Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Failure to stop at a red light in VA how do I fight it?

I entered the intersection when it was yellow. I tapped my brakes when the light changed to yellow. when I noticed the car behind me didnt at first I continued through the intersection. I coasted through the intersection but I know it was yellow when I entered. The cop followed me for almost a mile before pulling me over. I explained that I didn't think I would have stoped safely because of the car behind me he replied %26quot;you ran the red light%26quot; How do I fight this I believe the law stated that it isn't unlawful to proceed into the intersection during amber as long as the light is yellow upon entering the intersection. Will I be screwed because I hesitated. Thanks in advance for any helpFailure to stop at a red light in VA how do I fight it?Go to court, and state what you just said. If the Officer agrees to what you just said, the citation should be dismissed. On the other hand, why didn't the Officer site the car behind you. Did he have enough time to stop?.Failure to stop at a red light in VA how do I fight it?tell them what you told us that as you slowed to stop the driver behind you did not. so you made the decision that it would in fact be safer to go through on amber than possibly be involved in an accident.Failure to stop at a red light in VA how do I fight it?Your word against his. Just pay it.Failure to stop at a red light in VA how do I fight it?you're getting screwed but probably nothing can be done about it. any camera monitoring the intersection you can use to defend yourself?Failure to stop at a red light in VA how do I fight it?The law says you can not be in the intersection when the light turns red. How far he followed you is irrelevant.Failure to stop at a red light in VA how do I fight it?Check your motorist handbook. You are required to stop when the light turns yellow. You are only allowed to enter the intersection on yellow if you are so close that you can not stop safely.



The timing of a yellow light is approximately 4 seconds in a 25 mph zone. A car travels about 1 1/2 feet per second, for every mile per hour of speed. Therefore, a car doing 25 mph is doing almost 40 feet per second. If the light was red at any time while you were in the intersection, that means it turned yellow while you were about 160 feet back.



It takes about 50 feet to stop a car going 25mph, so that leaves you over 100 feet for reaction time. That means there is plenty of time to stop.Failure to stop at a red light in VA how do I fight it?The first thing you need to do is mark the %26quot;appeal%26quot; box on the moving violation ticket and mail the ticket and a letter to the appeals division. Do it immediately, otherwise you might wind up having to pay penalties ... and worse, it makes you look bad when you go to court.



... and that brings up the second thing you need to do: go to court. When you go, there's a small (very small) chance that the officer who wrote you the citation will not show up. If he doesn't, then the judge will throw out the case, and you will be home free (no court costs, no penalty, nothing left on your record).



If the officer does show up, then what you'll need to do is essentially plead your side of the story to the judge. Just say to the judge that you intended to stop, which is why you tapped your brakes, but you were already in the intersection, and there was a car right behind you, so you felt that it would be safer to go through the intersection rather than stop in the middle of it.



When you're making your case to the judge, be careful not to say anything that could be taken to be disrespectful to either the judge or the officer, and also be careful not to make any comments about the quality of the officer's judgments (or your opinions as to the lack thereof).



A couple of other things: It will help if you have a clean driving record, i.e. no history of moving violations. It will also help if you dress nicely. :-)



Good luck with the case. I know VA has some incredibly steep fines for moving violations (if you're a resident of VA).Failure to stop at a red light in VA how do I fight it?yellow doesnt mean slow down and coast thru the intersection, it means slow down and prepare to stop. if the car behind u would hav hit u they would have got the ticket and not uFailure to stop at a red light in VA how do I fight it?If you didn't stop at a red light, there is no way to fight it. You dangered other drivers by not stopping and that's probably why the officer pulled you over.Failure to stop at a red light in VA how do I fight it?If any part of your car remains in the intersection once the light turned red, you've run the red light. Sorry. Learned that in drivers ed.

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