Traffic ticket help: parked blocking an allie or driveway?

Hi,

Im 17 yrs and just recieved my first (and hopefully last) ticket. Heres what happened....



I was driving northbound in heavy traffic. I was approaching an intersection and the traffic light was green; so i proceeded to cross the intersection. Cars cut into this lane because this is the only lane to turn left. I made it under the light with my foot on the brake and my car barely rolling. The light ahead was green aswell but traffic was not flowing. In the oposing lane (southbound) there was a big dump truck( i quess his light had changed and it was his turn to go) because he started honking and cussing at me. i kept on looking ahead barely rolling. I was only in his way for 3 seconds i counted and my traffic began to flow. (might i add that the only reason i was blocking him was because he was driving a big dumptruck and could not make the wide turn he needed)had it been a passenger vehicle they would have had space. When i made it to the light to take my turn i saw a motorcycle cop put on his lights. I made the turn and proceeded in my lane. He signaled for me to pull over. He asked for liscence and registration. At this point i was very scared i didnt know why i had been stopped. And the officer did not tell me why i had been stopped. As i handed him my registration i asked him why i was stopped. And he told me i was blocking the intersection (which i wasnt). I tried to explain to him the circumstance and told him that i didnt know and apologized and asked if i could please just have a warning. He told me %26quot;no, definately not you will be recieving a citation.%26quot;. I took the ticket thanked the officer(dont ask me why i was very scarred and was trying to be as calm and polite as i could be) and went on my way.



Later when i was looking at the ticket it said parked blocking an ally or driveway which is contrary to what the officer told me i first recieved the ticket for (blocking an intersection). I wasnt parked and was in a congested intersection not an ally. Is this legal??

i am going to plea not guilty and need help with this.

the officer didnt tell me why he stopped me (i had to ask him)

the ticket is wrong

and he didnt tell me how to better handle the situation.



I need help with this what do you all think?



Thanks, Matt

ps oh and i live in texas incase you need to know what state laws are

thanks again Traffic ticket help: parked blocking an allie or driveway?Hello Matt. I am reading your question differently from the above posters. Yes, technically, you are not supposed to enter an intersection unless it is clear enough to go through ( also called gridlocking ).



What I am reading differently here is the citation itself. It sounds as though the Officer cited you incorrectly. What you are cited for is a non moving violation. I am NOT familiar with Texas law, but here in Ohio, if an Officer uses an incorrect code, it is thrown out of court for improper codes. The courts here are not allowed to amend a ticket as a poster above me says, which may be entirely true in Texas.



I would suggest appearing in court and pleading not guilty. Explain what happened to the Judge and respectfully tell him you were not parked , but driving through an intersection. It will then be up to the Judge to say what Texas law is.



Best of luck to you and I hope this is usefulTraffic ticket help: parked blocking an allie or driveway?If you were blocking any private or public driveway/intersection in traffic you broke the law.Traffic ticket help: parked blocking an allie or driveway?If he gave you a ticket for illegal parking, it should NOT be counted as a moving violation. You should not get any points on your license just a fine. Sounds like the officer is giving you a break. He wanted you to know you did something wrong and wanted to make sure you received a little something more than a warning but gave you a ticket with fewer bad consequences.



Pay the fine, don't enter an intersection unless there is room to move all the way through it. In California that is around a $200 fine.Traffic ticket help: parked blocking an allie or driveway?While your situation is very common, you are technically guilty. The actual law in most states is that you are not permitted to ENTER the intersection until you are assured you will be able to fully EXIT the intersection.



As for the wrong charge on the ticket, they will be able to amend that in court. That assumes it is actually an incorrect charge. It is possible the same code section covers both intersections and alleys/driveways.



I suggest appearing in court, entering a 'no contest' plea, explaining what happened and apologizing. As this was your first offense, the judge may give you a break.