Coming back from valley view i was following behind my girl friend and came upon the elm ave exit...light turned green she went under...than i went under more than half way across the light turned yellow......on the other side i see a new roanoke city officer do an illegel u-turn without lights than come flying up behind me with his lights blaring...i get pulled over talked to the officer in an nice tone and acted civial and asked him the charge he said running an red light...i explained to the office it was green and turned yellow when i was little more than half way under he pretty much said take it up with court...going under a yellow is running a red..

cliff notes


girl friend went through green light
i went behind her about 1/4th my car is past it turned yellow
City cops runs up behind me and says i ran a redlight ??


work has ZERO tolerence on wreakless driving.......i dont want this to go on my record as bull shit....

 

i dont think running a light is wreCkless driving but what do i know. either way that sucks and you should have checked to see if there was a camera in that particular intersection.

 

WTF? How the hell did he know you ran a red light? By looking at the lights on the other side? Running a yellow is not the same as running a red. That is ridiculous. I would have smacked him in the face. I guess it depends on what he says in court. If he says you ran a red, you're srewed. If he says you ran a yellow, the judge might smack him in the face.

 

running a red isnt wreckless but if you want to fight it... there is something called "point of no return" which you can probably find in your VA divers manual. its basically the point where you cannot stop to avoid going thru a red light. i.e. if youre going 40 and youre at the line and the light turns yellow, you cant slam on your brakes safely to stop, you have to proceed through. this is the same application. good luck

 

I had a hard time trying to decypher what you were trying to say, Gary.

Were his lights really blaring? You could hear the lights?


If you're unable to stop safely when a light turns yellow, you proceed through it. That's not to say if you're doing 100mph in a 35 and you're looking at a light turning yellow from 300ft away, and you go through it, that you won't get a ticket for it.. That only applies when you're entering an intersection and the light turns yellow. If the light was green when you entered the intersection, and turned yellow afterwards, you did nothing wrong (other than continuing to waste the air that I could be breathing)

Something tells me there's more to the story though... It sounds odd to me that you're minding your own business and a cop going a different direction busts a u-turn to pull you over for going through a yellow light. I do that several times a day.

 

By the way everyone.. It's RECKLESS, not wreckless.

 

that's what I was referring to.. but you posted it while I was typing my post.

 

Well, having just taken the 8 hour safe driver's course as well as the advanced reckless driver's course (only offered up in Fairfax County, where I got my reckless ticket), I can tell you that by the letter of the law you are not supposed to enter an intersection when the light is yellow. Yes, officers are supposed to apply common sense and realize that cars don't stop on a dime, but obviously this officer doesn't understand that. If the light turned yellow after you had crossed the white line then there's nothing you could do.

I can't find my dmv books, but I'm pretty sure running a red light is a reckless charge. Your best bet is to go to court (with a lawyer if you can afford one) and dispute the charge. Lawyers can be pricey, but they're your best bet, because they can work a deal with the Commonwealth's Attorney before you even see the judge (that's what mine did, got my 85 in a 55 reckless charge knocked down to a 10 over speeding ticket). Good luck, hope you can beat it.

 

Don't need a lawyer. Cop didn't see your light, it will be dismissed in court.

 

yuppp, anyway you look at it, dont be an ass and it will be dismissed