Legal Question in Traffic Law in California

I was driving on backroads and the road came into another road there was no stop sign and i was turning left and ive learned on intersections that you have to yield but if there is no car or the car if a safe distance away u can keep rollin through if not you stop. I saw there was no cars coming from the left and the car from the right is far enough to away to wher i could go and catch up to 25mph before the car would be close to me so i did it. I used my blinker yielded and went on through. the cop pulled me over and said that the car i pulled onto the road to had to slam on its brakes(this is the car behind me i pulled out infront of) but i was going the speed limit and the car was still a good 15 yards behind me. anyways the cop said the car had to slam on its brakes which is didnt. If i get a written statement from the car i pulled infront of because i know who it was. that says he didnt have to even yield to me will i get out of this ticket i got it21801(a) for unsafe left turn.


Asked on 6/08/10, 11:34 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Stone Law Offices of Michael B. Stone Toll Free 1-855-USE-MIKE

Based on the info you gave, the cop is right. 25 mph, the speed limit, is 36.67 feet per second or 12.11 yards per second. At the moment you completed your left turn, your speed was 0. So if the other driver was going 25 mph, and he had to react and stop from a distance of 15 yards and not hit you, the other driver would have had only 1.25 seconds. Of that probably 0.5 seconds is his reaction time. He was lucky to have been able to slam on his brakes and stop in the remaining 0.75 seconds. Run these numbers by the instructor when you go to traffic school.

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Answered on 6/09/10, 3:05 am


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