My wife has been cited by one of Portland, Oregon's finest (no disrespect intended) for "Failure to obey a Traffic Control Device". She was approaching a major 4-lane, northbound, one-way street from the west - driving on a small two-lane road (one lane in each direction). She stopped her vehicle at the stop sign, looked for cross traffic, and seeing none, she crossed the one-way street. A block later she arrived at her destination to find an unmarked patrol car pulling in behind her.
The officer told her she was required to turn left at the intersection, and that by crossing the road she had broken the law. He cited her, despite her statements that there was no signage telling her she had to turn left. He stated the devices she violated were the markings painted on the road and a sign on the post at the corner.
We went back to the intersection and looked... and sure enough, there was a regulatory (black/white rectangular) sign under the stop sign that says... "No Right Turn" (clearly to keep you from going southbound on the northbound one-way street). But she didn't make a right turn. She went straight. Painted on the ground there is a white left arrow - it is small (16 inches diagonal from corner to corner, my laptop covers it easily) and it is painted on a bleached white concrete crosswalk - it is barely visible from all the wear. There is no sign indicating she has to turn left anywhere in the intersection. There is no "Do Not Enter" sign on the far side of the intersection, and there is a marked lane directly opposite the travel lane where she crossed - which she drove into with no difficulty.
So my questions are: Does she fight this on the grounds that the Control Devices contradict one another, or are at the very least confusing? Or does she object on the grounds that the left arrow TCD (presumably the one she violated) doesn't conform to Oregon DOT standards for such markings and is too small to be noticed? Also my wife recalls that there was a vehicle in front of her before she crossed (it turned left), but that vehicle's position blocked visibility of the left arrow on the pavement.
By the way, the officer did indicate the stop was being recorded, and admitted on tape that my wife was extremely cautious before crossing the street, made a safe crossing, and acknowledged her clean driving record (10 years without a ticket). How can she go about getting copies of that tape in advance for use in the hearing, assuming she contests the ticket?
Thanks, in advance, for your advice.![]()

