Frigging ticket on way home from racetrack

What's the actual section in the vehicle code?

The CHP hat on my dash did not help.

Hate to say it, but that might have got ya ticket in the first place, they have been known to eat their own....

  don't always like firefighters either.... 

22526 (a) or (c) or (g). I can't quite make it out. If it is c I may be able to fight it because there were no railroad tracks involved.

Its def not (g).  more probably (a) which reads:

22526.  (a) Notwithstanding any official traffic control signal indication to proceed, a driver of a vehicle shall not enter an intersection or marked crosswalk unless there is sufficient space on the other side of the intersection or marked crosswalk to accommodate the vehicle driven without obstructing the through passage of vehicles from either side.

Interesting...

"Section 22526 is expressly not related to the safe operation of vehicles, and thus not intended to protect against traffic accidents ..."  Gilmer v. Ellington, 159 Cal. App. 4th 190, 203 (Cal. App. 2d Dist. 2008)

I checked out the Assembly's legislative digest for 1987-1988 discussion of AB 667 (the origination bill that put 22526 into effect).  It states that the "the bill would designate a violation of the prohibition to be a parking violation and would prescribe increased penalties for violations at posted intersections."  1987 Cal ALS 739. 

This is corroborated and expanded by the leg digest for a 2010 amendment to the statute.  In part, it notes: "(3) Existing law prohibits certain actions by the drivers of a motor vehicle if those actions would create certain obstructions with respect to intersections or railroad crossings, and provides that violations of these provisions are parking violations, or stopping violations dependent upon the authority of the peace officer who issued the notice to appear."

Tix under 22526 may be issued as either nonmoving (parking) or moving violations.  If moving violation, then investigate whether Chips had authority to issue b/c the leg history suggests not all LEO have such authority.  Which did Chips issue to you, parking or moving? 

   
     I'd say fight it too.    Your excellent driving  record will speak volumes for you.  Better than any witness could.

 I was doing 75 in a 55 once.     The CHP officer said "  It's late, I'm at the end of my shift If you have a good excuse I'll just give you a warning "
     I said,,,  "  My wife left me and moved in with a cop...    I thought you were trying to give her back "   

Freakin camera tagged me for not coming to a complete stop at a red light in redwood city....I was actually coming into a yellow but the light changed to red super fast and I was .14 seconds into the red when I crossed the line.  I was discussing this with the boys not too long ago and found that cities are reducing the length of the yellows at intersections with cameras 

Approx $350 for the violation, $200 court fees, nother hundred and some odd dollars for online traffic school, 40 bucks in fed-ex overnight charges cause I waited till the last minute....about $700 bucks later and my debt for .14 seconds of driving infraction was settled. 

To rub salt in the wound, they send you a picture of yourself during the infraction with a link to a video of the event, I believe thats where my 2 bills in court fees went, lesson learned, avoid redwood city like the plague.

If I remember correctly, somewhere I heard that there is a minimum length of time the Yellow light must be on.  Though I haven't the time today to look it up, I recall it being no less than 4.3 seconds.  There are some websites that may help, but basically sounds like you should always fight a ticket, and take it to trial.  It's your right! Might as well spend some of the state money they are stealing from you and make them earn that fee if they are going to stick it to you anyways...


http://www.highwayrobbery.net/

http://blog.motorists.org/6-cities-that-were-caught-shortening-yellow-light-times-for-profit/
"The city’s violation came to light after Dave Goodson, an engineer, received a ticket and realized that he did not have sufficient time to stop before the light had turned red. As a result of his inquiries, Union City’s traffic engineers admitted that they had set the yellow signal time at Union City Boulevard and Lowry Road at 3 seconds, despite the state law mandating the time be 4.3 seconds or greater."

It is marked traffic on the top. Not non traffic. So that would tell me moving?

CHP has the authority to write for just about any violation they feel like.

As a law enforcement officer myself and someone who has been stuck in traffic at that same intersection, my advice is to just file it away in the happy box and pay the ticket.

CHP was probably assigned to that location specifically for the post race traffic problems at that intersection. If you go to court and fight it, you will probably have a dozen other violators from that same day and place from all the others the chipper wrote tickets to. The CHP officer will be seen as a traffic expert to the judge.

It sucks that he ruined your perfect record.

my advice is to just file it away in the happy box and pay the ticket.

Agreed

I agree Rob, instead of taking the day off to fight the ticket which will most likely not help, pay it, and take the day off and go fishing...

There are plenty of intersections here in San Jose where if you waited for enough space you'd be sitting there a looong time.