Legal Question in Traffic Law in Pennsylvania

Failure to stop at a stop sign?

So I was pulling out of highschool

(first one out) as I had to be at work

at 3:00 I got to the end of the

parking lot and stopped at the stop

sign to merge onto the main road (3

way stop sign) I saw the cop to my

right up the hill so i stopped extra

long lol. Before I even finished the

turn he flicked his lights and siren on.

He said ''first off that was a stop sign

back there'' I told him I stopped and

he said ''you stopped, but you looked

like you were in a hurry'' I told him

that I was on my way to work and he

said ''you need to slow down too'' in

reality I only made it about 10ft so i

could not have been going too fast. I

didnt have my license on me but I

tried to give him my registration. He

asked me for my name/DOB and he

told me to slow down and that he

would be contacting my parents. He

called my mom today and said that I

am getting a citation for failure to

stop at a stop sign and reckless

driving. CAN HE DO THAT. He pulled

me over on friday and said nothing

about a citation. And I know I

stopped.


Asked on 10/01/07, 6:49 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Roger Traversa Arjont Group (Law Office of Roger Traversa)

Re: Failure to stop at a stop sign?

You asked about a police officer that gave you a ticket.

Can he do that? Yes. Can you beat the ticket? Probably.

Police sometimes are a little too full of themselves. I love that line "You looked like you were in a hurry." This would be a great project for your school's civics club or class.

You need to defend on the ticket. Take the matter to court and present a case. Researching the law and procedure will be interesting.

You'll need to beat the cop with his own words. Find a witness to present corroborating testimony. Also, make sure you get a history of the LEO's records, so you know if he has a history of giving out specious tickets.

You definitely want to fight this as from your story it sounds like you were on the right side of legal, but probably just barely. A ding on your record at your age will cause a real increase in your insurance rates.

Regards,

Roger

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Answered on 10/01/07, 11:24 pm


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