My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: Washington
Ticketed for: Failure to stop at signal marking (stop sign)
At dusk, my friend and I were navigating home through the city of Clyde Hill (next to Bellevue). My friend told me to turn left on 84th Ave NE so I was scanning for a signpost. I was actually going slower than average because I didn't want to miss my turn.
As I approached the intersection of NE 24th St and 88th Pl NE, I noticed the front end of a police car sticking out of someone's driveway on the left side of the road. It puzzled me for a moment, as I usually don't see police cars parked in a residence. As I passed the vehicle, the officer pulled up behind me and flashed their lights, pulling me over. The officer served me a ticket for running a stop sign. I looked back and realized that there was in fact, a 3-way intersection with blinking stop signs.
I decided to contest my case. I'm not extremely legally fluent, but here are a few points that I feel worth mentioning
1) The stop sign I passed did have blinking lights but they weren't working (others were)
2) [main reason] If I didn't look at the police car, I would have likely seen the stop sign
3) After pulling me over, the officer told me she was called in by residents for aggressive driving on the road. I had never driven on this road before. Although this doesn't matter legally, it is likely that she was there to catch speeding drivers (also probably doesn't matter but put a bad taste in my mouth).
I wasn't distracted by anything under my own control (eg on phone), I just felt really sour about the whole thing and felt that she was doing this because she wanted to tell the residents she caught someone.
I'm thinking about arguing some form of entrapment as the officer was partially visible and caused a distraction. As a result, I feel that under the circumstances (officer + non-flashing lights), it isn't reasonable for me to notice the stop sign as "clearly marked."
If someone could point me in the right direction as to how I should best present my case, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!
Ticketed for: Failure to stop at signal marking (stop sign)
At dusk, my friend and I were navigating home through the city of Clyde Hill (next to Bellevue). My friend told me to turn left on 84th Ave NE so I was scanning for a signpost. I was actually going slower than average because I didn't want to miss my turn.
As I approached the intersection of NE 24th St and 88th Pl NE, I noticed the front end of a police car sticking out of someone's driveway on the left side of the road. It puzzled me for a moment, as I usually don't see police cars parked in a residence. As I passed the vehicle, the officer pulled up behind me and flashed their lights, pulling me over. The officer served me a ticket for running a stop sign. I looked back and realized that there was in fact, a 3-way intersection with blinking stop signs.
I decided to contest my case. I'm not extremely legally fluent, but here are a few points that I feel worth mentioning
1) The stop sign I passed did have blinking lights but they weren't working (others were)
2) [main reason] If I didn't look at the police car, I would have likely seen the stop sign
3) After pulling me over, the officer told me she was called in by residents for aggressive driving on the road. I had never driven on this road before. Although this doesn't matter legally, it is likely that she was there to catch speeding drivers (also probably doesn't matter but put a bad taste in my mouth).
I wasn't distracted by anything under my own control (eg on phone), I just felt really sour about the whole thing and felt that she was doing this because she wanted to tell the residents she caught someone.
I'm thinking about arguing some form of entrapment as the officer was partially visible and caused a distraction. As a result, I feel that under the circumstances (officer + non-flashing lights), it isn't reasonable for me to notice the stop sign as "clearly marked."
If someone could point me in the right direction as to how I should best present my case, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!
Traffic Lights, Signs and Controls: Failure to Stop at Stop Sign - Distracted by Officer [Washington State]
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