Failure to yield to an emergency vehicle.

[sXenoG]

I would just like advice as to what I should do.

Location: California

Scenario:
Its a four way intersection. I was first at a red light, there was an officer who was in the apposing traffic first in line to make a left turn. The vehicle I failed to yield to was perpendicular to me heading toards me (it was a fire truck).

What happened:
I am a fairly new driver and just got my first ticket next month I will have been driving for a year and will be 17 next month as well. I am still fairly intimidated by cops as im not fully comfortable behind the wheel as of yet. So I was at a red light the light turn green and i looked at the officer who would be in front of me to the left i entered the intersection i looked to the right and the instant I looked there was a fire truck to my left, If i had stopped at that moment I would have been impeding the fire truck so i accelerated to get through the intersection. Immediatle i pulled ot the right in attempt to yield to the emergency vehicle. Next thing I kno after im allready stopped the officer who was in apposing traffic was behind me. He hadnt even begun to make a u turn b4 I had yielded but he wrote me a ticket for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle. I do admit that I was in the wrong for not check both left and right b4 entering the intersection, but it was not my intention at all to not yield to an emergency vehicle. I did have my music on so i did not hear the siren but feel that should not be even considered since the deaf are perfectly legal to drive. There was notthing obstructing my vision at all it was just hat i looked at the officer b4 entering the intersection.

Question:
I am perfectly willing to pay my dues even tho i feel that severe punishment would be unjust. Especially since I have abided my the law better than anyone I kno. I didnt take passengers before the 6 month limit(each of my friends have) I wait to make sure i can clear an intersection before doing it. I practice safer driving then many of the people i know.

So bassicly I want to kno what my best shot would be to reduce the fine or avoid it all together which I dont feel will be a probable option due to some of the things the cop said to me. The cop immediately asked "So you dont like to follow the law" I tried to answer but he left me dumbfounded as he kept rolling with questiong belittling my own character. After i got the ticket I asked him a multitude of questions as to how mucht e fee was going to be and how i could reduce etc. I saw a curious look on his face so i decided to explain my questiong to him, My father told me that if I were ot get the ticket I will be expected ot pay double the fine. He the responded to me telling me that perhaps I should decieve my dad by never telling him and handling it all on my own, which leads me to beilieve this cop is perfectly willing to be decietful if put on the stand.

PS:
Food for thought: How many people in their right mind unless they had a death wish(which i do not) would purposefully pully out in frount of a fire engine.

PS.s: I also in my opinion do not feel i ipeded the path of the fire engine what so ever.

Thanks in advanced for any advince and help you officers will give to me.
-Sorry for tyhe typos and bad spelling as I have a migrane atm and witht he computer I just built I dont have a spell check bundled in software I feel is respectable.

[DaveinUtah]

A lot of people think just because a light turns green, you can go without looking. I would pay the ticket and mark this up as a good lesson for you. Even with a green light, always make a quick glance right and left. It could save your life someday when a drunk driver decides to run the red light, he should be stopping for, and T-bones you.

[sXenoG]

Yes

I honestly can say I have been but I did previously too just not all the time especially att he time being my parents are going thru a divorce and im completely in the middle of it and i was just so outta it at the time. Im not looking to wiggle my way outta the ticket mostly would just like to have a small of a fine as possible. Im trying to accept responsibility for a mistake that im sure many people make routinely and im sure not even all officers do.

And thanks for the prompt reply

[Bodie]

Pay the ticket and learn from the experience. What you did has resulted in serious injury or death to police officers and or firefighters. So no matter what is up in your parents divorce etc etc etec. You committed a serious traffic infraction and must pay the fine and serve any suspension.

[sXenoG]

Sigh so bassicly you guys dont like to give anyone breaks? I understand my error and can accept punishment. But feel that perhaps serious punishments should be put towards those who purposefully do not obey the law. As of right now Someone in this forum who was ticketed for speeding getting a dui etc etc has gotten more advice than i.

If any advice can be given at all I would appreciate it if its possible can someone direct me to where i can find fees for my infraction. I dont believe there are any pre determined values so im not expecting it but if there is id be very thankful for any information.

[gotthblues]

Sigh so bassicly you guys dont like to give anyone breaks? I understand my error and can accept punishment. But feel that perhaps serious punishments should be put towards those who purposefully do not obey the law. As of right now Someone in this forum who was ticketed for speeding getting a dui etc etc has gotten more advice than i.

If any advice can be given at all I would appreciate it if its possible can someone direct me to where i can find fees for my infraction. I dont believe there are any pre determined values so im not expecting it but if there is id be very thankful for any information.

officers enforce the laws, if the judge or prosecuting attorney wants to give a break, then thats their job, a citation is not an admittion of guilt, just a promise to appear before the judge.

[DaveinUtah]

Sigh so bassicly you guys dont like to give anyone breaks? I understand my error and can accept punishment. But feel that perhaps serious punishments should be put towards those who purposefully do not obey the law. As of right now Someone in this forum who was ticketed for speeding getting a dui etc etc has gotten more advice than i.

If any advice can be given at all I would appreciate it if its possible can someone direct me to where i can find fees for my infraction. I dont believe there are any pre determined values so im not expecting it but if there is id be very thankful for any information.

I give people breaks all the time. For this, no, I don't. It is too serious an offense to me. But, I know it was an accident on your part. Like I said, take it as a lessoned learned. Oh, and here you go bro:

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d18/vc42001_12.htm

[sXenoG]

Well my dad says im allowed to pleed guilt with explanation and thats what im planning to do. As I said before I want to accept responsibility for my wrong bt would like the fine to be reduced as much as possible. And i do not believe they will be leniant as I am a new driver and it seems ot me as if they like to be more harsh on us even tho many of the kids who are resposible abide by the law far more then the adults who's rules we must abide to daily.

[PABear31]

Unless California law is radically different than Pennsylvania's then the fact that you didn't intend to impede the progress of the fire engine is irrelevant. Proof of intent is not required in motor vehicle violations. Your only hope is to take a hearing and hope that the judge sees that you are a good person and that you honestly didn't see the fire engine until it was too late and took the only course available to you to get out of its way.

By the way just because a police officer might imply that you could deceive your father doesn't mean that he would be willing to committ perjury and risk the loss of his job or possible jail time over a traffic ticket.

[L-1]

Sigh so bassicly you guys dont like to give anyone breaks?

Far from it. We give breaks all the time. But in this case the decision to give you a break rested with the citing officer and not any of us. Apparently, he felt that giving you a break was not in order.

You can come up with all the excuses you want, but based solely on your description of the event, it was a valid citation. You need to pay the fine and move on.

Depending on the court, you might be able to go to traffic school and have the citation expunged from your record.

[sXenoG]

Thank you so much for the link DaveinUtah im sorry for getting snappy at you earlier. Its just do you understand how frusterating it is when you try to abide by laws better than anyone you know and yet you just accidently do something you're penalized for it. I can understand your stand point about people dying because of not looking left and right and typically i do, i admit not always but i have made it a tedious habbit since then. Im sure once im relaxed again I'll prolly relax my habits as most but will try to always look left and right.

I have two more questions.
How should I probably conduct my hearing should i pleed guilty with explnation or should I just pleed guilty? (what would give me the best chance for the judce to be leniant with me*remember I want to accept just with as small a fine as possible*)

Secondly what as a traffic school that you could reccomend to me that is reputable at low cost.

[gotthblues]

Well my dad says im allowed to pleed guilt with explanation and thats what im planning to do. As I said before I want to accept responsibility for my wrong bt would like the fine to be reduced as much as possible. And i do not believe they will be leniant as I am a new driver and it seems ot me as if they like to be more harsh on us even tho many of the kids who are resposible abide by the law far more then the adults who's rules we must abide to daily.

must suck to live there, here if you are a new driver and you dont have a traffic record, it is easy to get a defered sentence with defensive driving, but if you have a traffic record, they will hand your butt to you.

[sXenoG]

By the way just because a police officer might imply that you could deceive your father doesn't mean that he would be willing to committ perjury and risk the loss of his job or possible jail time over a traffic ticket.

No but the likely hood only increases as I have no proof of anything.

As for L-1 I want to accept responsibility I just want the lowest possible fine that is all I was in the wrong but only by accident no one is a perfect driver and we all make occasional mistakes.
And I was allready told that I could go to traffic school to have it removed from my record by the officer which i am allready planning on doing.


PLEASE people dont get me wrong I understand that I was in the wrong nad want to accept resposibility believe me im not trying to say im above anyon im just saying that i would like a low fine as it was my first and an honest accident on my part.

[sXenoG]

Gothhblues I dont know if its the truth whether they truly are harder on the youth but it is only my understanding from what I have been told.

[L-1]

As for L-1 I want to accept responsibility I just want the lowest possible fine that is all I was in the wrong but only by accident no one is a perfect driver and we all make occasional mistakes.

And I was allready told that I could go to traffic school to have it removed from my record by the officer which i am allready planning on doing.

If you are going to traffic school, there is no need to see the judge. Going before the judge in California often eliminates traffic school as a option. Simply go to where you would normally pay the fine and tell them you want to go to traffic school instead. They will give you a list of approved schools and instructions on how to proceed.

There's something else you need to understand. Throughout all of your postings you've indicated a belief that you should not have been cited, or your fine should be reduced because you made a good faith mistake, there was no unlawful intent and nobody got hurt. That attitude is the very reason why people are given citations.

Traffic violations are rarely intentional. To the contrary, they are usually the result of inattention (you had the radio up so you couldn't hear the approaching siren). It's because of unintentional acts like this that people are killed or injured in accidents on a daily basis. If giving warnings was enough to correct such behavior, than that's what we would do. But time and experience have shown that only when a citation is issued and a penalty is imposed will people pay a lot more attention and modify their driving habits.

Good luck, and let us know how things turn out.