and shall not enter the
roadway.



21453. (a) A driver facing a steady circular red signal alone shall
stop at a marked limit line, but if none, before entering the
crosswalk on the near side of the intersection or, if none, then
before entering the intersection, and shall remain stopped until an
indication to proceed is shown, except as provided in subdivision
(b).
(b) Except when a sign is in place prohibiting a turn, a driver,
after stopping as required by subdivision (a), facing a steady
circular red signal, may turn right, or turn left from a one-way
street onto a one-way street. A driver making that turn shall yield
the right-of-way to pedestrians lawfully within an adjacent crosswalk
and to any vehicle that has approached or is approaching so closely
as to constitute an immediate hazard to the driver, and shall
continue to yield the right-of-way to that vehicle until the driver
can proceed with reasonable safety.
(c) A driver facing a steady red arrow signal shall not enter the
intersection to make the movement indicated by the arrow and, unless
entering the intersection to make a movement permitted by another
signal, shall stop at a clearly marked limit line, but if none,
before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the intersection,
or if none, then before entering the intersection, and shall remain
stopped until an indication permitting movement is shown.
(d) Unless otherwise directed by a pedestrian control signal as
provided in Section 21456, a pedestrian facing a steady circular red
or red arrow signal shall not enter the roadway.
either the light was actually red when you entered the intersection or your shouldn't have gotten a ticket.
 
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

The Ticket was for turning/running a red light.
I was coming off the freeway so there were cars behind me I turned as soon as the light was turning and there was a motorcycle cop hiding on the sidewalk behind a pillar. I could have stopped at the light but could have rear ended if I did that so I turned. is there any way to fight one of these tickets?
Hi Lueyh,
I apologize about our members here, Alot of them can be cranky and aggressively unhelpful most of the time although once in a blue moon they do surprise me by giving good advice. So if its one thing I've learned about criminal law and alot of it applying to traffic tickets is that the trick is to invoke your rights. You may or may not be stone cold guilty and even if you are you have a Rights (Trial - Not a Jury Trial though, Discovery PC1054, CCP 170.6 to discard Judges from calling on your case because their conviction rate is 90+ percent).

So if you do not have proof that you are indeed innocent, That's alright. It's not your job to prove your innocent.

Depending what county your in it may be minorly different but I would recommend pushing the date out to the max date (approx. 60-90 days) So you have time to study if you want to put energy into this ticket. Then read a TR-200 form then file the TR-205 when ready. If you have no defense in the statement just put "I stand by my plead of not guilty". If the officer doesn't respond then the case will be dismissed. If he dose who care's if you didn't have a defense anyways right?

If he does respond and your found guilty, reverse the Judgement with a TR-220 then show up in person for your next trial date. If he again doesn't show up it will be dismissed. If he does then ask for Traffic school and a fine reduction instead of going through with trial or attempt your story (Won't work, you'll get convicted unless you have SOLID PROOF!).

The point is, You have rights even though your guilty and some rights can be knock out blows to the officer when used. Think outside of the box as being someone totally innocent being put up to trial for murder and what rights they have and why then do a little research and apply them to your traffic case(Keep in mind not everything can be applied due to the minor nature of the offence.), This is why PC1054 and CCP170.6 are so helpful in traffic cases because they do indeed apply.

I believe if the officer truly think's what you did was just uncalled for and morally wrong he will do his job to follow through and convict you and I agree he should. However if it was a minor red within .1 of a sec then he may not care as much as it was just to meet his "UNOFFICIAL" Quota.

Good Luck and Stop running lights.
-Agent
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
So if you do not have proof that you are indeed innocent, That's alright. It's not your job to prove your innocent.
Oh good grief...

No, it's not his job to prove he's innocent.

It IS his job to overcome the evidence against him. How will he do that? By proving that it didn't happen the way the evidence shows. In other words, his evidence of innocence needs to be more compelling than the evidence against him.

From the legal standpoint, that is not proving innocence. From the layman's standpoint, that's EXACTLY what it is.


:rolleyes::rolleyes:
 

justalayman

Senior Member
AgentSmithers;3313677]Hi Lueyh,
I apologize about our members here,
You can apologize for yourself but I nor Zigner have any need to apologize for anything said in this thread.





So if you do not have proof that you are indeed innocent, That's alright. It's not your job to prove your innocent.
that's true but guess what, when the cop says; I saw...

guess what? OP then does have to prove the cop incorrect.
 

OHRoadwarrior

Senior Member
Why Agent Smithers, Shame On You. OP is not guilty until found so in a court of law. You should not be so harsh on people seeking information.
 
Why Agent Smithers, Shame On You. OP is not guilty until found so in a court of law. You should not be so harsh on people seeking information.
I agree with yourself and Zinger.. but I did say if he is stone guilty then he should just exercise his rights and ride it out.. couldn't be worse then pleading guilty ... right?

I get alot of this is common sense but from the OP point of view he has no idea what hes really asking for.. so why not point him into the right direction instead of assuming role as a judge and demanding for his defense on a forum.. they may or may not be you goal but hey maybe the OP may see it that way..

However lets get real. Lets say he didnt do it and not even close but the cop thinks he did.. he'll get convicted anyways.. its hard to rebut the cops observation let alone on the color of a light..
 
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