Illegal left turn ticket from a left turn lane

[jhughe90]

Friend and his son are living with me temporarily. Kid is 18, just got his license, an old car, and his first real job. They had researched and planned insurance, but he hadn't gotten it yet (queue violin) due to his work schedule. He has since remedied that. He received a ticket for an illegal turn and also the insurance issue.

Attaching a picture of the turn, ironically with a confused driver in the turn lane. It's a clearly painted dedicated left turn lane, with a no-left turn sign on the post. There is a turn-in to the gas station you can make out, but it's about 15 yards ahead/offset so people who do make the turn head into oncoming traffic slightly. The road was rebuilt a couple years back probably with the intention that the whole corner intersection was going to be developed, then the recession hit and it's still mostly a cornfield. It's ridiculous that it still sits that way in my opinion. Anyone who's not familiar with the turn lane, like the person in the photo that I took and the 18yr old, is going to be confused the first time.

What's the best way to approach this? Ambiguous signs? Engineering? Not too bright a kid, his dad cannot be there on the court date, and obviously I have no business being there either.


Thanks,
Jeff

 

[army judge]

Traffic school works for dummies and geniuses.

By getting insurance, that ticket could get kicked.

The left turn could be disposed of with traffic school.

You'll never prove the gubmint wrong in their court.

Well, you won't do it without an attorney.

Again, I cry, traffic school.

 

[mightymoose]

This photo alone could beat the left turn part of the citation, but that insurance half of it is gonna sting. Around here that alone is about an $800 fine. The only way to beat the insurance citation is to prove the vehicle actually was insured on the date of the citation or to win the sympathy of the judge because it was a kid... which is unlikely since the judge knows full well the parents were responsible.

As for the photo, it clearly shows a dedicated left turn lane with the left turn arrow, and a no left turn sign. The two conflict, which means you have a solid argument. If you do some research in your state codes you will find a section that addresses this and will indicate this conflicting signage is improper.
The lane here should be blocked to prevent access OR if U-turns are allowed here then a different sign should be posted, such as U-Turn ONLY.

I don't believe traffic school will help with the insurance citation, so in this case I would strongly encourage you to take the argument to court in hopes the judge might toss the whole ticket.

 

[jhughe90]

The only way to beat the insurance citation is to prove the vehicle actually was insured on the date of the citation or to win the sympathy of the judge because it was a kid... which is unlikely since the judge knows full well the parents were responsible.

Since when is a parent responsible for an 18 year old?

I'll go digging through statutes on the sign, thanks.

 

[mightymoose]

Since when is a parent responsible for an 18 year old?

Oops... I was thinking he was 16 for some reason... new driver and all.