Got my very first traffic ticket and I was not guilty

Finally it happened. I got my very first traffic ticket today and I'm positive I was not guilty.

It was a non moving traffic violation ticket called CVC 22526 (B) - Turning and Blocking Intersection / Gridlock.

When I took the left turn, there was a big van in from of me. Both the van and I cleared the intersection, well by a margin of 10-15 feet before the van stopped and tried to enter the Fry's electronics, whose entrance is about 20-25 feet from the intersection. It was jam packed because of black Friday. I had to wait for few seconds before continuing on the lane. There may be a possibility, few cars behind me were stuck in the intersection. But I had clearly cleared the intersection and crossed in to the lane just when the green turned yellow (not yellow to red) and waited for the van to clear the lane, 10-15 feet inside the lane, not in the intersection. When the van entered the Fry's electronics, I moved forward in the lane and the officer flagged several cars behind the truck including mine. Initially, I thought that he was stopping us because the lane in front of us may be blocked (saw several orange cones in front of us) and we may have to take different route. But, I was flabbergasted, when he told me, he had stopped me to cite me for not clearing the intersection before the light turn red. I'm 100% positive he was wrong, because, not only I cleared the intersection when green turned yellow (much before yellow turned red), I was waiting for the van to turn in to Fry's electronics 10-15 feet inside the lane, not in the intersection.

The officer, who was almost 200-300 feet away from the intersection (and was standing in front of the van), might not have seen me clearing the intersection, because I was behind the van which may be obstructing his view. But he didn't buy my argument and gave me the ticket.

I could simply pay the fine and forget about whole thing, since I may not get any point in my record for this non moving traffic violation. However, since I was clearly not guilty, I'm planning to contest the ticket.

Anyway, getting the first traffic ticket is not as bad as I feared.

Posted at 08:21PM Nov 24, 2006  |  Permanent link to this entry