{"id":1804,"date":"2012-07-03T06:55:49","date_gmt":"2012-07-03T06:55:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/red-light-not-turning-green\/"},"modified":"2020-10-30T20:47:45","modified_gmt":"2020-10-30T20:47:45","slug":"red-light-not-turning-green","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/red-light-not-turning-green\/","title":{"rendered":"Can you proceed through a red light not turning green?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Maybe. You probably have encountered a location where you were stuck on a light for several minutes.\u00a0 You even saw traffic on every side of the intersection move along a few times while you\u2019ve been in the same spot. More often, this dilemma occurs with people riding their bikes or motorcycles. Apparently, the size of the bike isn\u2019t large enough to trigger the sensors<\/a>.\u00a0 Many states are aware of these occurrences and explicitly permit motorists to proceed through a red light not turning green . [1]<\/a> California does have a similar statute\u00a0however there is one problem.<\/p>\n

According to CVC 21800(d)(1),<\/p>\n

\u201cThe driver of any vehicle approaching an intersection which has official traffic control signals that are inoperative<\/em> <\/strong>shall stop at the intersection, and may proceed with caution when it is safe to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Legislators tend to draft laws with so much jargon but for some reason they don\u2019t state the definition for the most critical terms. Here, \u201cinoperative\u201d is the operative word.\u00a0 Prior to 2009, the law stated the provision of 21800 (d)(1) allowing you to go through the intersection only applied to \u201ctraffic control signals that were inoperative because of\u00a0 battery failure.\u201d[2]<\/a> \u00a0Once again, what legislators considered a \u201cbattery failure\u201d is left for speculation. The fact that \u201cbattery failure\u201d was removed from the law strongly suggests an inoperative traffic signal can be expansive in its meaning.<\/p>\n

When I ask police officers how they define \u201cinoperative\u201d, many of them aren\u2019t aware this provision exists. Other officers say the lights have to be flashing red on all sides while other cops say the light has to be dead. Officers would much prefer you to make a right turn onto the adjacent road and a make a u-turn if possible. The consensus, nonetheless, is they will pull you over if they see you going through a red light. It\u2019s understandable from the officer\u2019s perspective why they would initiate a traffic stop. They probably didn\u2019t see you stuck at the light and the light was red when you drove.\u00a0 Moreover if you decide to tell the officer why you went through the light, please realize you just admitted to a pertinent fact that the state needs to prove in their case against you.\u00a0 You do have the right to remain silent and you are not required to tell the officer your reason even if s\/he asks for an explanation.<\/p>\n

If you must go through the signal, make sure you\u2019ll be doing so under the allowances of the law.\u00a0 You need to \u201cproceed with caution when it is safe to do so<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 Whatever this explanation translates into the real world depends on many factors.\u00a0 If nobody is around and you\u2019re not darting across the road, it shouldn’t be much of a problem since safety wouldn’t be jeopardized. If there is a constant flow of traffic or you rush through the light, then you likely won\u2019t receive the leeway. Another thing you can do is record the event. I recommend having a passenger tape the progress. If you use your phone\u2019s video camera, you can be cited for another traffic violation which I discussed in an earlier blog post<\/a>.\u00a0 You can also record other traffic at the intersection and catch any other vehicles experiencing the same predicament. You should also report the light to the appropriate transit authority. That specific signal can have a history and you might not be the only one who\u2019s been wedged at that stop.<\/p>\n

Nobody wants to be in a compromising position, but the law does recognize extenuating circumstances.\u00a0 You may be cited by the police for going through the intersection but it doesn’t mean you\u2019ll be found guilty in the court of law.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re seeking legal advice, feel free to contact me here at the Law Offices of Mark A. Gallagher: (800) 797-8406 or email: hans.socaldefense@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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[1]<\/a> See Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department Title 27, Subtitle 4, Chapter 52, Subchapter 2, Section 206 (exceptions for motorcycles) ; see Wisconsin Legislature: Chapter 346, Subchapter VI, Section 346.37(c) (exceptions for motorcycles).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[2]<\/a> Amended in 2009 CAL SB 734.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maybe. You probably have encountered a location where you were stuck on a light for several minutes.\u00a0 You even saw traffic on every side of the intersection move along a few times while you\u2019ve been in the same spot. More often, this dilemma occurs with people riding their bikes or motorcycles. Apparently, the size of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[278,279,280,281],"class_list":["post-1804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-california-traffic-ticket-blog","tag-278","tag-inoperative-traffic-signal","tag-intersection","tag-red-light"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1804"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1804\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5563,"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1804\/revisions\/5563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markagallagher.com\/socaldefenselawyers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}