Can someone please explain what this means?

[cfultz]

Ok, so I got pulled over today. Not for speeding, not for my exhaust, not for ANYTHING about my car. Instead, I got pulled over for "Failure to Yield the Right Of Way While Making a Left Turn". Makes since if I were at a yield on green traffic light. No. I was sitting in the center lane (turning lane), left blinker on, negotiated the turn way before a fuel tanker truck went by, and even managed to stop in time because the idiot in front of me didn't signal and suddenly slammed on his breaks before turning right. The cop was about to make a right onto the highway, turned around blocking the road, and came after me. I was already pulled over before he pulled in behind me. He gets out of his car and states in a very negative demanding voice
"DID YOU SEE THAT FUEL TRUCK!?"
I replied "Yes, sir."
"WHERE YOU TESTING IT'S BREAKS!?"
"No, sir"
"WELL HE HAD TO SLAM ON THEM NOT TO HIT YOU!"
"Really?"
"AND YOU DID YOU SEE THE TRUCK THAT STOPPED IN FRONT OF YOU!?"
"Yes, sir. The one that breaked then turned without signaling?"
"YOU ONLY MISSED HIM BY 4 FEET" (which is way more than is needed to stop btw)
"Oh, sorry, sir."
"YOU'RE LUCKY I'M NOT GONNA CHARGE YOU WITH RECKLESS FOR BOTH OF THOSE!!!!"
"Yes, sir."
"LICENSE AND REGISTRATION!"

He proceeded back to his patrol car, stopped read my plates off to the dispatcher while shaking his head at my exhaust, rims, front of car, clubcivic.com sticker, etc. He comes back all cheery and hands me a ticket for "Failure to Yield the Right Of Way While Making a Left Turn" and told me I have to appear in court on June 19th, or pay out of court. Now, somebody PLEASE explain to me how I got this ticket? What's his proof? My word against his? And on top of all this, how was I at fault? I cleared the intersection unharmed and without harming any other motorists. So, why did I get this ticket? What exactly does it mean? I live in VA and have a 2000 Si.

 

[joe7987]

Missing somebody by 4 feet is entirely too close. I would say you failed there.

Cutting off a fuel truck, or any other very large vehicle... is not smart either.

It sounds like you messed up. I didn't see the incident, but I believe you should probably try to drive a bit more carefully.

 

[dtgrowl]

can you reexplain the part with the truck that didnt signal and stopped right in front of you... how many lanes was this street? im confused... lol. from what i first gathered it sounded like you were in the center lane getting ready to turn and then a truck in front of you stopped without signaling and turned right? that doesn't make sense to me.

 

[cfultz]

@dtgrowl

We both negotiated the turn THEN he stopped suddenly without signaling... lol sorry i can see where that didnt make sense. The road is like |++|\|++| Two Lanes, Center, Two Lanes.

 

[c_diddy]

so from what i gather is that you were both in the suicide lane and both made a left turn. but instead of waiting for the oncoming fuel truck to pass you, you followed behind the truck and came out in front of the fuel truck. since you were following closely or had to speed up to miss the fuel truck, the car in front of you neglected to signal and slowed down so you almost hit him.

from the sound of it i'd agree with what Joe said. that was your bad there.

 

[dtgrowl]

were you turning onto another street or into some sort of driveway?

 

[cfultz]

another street. and its not like the fuel truck was 10 feet from me just to clear it up. i had a good 50-60 feet plus it had just turned onto the highway from another road.

 

[Kensai]

I'm thinking you're going to need to test your paint skills and draw us a diagram of what the f**k happened.
I guess you were both in the middle turning lane facing each other, he was turning right and you were turning left onto the same street?
I'm so f**king confused...

 

[Mr. Jollypants]

If you pulled out in front of traffic and caused the oncoming traffic to hit their brakes or slow down because of you, you're at fault. Doesn't matter if the vehicle in front of you stopped or slowed down.

 

[dtgrowl]

lol i think i get it now... he was behind a truck in the center lane and they were both trying to turn left onto a street while yielding to oncoming traffic. when there was an opportunity, they both turned at the same time. however, the truck was planning on turning right immediately after turning on to the street causing both drivers to brake. what the cop thought was reckless is that he forced the issue and followed the truck not knowing exactly what he was going to do. In the cop's judgment, he should not have followed the truck during the turn because the tanker wasn't that far away and following through the turn was unsafe because in the end, he was following too closely nearly resulting in two accidents.

if that's what happened... just don't follow a car through a turn like that where that MIGHT happen.

 

[dtgrowl]

If you pulled out in front of traffic and caused the oncoming traffic to hit their brakes or slow down because of you, you're at fault. Doesn't matter if the vehicle in front of you stopped or slowed down.

i dont think the oncoming traffic had to brake... i believe he said he made it through in plenty of time and he himself stopped in time before rear ending the truck he was following.

 

[Kensai]

Ok were there three(3) cars involved? Who's this "idiot in front of you" that slammed on the brakes?

 

[dtgrowl]

lol @ "three(3)"

 

[Kensai]

My head hurts. For the love of god please draw a f**king picture!

 

[cfultz]

btw, dtgrowl has got it! You read my really poorly described situation and completely made sense of it! awesome

 

[dtgrowl]

for some reason i envisioned the cop being at this red X:

 

[cfultz]

lol still good job. but can you define what "Failure to Yield The Right Of Way" means? To me, I would've caused an accident for NOT yielding but since I caused no accident and no one was injured in anyway, why am i charged?

 

[dtgrowl]

to me it sounds like he felt the need to give you a ticket but didnt wanna give you something like "reckless driving" so he just put that you failed to yield the right of way because that's just about the closest thing. IMO, it was just a bad call to turn at the same time as the truck... but there was no way for you to know that the truck was going to brake right after. but again, that's not their fault. Nor is it yours... but you're the one who ends up looking like a bad driver. just tough luck i guess. you could try to contest it on the grounds that you did yield the right of way seeing as how no one had to brake to let you pass. i don't really know how the Virginia traffic laws work though either.

 

[cfultz]

yeah it was bad luck. and thats what i think it means as well. no one had to stop for me to let me pass. PLUS its the end of the month and he's a K-9 unit... quota quota quota! probably doesnt get alot of tickets lol!

 

[Kensai]

Haha I was right! Still don't see how it was your fault...