My question involves a traffic citation from the state of: California
The story: At 7:30am, I turned right at the intersection while having the red light. I got pull over by this police man who was driving a motorcycle at the time. He said I didn't make a fully stop before making a right turn at the stop light. I told him I did look to make sure it was clear before turning. He said, even so, I need to make a complete stop before turning.
Now, I got a citation for 495 dollars. The code was VC21453(a), and the description was "Red light (RT Turn)"
Questions:
From what I've researched, VC21453(a) is for running through the red light. In my case -- turning right on red light -- the correct code should be VC21453(b).
I called the court and stated the problem. They said hold on to the citation, they'd contact the officer for clarification. A month later, they got back to me and said officer said it was the correct code.
Now, what should I do? Should I go to court to fight for the wrong code? Any guidelines on doing this?
Here are the descriptions of VC21453 a & b:
21453.
(a) A driver facing a steady circular red signal alone shall stop at a marked limit line, but if none, before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the intersection or, if none, then before entering the intersection, and shall remain stopped until an indication to proceed is shown, except as provided in subdivision
(b) Except when a sign is in place prohibiting a turn, a driver, after stopping as required by subdivision (a), facing a steady circular red signal, may turn right, or turn left from a one-way street onto a one-way street. A driver making that turn shall yield the right-of-way to pedestrians lawfully within an adjacent crosswalk and to any vehicle that has approached or is approaching so closely as to constitute an immediate hazard to the driver, and shall continue to yield the right-of-way to that vehicle until the driver can proceed with reasonable safety.
Any advices are greatly appreciated.
port2110

