Ticket for "illegal" u-turn over double yellow line

[supergoalie1617]

Hello, thank you for your time. I was driving around 1am, leaving a friends house to go home. I came up to a green light marked "no u-turn" but I needed to turn around. I drove past the light, a good 100-200 feet, made a u-turn (I had perfect visibility, no cars were on the road since it was 1am), and headed back the other way.

Moments later, a cop pulls me over and gives me a ticket for making a u-turn at a light. I tell her I made the u-turn well past the light, to which she replies, "oh, so you can drive 1 foot past the light and that makes it legal?" I am visibly upset, but I did not get disrespectful in any way.

After lobbying my case some more, she says "You also crossed over a double yellow line which is illegal. If you wanted to turn around, you should've pulled into a parking lot of one of the local businesses (basically saying I should've pulled into a gas station or McDonald's parking lot) and then made a left turn back onto the street to get where you're going."

Every source I have found online says I did nothing illegal, and am furious that I got such a blatantly absurd ticket. She even wrote on the ticket that the color of my car is gold when it's silver, two colors which look nothing alike. I am taking this to court in a couple days, but honestly if the officer is going to hand out tickets like this, I'm afraid she's going to lie to the judge about what I did, and as usual the judge will take the cop's side. Any advice would be much appreciated, I can't afford a ticket right now, especially when I've done nothing wrong. Thank you so much for reading this.

Also if I lose the case, is it possible to appeal? In this country we have the right to be free from wrongful prosecution, even down to traffic tickets, and I want that right granted to me.

Samuel Brown

 

[CdwJava]

What code section were you cited for?

After you provide that, I may have additional questions.

- Carl

 

[schan]

Do not listen to the cop advise "Pull into a parking lot and make a left turn to the road." It is also a violation 39:4-66.2 "Drive to a private or a public property to avoid traffic signal or road sign." She was mis-leading you.

 

[mightymoose]

California Vehicle Code:
21460. (a) When double parallel solid lines are in place, no person
driving a vehicle shall drive to the left thereof, except as
permitted in this section.
(b) When the double parallel lines, one of which is broken, are in
place, no person driving a vehicle shall drive to the left thereof,
except as follows:
(1) That the driver on that side of the roadway in which the
broken line is in place may cross over the double line or drive to
the left thereof when overtaking or passing other vehicles.
(2) As provided in Section 21460.5.
(c) Either of the markings as specified in subdivision (a) or (b)
does not prohibit a driver from crossing the marking when (1) turning
to the left at any intersection or into or out of a driveway or
private road, or (2) making a U-turn under the rules governing that
turn, and either of the markings shall be disregarded when authorized
signs have been erected designating offcenter traffic lanes as
permitted under Section 21657.
(d) Raised pavement markers may be used to simulate painted lines
described in this section when the markers are placed in accordance
with standards established by the Department of Transportation.

Per section (c) your u-turn is legal IF there are no signs in the area forbidding a U-turn. In this case the sign is there to prevent U-turns within the intersection. The issue here will be how far from the intersection you were- however you will also be able to make an argument about the time of day and the lack of other traffic on the road. If you can paint the picture that you complied with the sign, did not U-turn in the intersection, proceeded down the road and made a legal U-turn as described in the section above, and none of this was unsafe and interfered with other traffic, then you stand a good chance to beat it.

The only reason I can think of that you might get stuck with this is if it occurred in a business district. To make a U-turn in a business district you need a sign that says that you can do so, or you need a designated opening in the lanes for the turn.

Still- it was 1am and you can make a reasonable argument about this citation if no other traffic was on the road.