Any acts of god beat ticket carpool lane crossing double yellow?

[missbhaves]

Hello,

I was in the carpool lane and had to cross the double yellow line to avoid hitting lumbar blocks. The suv ahead of me drove over the object and my reaction was to avoid hitting it by crossing the double yellow lines and continued driving in the #1 lane shaken up from the event.
An officer pulled me over and said he didnt witness seeing any obstacles in the road but said he was several cars behind mine when he saw me driving over the double yellow. He wasnt close enough to see the debris, I don't know what's worse, hitting the debris or getting this $$ ticket. Do I have a chance to beat this isolated incident? Nothing was recorded on his camera. Thank You for any advice in this matter!

 

[jharris352]

Its odd that he didn't see the debris when he passed by that spot. Did you determine what the debris was? Did it turn out to be light and could have blown away?

I would certainly challenge the ticket and argue my case. You have a decent chance of winning if the officer can not give an alternative explanation for why you crossed the double yellow line. If you didn't pass, then there are limited numbers of reasons for you to do that. Good luck.

 

[mightymoose]

I agree... a good chance to beat this in court. You are not obligated to remain in the carpool lane at all costs. You saw a road hazard and reacted quickly, and apparently safely, as good drivers are trained to do. Your reaction is probably highly preferred to slamming on the brakes and causing multiple accidents behind you.
Just because the officer didn't see it does not mean it wasn't there. He saw your movement and was watching your vehicle, not the lane you left.

Curious though... maybe there was no other traffic, but I would expect more cars to be jumping lanes at the same time.