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Is Crossing Zebra Stripes in Center of Road Illegal

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  • 01-05-2012, 03:59 PM
    Who Knows?
    Is Crossing Zebra Stripes in Center of Road Illegal
    My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: New York

    Explanation:
    I was on a 4 lane road with a zebra stripe section down the middle, which many cars use to turn left into a Kohl's parking lot, or right into a fast food place.
    One night an officer stopped me and issued a violation of Section 1110(a) when I made a left turn into the lot.
    There is also a badly placed no left turn signal (R3-2) about 2 car lengths before the turn, that faces the sidewalk and not the road, which I had never noticed.

    I went to traffic court to defend myself based on the ill placement and low visibility of the left turn sign, and the fact that no written law (that I could find) mentions the zebra stripes - the judge would not let me cite the law (he said he knew it). He claimed just crossing the zebra lines was a violation, and he got angry when I asked him where the law states this - because I was unable to find it (its not covered in the DMV manual, or Manual on Uniform Traffic Devices). He wouldn't let me discuss the R3-2 sign at all.

    I wanted to refer to line 2 of b below.
    Section 1110(a) of the Vehicle and Traffic Law in NY says:
    §1110. Obedience to and required traffic-control devices.

    (b) No provision of this title for which signs are required shall be enforced against an alleged violator if at the time and place of the alleged violation an official sign is not in proper position and sufficiently legible to be seen by an ordinarily observant person.Whenever a particular section does not state that signs are required, such section shall be effective even though no signs are erected or in place.

    This was a multi-lane road and the sign is small, probably 24x24. In the Manual it states it should be 36 x 36. Or am I reading it wrong?
    Page 46- Table 2B-1. Regulatory Sign and Plaque Sizes
    Sign Movement Prohibition, R3-1,2,3,4,18,27
    Designation Section 2B.18
    Conventional Road
    Single lane 24 x 24*
    Multi lane 36 x 36


    Question:
    Is this worth filing an appeal? He found me guilty but I plead not guilty.
    I am obviously not alone as all day long people make this turn because of the low visibility of the no left turn sign, and ignorance about these zebra stripes.
    But if they got me on the stripes - they got me, right?

    Thanks for your response!
  • 01-05-2012, 04:04 PM
    Disagreeable
    Re: Is Crossing Zebra Stripes in Center of Road Illegal
    Are the stripes yellow or white? White should be okay to cross, yellow are not. I sympathize. I frequently stop at a convenient store just off the interstate. The 1st entrance to their lot is blocked by a median and the second/last has the dreaded yellow zebra stripe. Whenever I stop there, I look for the local police, who sit up the road and state troopers, who fuel there. It is a pain to drive 200 yards down the road and turn around in a driveway, to avoid a ticket.
  • 01-05-2012, 04:06 PM
    flyingron
    Re: Is Crossing Zebra Stripes in Center of Road Illegal
    Try 1130(1). The zebra stripes is a divider just as if there was an island there.
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