I have just moved and was on my way to work a few mornings ago when I accidentally ran a stop sign. (yeah I know I broke the law, but I'm not arguing that I did it and I'll face up to the consequences) My only excuse is that the sign was partially hidden by a tree branch so it didn't register until I was already in the intersection (not an excuse) and because I wasn't familiar with the area I didn't know it was there. (Saw the city out trimming the tree this morning)
My question arises from what happened after this. The intersection has some large hedges on each corner so it is not possible to see traffic sitting at the stop sign on the cross street. When I ran the sign there was a woman on a motorcycle sitting at the cross street. She followed me, on my bumper such that if I had needed to brake quickly I'm not sure she would have been able to avoid hitting me, honking, yelling and motioning for me to pull over. At the next intersection she pulled in front of me, and parked across the travel lane. At this point she approached the side of my vehicle and motioned for me to roll the window down. When I refused and attempted to go around her parked motorcycle she stood in the center of the road preventing me and two cars behind me from continuing down the road. She finally, after much yelling and arm waving, took down my license number. While she was writing a car exited the intersection going the opposite way and stopped to ask her if everything was alright. (my car is not well sound-proofed so I was able to hear the exchange clearly even with windows up and doors closed) She stated that I had "tried to run her down." Like I said I ran a stop sign but I certainly didn't do it with the intent of hitting anyone, especially someone I didn't know was there. At no point did this woman identify herself as a member of any law enforcement agency.
My question is this: What if anything should I do or do differently in this situation? (beyond the obvious and snarky answer of not run the stop sign in the first place)
Thanks!
My question arises from what happened after this. The intersection has some large hedges on each corner so it is not possible to see traffic sitting at the stop sign on the cross street. When I ran the sign there was a woman on a motorcycle sitting at the cross street. She followed me, on my bumper such that if I had needed to brake quickly I'm not sure she would have been able to avoid hitting me, honking, yelling and motioning for me to pull over. At the next intersection she pulled in front of me, and parked across the travel lane. At this point she approached the side of my vehicle and motioned for me to roll the window down. When I refused and attempted to go around her parked motorcycle she stood in the center of the road preventing me and two cars behind me from continuing down the road. She finally, after much yelling and arm waving, took down my license number. While she was writing a car exited the intersection going the opposite way and stopped to ask her if everything was alright. (my car is not well sound-proofed so I was able to hear the exchange clearly even with windows up and doors closed) She stated that I had "tried to run her down." Like I said I ran a stop sign but I certainly didn't do it with the intent of hitting anyone, especially someone I didn't know was there. At no point did this woman identify herself as a member of any law enforcement agency.
My question is this: What if anything should I do or do differently in this situation? (beyond the obvious and snarky answer of not run the stop sign in the first place)
Thanks!
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