treasurehunter
Senior member
I need people's advice on this b/c I've never gotten a traffic ticket before in my 6 year driving history. I was driving on a road in Nashville last night coming back from the supermarket when the light at the intersection in front of me turned yellow. Since I was approximately 1.5 car lengths from the intersection going 40 mph (the speed limit) and there were cars behind me, I did not even hesitate to just go through rather than screech my car to halt, fully knowing that I could pass the intersection with the light always in yellow. Well, as luck would have it, there was a cop at the intersection and he came after me (to my immense surprise--since I saw him halfway through the intersection and looked up to see that I was passing the intersection with the light still yellow).
So the cop comes out to tell me that I passed that light with yellow! I told him that, yes, I did pass it with yellow the whole time and that it had never turned to red. And that I did it b/c I felt it was safer than trying to break in such a short distance. He ignored this and said, "Yellow is the same as red. It means stop. It doesn't matter if the light was yellow the whole time." Now, I'm from Iowa and all (where red means stop--yellow means red is coming), so I thought maybe TN driving laws are just really messed up and after one more attempt to clear up why I was getting a ticket for running a yellow light, I gave up thinking the law must be really weird.
Well, I came back and checked the net and the TN code and a couple of US regulations, and they all clearly state that yellow is an indication that the light is about to turn red and that the intersection can not be entered when the light turns red. So, obviously, the whole premise of giving me a "red light ticket" (which is what he marked it as on the ticket as I later saw) for running a yellow light is absurd and unfounded (I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that it was the last day of the month and the guy kept referring to my "sports" car). If I'm going to get my first traffic ticket ever, I'd like to get it for actually violating a traffic law or at least doing something which could have endangered someone. If they're going to give tickets even if you don't violate the law, then the whole premise of using tickets to encourage compliance with the law goes down the drain. Anyway. . . .
My question is:
What do I do? Do I appeal this? My gut instinct and naive self say yes, b/c I know I'm in the right and the officer even admitted I never ran a red light. However, I'm also a realist (or pessimist, as some call me) and truly believe that if I appeal it in court I'll simply have the officer lie and say, "All I saw was this car pass a red light. That's why I ticketed it." I mean, why would he admit to me only passing a yellow light when that would get me off the ticket??? And then it would be just down to my word versus his and I know who the court will trust more. Can I at least see beforehand a copy of what he wrote in his traffic report (if he wrote "ran yellow light" then I'm definitely appealing)?
Does anyone here have any experience with traffic court and whether the process is fair or whether you shouldn't even think about it unless you hav tons of witnesses, etc.? My other option is to plead guilty and go to traffic school, but it just bothers me sooooo much to plead guilty to something that both the cop and I admitted I didn't do. I'm also afraid of the time commitment (do I have to go once to plead not guilty and then go again for the trial?) b/c I'm pressed for time until late June. Anyhow, I'm at least going to try to check with some other cop to confirm what the yellow light law is here, but I'd appreciate any help whatsoever on what to do or not do! Thanks!
So the cop comes out to tell me that I passed that light with yellow! I told him that, yes, I did pass it with yellow the whole time and that it had never turned to red. And that I did it b/c I felt it was safer than trying to break in such a short distance. He ignored this and said, "Yellow is the same as red. It means stop. It doesn't matter if the light was yellow the whole time." Now, I'm from Iowa and all (where red means stop--yellow means red is coming), so I thought maybe TN driving laws are just really messed up and after one more attempt to clear up why I was getting a ticket for running a yellow light, I gave up thinking the law must be really weird.
Well, I came back and checked the net and the TN code and a couple of US regulations, and they all clearly state that yellow is an indication that the light is about to turn red and that the intersection can not be entered when the light turns red. So, obviously, the whole premise of giving me a "red light ticket" (which is what he marked it as on the ticket as I later saw) for running a yellow light is absurd and unfounded (I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that it was the last day of the month and the guy kept referring to my "sports" car). If I'm going to get my first traffic ticket ever, I'd like to get it for actually violating a traffic law or at least doing something which could have endangered someone. If they're going to give tickets even if you don't violate the law, then the whole premise of using tickets to encourage compliance with the law goes down the drain. Anyway. . . .
My question is:
What do I do? Do I appeal this? My gut instinct and naive self say yes, b/c I know I'm in the right and the officer even admitted I never ran a red light. However, I'm also a realist (or pessimist, as some call me) and truly believe that if I appeal it in court I'll simply have the officer lie and say, "All I saw was this car pass a red light. That's why I ticketed it." I mean, why would he admit to me only passing a yellow light when that would get me off the ticket??? And then it would be just down to my word versus his and I know who the court will trust more. Can I at least see beforehand a copy of what he wrote in his traffic report (if he wrote "ran yellow light" then I'm definitely appealing)?
Does anyone here have any experience with traffic court and whether the process is fair or whether you shouldn't even think about it unless you hav tons of witnesses, etc.? My other option is to plead guilty and go to traffic school, but it just bothers me sooooo much to plead guilty to something that both the cop and I admitted I didn't do. I'm also afraid of the time commitment (do I have to go once to plead not guilty and then go again for the trial?) b/c I'm pressed for time until late June. Anyhow, I'm at least going to try to check with some other cop to confirm what the yellow light law is here, but I'd appreciate any help whatsoever on what to do or not do! Thanks!
