Ticket for Driving Past a Road Closed Barricade

[musicguy123]

My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: Minnesota
I got the ticket when I was heading home from the casino on a Tuesday at about 11:30 at night. The casino is located in the middle of nowhere and only has two ways of getting to it. Both are on county highways coming from either the North or South. When I was going to the Casino earlier that night I ran into the road closed signs across the highway, I thought it was most likely closed due to flooding and was curious as to where the road was flooded. So I went around the signs with no intentions of driving all the way down the road and continued cautiously. I saw a few other cars driving on the highway as I went along. I eventually reached the road closed signs at the other end of the road, not having seen a single sign of flooding. So when I was going to head home later that night, I thought I would just go back that same way. I had no clue how to get home taking the other highway from the casino. So I reached the barricades, which when coming this way had a sign that said road under water, drove around them and continued on the road. There was a truck a few hundred feet behind me that did the same thing. A couple cars passed me going the other way on the closed highway. As I approached a bottleneck where you could take a right I noticed a car with it's headlights on just waiting there. I knew it was a cop instantly and pulled over after I passed hime before he even turned on his lights. There was another cop just finishing up giving another car a ticket ahead of me. The truck behind me just drove past since both the cops were busy. I was very polite with the officer, he gave me my ticket and told me I could continue down the closed road the direction I was going. There were no detour signs anywhere at all to tell you how to get to the open part of the highway. I know that I was completely in the wrong and obviously drove around the signs, but is there any approach I can use to try and get out of this ticket in court?

[Mr. Knowitall]

Begging for mercy?

If it were me I might try to cut a deal, but you haven't shared anything that would support a substantive defense.

[PTPD22]

When I was going to the Casino earlier that night I ran into the road closed signs across the highway, I thought it was most likely closed due to flooding and was curious as to where the road was flooded. So I went around the signs with no intentions of driving all the way down the road and continued cautiously.

Guess it’s a good thing that the road wasn’t closed, signed, and barricaded because of a giant sink hole or washout that had undermined the roadway making it unsafe to support the weight of your vehicle! Or, have you ever heard of “flash flooding?” Google it. Only pure luck allowed you to get out of this with only a traffic infraction rather than a starring role on the “Darwin Awards” website.

[musicguy123]

Guess it’s a good thing that the road wasn’t closed, signed, and barricaded because of a giant sink hole or washout that had undermined the roadway making it unsafe to support the weight of your vehicle! Or, have you ever heard of “flash flooding?” Google it. Only pure luck allowed you to get out of this with only a traffic infraction rather than a starring role on the “Darwin Awards” website.

If you read what I wrote you would see that I said I continued cautiously. I wasn't driving with my eyes closed, I would have noticed a sinkhole or a partial washout. It wasn't raining and there is no river nearby so I don't think that a flash flood would have came on like a monsoon or anything! But thank you very much for the useful information you provided in response to my question. Oh wait, you didn't give any!

[That Guy]

If you read what I wrote you would see that I said I continued cautiously.

The road was closed. And the sign clearly indicated it to be closed. It did not allow that you continue cautiously! CLOSED means turn around and find another way!

If you read what I wrote you would see that I said I continued cautiously. I wasn't driving with my eyes closed, I would have noticed a sinkhole or a partial washout. It wasn't raining and there is no river nearby so I don't think that a flash flood would have came on like a monsoon or anything! But thank you very much for the useful information you provided in response to my question. Oh wait, you didn't give any!

Flash floods only happen near rivers? Really?



Now seriously.. Think about what you're saying... You came up on a Road Closed sign, and to you that meant go ahead and drive around the sign and continue through because whoever decided to close it, did so for no apparent reason but to set up a little adventure to those who haven't got a clue?

I'm curios... What do you do when you come to a STOP sign? DO you simply continue at your same speed? Then claim there were no cars there anyways and heck, you did run the stop sign cautiously? How about a red light? How about a sign that says "No Right Turn"? Or another that says "No Left Turn"?

All of those are likely to be regulatory signs just like the Road Closed sign. Does the fact that you were issued a citation give you a clue that what you did might be, by some strange standard that escapes you, ILLEGAL?

[musicguy123]

My response about driving cautiously had nothing to do with fighting the ticket, or saying I was not doing anything wrong. It was only a response to PTPD22's post saying I should have died and only by pure dumb luck did I not. And In my original post I said that I know what I did was illegal and know that I am in the wrong, the question I have is what is the best route I should take to try and get the ticket reduced or anything along those lines.

[PTPD22]

The point I was trying to make (apparently not very successfully) was that perhaps you do not have the training and/or experience to immediately recognize every potential hazard that could have prompted the road closure. Maybe, just maybe, there is the possibility of a hazard that doesn't jump up and down, with flashing neon lights, screaming "I'm a hazard!" Maybe, the hazard wasn't readily visible or apparent...thus the need to POST SIGNS! My point was, when signs like that are posted, you ignore them at your peril.

I see no remedy for you regarding the citation. You clearly committed the violation, I see no mitigating circumstances, and see no procedural or legal errors that could be grounds for dismissal. The only thing I can see for you to do is pay the ticket and get on with your life.