Bellybutton

I'm thinking about fighting this one. Normally, when I am caught doing something wrong, I'll pay for it, but when a situation like this comes along, no way. I was driving on Kennedy Avenue through Eatonville. There is a business park where a lot of people heading east will turn left. Since there is no median and it is a high traffic area, people will go around this vehicle as there is about 4 ft of pavement off the main road. A lot of people use this area to pass and while there is a white line, no one seems to mind.(BTW, this problem was created when the city moved the intersection from an area where a light was present to allow people to turn, to an area where congestion is created)As I was approaching this area, a vehicle is waiting to turn left and approximately 3 vehicles move around. Then another waits while 3 vehicles in front of me move around him. As I approach the vehicle, it makes the turn and I proceed. Approximately 100 feet up the road is a local officer pulling the 3 cars in front of me over (no idea about the previous 3). He also signals me to pull over. Since he is handling 4 cars and I am last..I wait. Meanwhile, another officer sees the amount of cars off to the side and pulls over to help. I continue to wait and notice over a dozen cars do the same thing we were just pulled over for. Finally, the officer comes to my car and asks for license & reg. It is not the officer who pulled me over, but the other who stopped to help. They both take turns writing down information on my citation and finally it is presented to me by the officer who collected my information. When I ask about the situation, he states he pulled me over for illegal passing. When I explain I did not pass and the vehicle had moved by the time I approached it, he stated he saw me pass and that is why I was pulled over. This is the officer who pulled up to help, not the one who pulled me over. I also explained that quite a few people had done the same thing and he stated he can't catch everyone but would be pulling over others soon. Before I had pulled away, the other officer had pulled over 4 more cars. This is an obvious revenue source for a small city but I feel the incident wasn't handled properly. IMO I don't believe I passed illegally but was grouped together with others in front of me. I was in front of another officer earlier, doing below the limit in a 25 mph zone. I was actually being good this morning which probably makes me even angrier. I am thinking about ticket clinic but I wanted suggestions before I did.

Gator Al (Al)

Cops were out pulling over whole lines of cars for crossing into the bike lane to get around cars turning left. So many people were doing it at this particular spot that the paint for the lane was worn away. Some pissed-off people!

TDI 4XMotion (Lee)

"...Since there is no median and it is a high traffic area, people will go around this vehicle as there is about 4 ft of pavement off the main road..."

IIRC, you can pass on the right as long as you do not leave the road. If you have the statute referenced on the citation, I'll re-read it. A photo or three of the area would be nice:

1. one clearly shows the area of the road (no traffic)
2. one that shows a violation.
3. Cop #1 Perspective
4. Cop #2 Perspective

I'm not sure about bike lanes.

You can always take it to court (standard caveat about potential fines and loss of D/L).

Since the offficer that wrote the ticket wasn't the one the pulled you over, you may have a chance at winning. If the other officer is present in court that may not work so well. "He said - Cop said" fights are difficult to win against the police in Court - but it's happened. Especially when the officers are writing a bunch of tickets and don't take good notes.

Bellybutton

I will gather all of the information and email you. I can get all the photos but since Cop #2 wasn't on the scene originally and showed up after the fact, his perspective of the area would be the same as Cop #1. Currently, I am planning on taking this one to court. What is your opintion of 'The Ticket Clinic'?

TDI 4XMotion (Lee)

No opinion on Ticket Clinic - I beat my own tickets, thank you very much. ;-)

Jack in FL

They usually guarantee no points or driving school, but you'll probably have to pay the actual ticket fine. No record, either.

ACR Turtle

Or if you don't want to spend $90 you go to court plead no contest and get pretty much the same results. Paying the fine outright is an admission of guilt. I've done this 4 times now, and only once has the judge ordered me to traffic school. For some people their 2 hours of time is worth more than $90.

Jack in FL

I assume you don't get points pleading no contest?

TDI 4XMotion (Lee)

The decision to assess points for a traffic citation is within the discretion of the Judge/HO.

Some Judges/HO will agree to "Withold Adjudication" in response to a "No Contest Plea." I guess you could consider it a kind of "Plea Agreement," but w/o all the normal trappings you'd see in criminal court.

When the Judge/HO does not assess points, it's Adjudication Withheld, Withold Adjudication...or just "Withold" for short. I think this disposition shows up on the D/L report next to the offense as "Adj/W" or something. It's been quite awhile since I have seen one of these...

ACR Turtle

Excatly. But my insurance company is none the wiser. I'm sure the printout the judge looks at shows your complete history. But yes I've always ha adjudication withheld.