Failure To Yield To An Emergency Vehicle

My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: DC

I've been scouring the internet for the last few hours (it's Memorial Day weekend... so I guess I have a few hours to use up), and haven't been able to find a whole lot of help on the issue. I apologize if this has been done in the past, but I was wondering if anyone might be able to offer some insight.

Today, while driving home with a friend, I had the unfortunate luck of having an accident with a police officer. It resulted in a ticket for failing to yield the right of way to an emergency vehicle.

Now, the details. I was in the middle of three northbound lanes. The right lane is typically a parking lane, so there were no cars traveling to my right. There was a car to my left, a little ahead of me. For all intents and puproses, we were both the posted speed limit of 30 miles per hour. We had approached an intersection with a green light. As we both moved through the light, a police cruiser from our left (west) moved through the intersection and the other car (the lady to my left) struck the officer, followed by my contact with the officer. Neither the other lady, my passenger, or myself heard or saw sirens before the officer entered the intersection. As it appears, they may have been proceeding at speed through the intersection.

The officer worked the scene until his supervisor appeared. He had issued a ticket to the other lady and I for the accident.

For those of you that may have experience with this, is it worth fighting? I'm looking at the insurance increase, paying my deductible, and a hefty ticket. I've gotten quite a few responses from neighbors and friends that say that it's a losing battle to contest the police. Also, would anyone be able to point me in the direction of where I could find traffic law regarding situations like this? I've found some information on my type of ticket, but the descriptors generally sound like they're geared for different situations (not moving lanes). Any help or insight would greatly be appreciated!!!

It would really help if you could tell us the statute or ordinance you were cited for violating. Also, tell us what the officer wrote on the ticket.

Barry

Barry,

Thank you for your response. The ticket I received had a CCN of 070-662 and code of T039. The officer had written under the Moving Violation section of the ticket "Fail to yield ROW to Emergency Vehicle". Aside from that, there aren't really any other distinguishing marks or notes on the ticket.

Under the circumstances, I think you should most certainly challenge the citation. I also think you were likely cited as a defensive measure by the police. The fact that two of you were involved lends a little more credence to your alleging that there wasn't fair warning. I'd talk with an attorney...and the other accident 'victim'.