I got a ticket for going though a red traffic light. Actually, it was yellow when I entered the intersection, but it did turn red while I was in the intersection. I did think about stopping but was right there in front of intersection when light turned yellow. I was driving in a unfamiliar part of a nearby town, and I had never been through that intersection before. What I noticed and thought about later was the intersection was a lot larger than most intersections, and right after the lights were railroad tracks, which were part of the intersection. I also noticed the yellow light was shorter than usual and you would think that a larger intersection would have a much longer yellow light. I always thought the larger intersections had a longer caution light anyway. If they don't, they really should.

Is there anyway this ticket is contestable or don't even bother?

Of course my daughter thinks I should go back and measure the intersection and time the lights.

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I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!

Once. I was driving on base in Gitmo, Cuba. They had just built housing on a particular stretch of road with a speed limit of 40. I think I was going the right speed, but the base police gave me a ticket because of housing. I did not think it was fair to charge me for going the speed limit. They had not posted new signs yet. I went to the office, and they tore up the ticket.

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Live, Love, Laugh

I successfully contested a similar ticket in CA years ago. I tried to contest the same kind of ticket for my DH (who is not good speaking in front of people) and they lowered the points but wouldn't remove it entirely (they do points here which they didn't do in CA when I contested mine)

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

Did you speed up to go through the yellow? Around here if you "punch it" to go through a yellow light, you can get a ticket.

I contested a ticket when I was 16 - I was told that I pulled out in front of someone when my entire vision was blocked by a tree. I was a new driver, and scared to death. I did get it reduced to a $20 ticket. I am not sure about the "points" thing. I don't know if we have the "point" system in Washington.

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"Yesterday my life was duller, now everything's technicolor!"

I went the wrong way on a one way, didn't realize it obviously. It was less than a block and when I pulled into a parking area, I was followed by the local police. He was a jerk. I had never, ever been pulled over, much less given a ticket. I was 42 at the time. Anyway......he still ticketed me. Ok, I deserved it. Went to the magistrate........they lowered the ticket 40 bucks, just cause I asked!! Point.....doesn't hurt to ask!! lol

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Melissa

Strong and bitter words indicate a weak argument.

If I did speed up to get the light, it really was not an obvious move. (like flooring it). I was in a unfamiliar part of town and could have slightly been distracted, and was right in front of the light, it turned yellow, and my reaction was to go through it. As I was going through it, it did turn red and I saw the red light. My first thought was that was the shortest yellow light I have ever seen. The first thing the officer asked me was "Are you hurrying to get somewhere?" Of course, I wasn't in a hurry. I was just reacting to a yellow light right in front of me.

When I asked about contesting it, I guess I am referring to the the yellow light being so short preceding a very large intersection. I don't even know if that is a good reason or argument, although I would imagine that accidents have occurred in that intersection before because of this.

Another thing that is freaking me out......three years ago, I made a left turn when there was a "no left turn" sign. I honestly did not see the sign, and would never blatantly disregard a sign like that. Anyway, I was given a ticket and the fine was $186 (that amt for any moving violation). It about killed me to pay that fine. This recent violation was in a different town but same county, and honestly do not have $200 to pay for this fine. If it were just $40, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

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I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!

No harm in asking. I would.

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Kim

I did once. I was less than a half mile from my house and was most likely going over the speed limit but I was trying to stay with the flow of the traffic. I contested it because there was no way I was going as fast as the officer who stopped me said I was.

Went to court the day before Thanksgiving and a couple of days before we moved to Florida. The officer who stopped me didn't show up so they threw it out. I was thrilled. That was the first and, so far, only time I've ever gotten a ticket.

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Perhaps you could call and ask how much the ticket is before you decide if you want to spend the day in court. I suppose you could see if there is a set amount of time a light should stay yellow and then time that light to see if it is different. You would probably have to video it or something. I have had a speeding ticket thrown out before, but the judge also told me what questions I should be asking... it would have been thrown out anyway once the judge realized the police officer was not being totally honest with his answers, but it was nice he was helping me out!

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Check out my homepage http://julie.mycoupons.com/

I received a ticket for supposedly going through a red light. My husband was with me, and he, too was sure the light was green and had turned to yellow when I was already underneath. There was alot of construction going on and you also had to be in just the one lane. Anyhow, I contested it. I have safe driver rates and knew if I got points on my license, that my insurance would go way up. They gave me some kind of lesser charge so I didn't get any points on my license, but I still had to pay the ticket and they wouldn't wipe it away altogether. I guess now that the 3 years is up, it is totally wiped off my report. I try to be a careful driver. Had one other ticket in my life, when I was in my late teens. Hope I don't get another one-LOL!

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groundy1951@hotmail.com

My son got caught in one of those situations shortly after he started driving. The insurance is bad enough on a kid that young. I hired a lawyer for $50 more than the fine who said I didn't have to pay if he couldn't get him off. He did manage to get my son's ticket thrown out.

I just pay them, dh contests them. He's gotten fines reduced (with no points), been charged with a lesser issue, and once only stuck with a defense driving class (that also happened to lower our insurance rates).

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I've never lied to you. I've always told you some version the of truth.

I made a right hand turn on a red arrow (right in front of a motorcycle cop). I now know this is illegal. The officer that stopped me told me there was a sign and he was right (I went back to see) The thing was the sign was at the beginning of the off ramp of the freeway and was hard to see. Apparently my traffic court judge had a lot of people come through his courtroom complaining about the very same thing. He told me he was actually in contact with the city about putting the correct signs up at this particular exit. He didn't totally let me off but he did reduce my fine ($300 down to $150) and let me attend traffic school. Then next time I went by the place where I got my ticket there were signs all over the place noting the no right turn on red arrow.

Yes , and I won !!! It was many moons ago back when I was in college in Baton Rouge. I was in a left hand turn lane to get on the interstate. It was a short green light and traffic always backed up there. But...I also knew that it was "revenue generating light" as a motorcycle cop sat there all the time. I made sure to be very careful. It turned yellow while I was in the middle of the intersection. The cop pulled over two of us at the same time....me & the person in front of me. I knew that I was not in the wrong. I was scared, but I was a poor college student who knew she was right and I went to fight it. About 10 other people were there that same day who the exact same thing happened to. The lawyer (or whoever it was that we all talked to) handled all of us together when presenting things to the judge. The cop was there and agreed that we had gone through yellow. We all got our tickets thrown out.

17 years ago, DH went to court and got the fine and points reduced. He got his first ticket since then just this year. He decided to go to court just to see if he could get it reduced- no dice.

I think everyone has a traffic ticket story to commiserate about......I simply knew I was in the wrong and took a traffic safety course. Have you checked to see if that is an option? By doing that, my record was kept clear.

I don't know why an intersection would be perceived as "larger" or "smaller" if you entered on a yellow light and even thought to stop. I remember (but didn't look it up to see if still correct) that if you enter on yellow and it turns red while you are there or past, it's illegal.

You saw it turn red, so you knew it, meaning you weren't past the light yet to be able to see it, and that you had time to stop, and yet didn't.

I have no idea about the timing of yellow lights, maybe you should do your own survey. Me............. I just think the red lights are too long while I sit there!

dl

Yep, almost same exact thing happened to DH and I was told to write a letter to the DA. We did and it was reduced to a non moving violation (seat belt) and a small fine had to be paid.

Aldrich-
You mean I should write a letter to the District Attorney informing about the length of the caution light? Would I have to pay him a fee? With your husband's case, what exactly did he contest?

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I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!

No, I would not contest it. You said yourself that it was yellow when you entered the intersection, and turned red while you were in it. You also said that this was an "unfamiliar" intersection that you had not been thru before. Therefore, you should have been EXTRA cautious (IMO) and stopped when you saw it was a yellow light. Which, I believe was BEFORE you entered the intersection.

I would say be glad you got a ticket, and be more mindful next time of the traffic lights.

IC 9-21-3-7
Signals exhibiting colored lights; requirements; explanation of colors
Sec. 7. (a) Whenever traffic is controlled by traffic control signals exhibiting different colored lights or colored lighted arrows successively, one (1) at a time or in combination, only the colors green, red, or yellow may be used, except for special pedestrian signals under IC 9-21-18.
(b) The lights indicate and apply to drivers of vehicles and pedestrians as follows:
(1) Green indication means the following:
(A) Vehicular traffic facing a circular green signal may proceed straight through or turn right or left, unless a sign at the place prohibits either turn.
(B) Vehicular traffic, including vehicles turning right or left, shall yield the right-of-way to other vehicles and to pedestrians lawfully within the intersection or an adjacent sidewalk at the time the signal is exhibited.
(C) Vehicular traffic facing a green arrow signal, shown alone or in combination with another indication, may cautiously enter the intersection only to make the movement indicated by the green arrow or other movement permitted by other indications shown at the same time.
(D) Vehicular traffic shall yield the right-of-way to pedestrians lawfully within an adjacent crosswalk and to other traffic lawfully using the intersection.
(E) Unless otherwise directed by a pedestrian control signal, pedestrians facing a green signal, except when the sole green signal is a turn arrow, may proceed across the roadway within a marked or unmarked crosswalk.
(2) Steady yellow indication means the following:
(A) Vehicular traffic facing a steady circular yellow or yellow arrow signal is warned that the related green movement is being terminated and that a red indication will be exhibited immediately thereafter.
(B) A pedestrian facing a steady circular yellow or yellow

arrow signal, unless otherwise directed by a pedestrian control signal, is advised that there is insufficient time to cross the roadway before a red indication is shown, and a pedestrian may not start to cross the roadway at that time.
(3) Steady red indication means the following:
(A) Except as provided in clause (B), vehicular traffic facing a steady circular red signal alone shall stop at a clearly marked stop line. However, if there is no clearly marked stop line, vehicular traffic shall stop before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the intersection. If there is no crosswalk, vehicular traffic shall stop before entering the intersection and shall remain standing until an indication to proceed is shown.
(B) Except when a sign is in place prohibiting a turn described in this subdivision, vehicular traffic facing a steady red signal, after coming to a complete stop, may cautiously enter the intersection to do the following:
(i) Make a right turn.
(ii) Make a left turn if turning from the left lane of a one-way street into another one-way street with the flow of traffic.
Vehicular traffic making a turn described in this subdivision shall yield the right-of-way to pedestrians lawfully within an adjacent crosswalk and to other traffic using the intersection.
(C) Unless otherwise directed by a pedestrian control signal pedestrians facing a steady circular red signal alone may not enter the roadway.
(4) No indication or conflicting indications means the following:
(A) Vehicular traffic facing an intersection having a signal that displays no indication or conflicting indications, where no other control is present, shall stop before entering the intersection.
(B) After stopping, vehicular traffic may proceed with caution through the intersection and shall yield the right-of-way to traffic within the intersection or approaching so closely as to constitute an immediate hazard.
(5) This section applies to traffic control signals located at a place other than an intersection. A stop required under this subdivision must be made at the signal, except when the signal is supplemented by a sign or pavement marking indicating where the stop must be made.
As added by P.L.2-1991, SEC.9.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

Someone I know got a ticket for driving in the breakdown lane- this was during heavy holiday traffic. This person went to fight the ticket by lying and saying that a soft drink had been spilled on their baby by their other child and that he was merely trying to get off the road to clean up the crying baby, and he went on to add that the police officer was very rude to him when he was trying to explain the situation- totally fabricated. His reward for lying- yup the ticket got thrown out.

Someone I work with got a ticket for going through a red light . She decided to fight the ticket by saying there was alot going on in the intersection that she was concentrating on and she didn't see the traffic signal. She did not get the ticket waived.



It seems to me that when driving now, yellow is the new green. I see many drivers punching the gas to get through a yellow, often a very stale yellow. I find myself having to wait at a green light for the people who think that yellow means speed up and keep going. I was always taught that yellow means stop if is safe to stop.

I have contested a speeding & unsafe lane change violation (same ticket) and a surcharge notice on a minor fender bender and "won" both times. The key, in my case, was to be completely and totally honest. In the first one, I was merely trying to contest the unsafe lane change, so admitted that I was speeding. The judge said I was the first one that she'd seen all day that didn't start defending themselves and lying the moment they opened their mouth. The fender bender was a beat-up old car that didn't have its fender bolted on, and I had pictures to show it. The assessment was about $100 over the surcharge $ limit and was mostly labor. It just seemed pretty fishy for a <5 mph accident and I told her that. She said she sees this kind of thing all the time.

Honesty and an apologetic and respectful tone go a long way....

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips