Impeding Traffic Ticket
 

So...tonight in Pasadena i pulled over for about 30 secs to slow down for a friend that was following me. Then these cops walking down the street walk in front of my car and basically give me a ticket for 'impeding traffic'

Don"t get me wrong, I did stop in a no stop zone but there were no cars behind me. It was only for a few seconds I swear!

Can i fight this or should I just pay and be done with it?

How much do impediment of traffic cost?

I'm not sure how much these tickets cost, but....if you were pulled over off the road (I live in South Pasadena and go to school at PCC so I'm very familiar with the roads) if you pulled off to the side, and parked next to the curb, then there's no way that that would be considered impeding traffic. did you put on your emergency flashers? If so then this would also help your case. the fact that you were stopping to allow a friend to catch up is fair.

you probably have a decent case to go with, because they didn't ticket you for stopping in a no-stop-zone (like they should have if they were insistent on giving you a ticket...not impeding traffic) but honestly..how much is the ticket? court fee's wont be fun either...so in the end you'll have to pay something right?

That sounds silly. The only thing they may have on you is that you were in a no stop zone.

wow. cali cops are harsh!

a**wipes

Like I stated in another thread; it's the end of the month and cops need to fill their monthly quota
for tickets. Congrats.

I would take pix of where you were pulled over. Just to show the judge if you were 'impeding' traffic
or not. If you were next to a curb, say an actual (metered?) parking space, that's not 'impeding' traffic
because cars can still pass you without slowing down. If it wasn't a curb, then GL explaining that to the
judge. Totally suck$ but what can you do?

fight it! thats bs, the most they can give you if you pulled over in non stopping zone is a parking ticket..plus if u go sweettalk the judge they will most likely drop it or atleast reduce it

fight it. that cop has nothing on you. take pics of the curb, tell him to even verify/identify that it was indeed there, have your friend as witness. if he agrees it was where you were pulled over, and that it was a metered space, or along a curb where other cars can pass, then he will have nothing to say. you were not impeding traffic. o_0 Good luck

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well i did stop where you were not supposed to. There were no meters. There were two lanes and i guess i took up one lane by pulling over.

One car had to change lanes to go around me, but i did have my hazards on.

hmm...technically the car changing lanes would be impeding i guess? did you find out how much it is? honestly I still don't think it's worth it to fight it. court fee's cost enough as it is, and if you fight it, you get your money back only for the ticket. before you even fight it, I think you still have to pay the ticket..

Easy.

Fight it. Say you had a sudden extreme pain in your abdomen and pulled over safely as not to impede traffic.

the cops could report that no such pain was explained to them as they issued the ticket...if he has to fight it in court, the cops will be there, and if they don't show, its dismissed, so theres no need to give an excuse. so that wuoldnt work..

cops don't have "quotas" to fill. they may a personal goal to write X amount of tickets, but that is it. of course like any job you want to have a good performance if you care about your work so you write tickets to those that are breaking the law.

to OP:
face it, you broke the law. that is the chance you take when stopping in the middle of the road. pasadena is a horrible spot to even think of stopping or double parking or better yet all of so cal is.

i've seen people done worse. the cop didnt even let me explain myself.

im going to fight this ticket. i know i can get away with it. people pull over always. its not a big deal.

Fight it. Your insurance will reflect even silly violations like this.

fight it. screw no contest they just want your money. worse comes worse just plead non guilty and reschedule your court date. bet you anything they wont show up and it'll be dismissed :P

so i got my ticket in the mail today.

$200 dollars.

worth fighting?

let me know

tickets are always worth fighting.

it's total crap that they tagged you with "impeding traffic" instead of "parking in a no stopping zone" as it will show up as a moving violation on your record.

fight it.

1. call the courthouse that your ticket is assigned to and ask for an extension/continuance. they should give you 30-60 days longer to pay for the ticket.

2. get a "trial by declaration" and pay for the bail. the bail amount will be around $200. a trial by declaration is where you write an account of what happened.

3. in the statement that you write make sure that you cite cvc 22400. make sure that you tell them that you stopped for safety purposes and that there was no traffic behind you. be as detailed as possible and DO NOT incriminate yourself, apologize or admit to any other violations.

22400. (a) No person shall drive upon a highway at such a slow speed as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic, unless the reduced speed is necessary for safe operation, because of a grade, or in compliance with law.

No person shall bring a vehicle to a complete stop upon a highway so as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic unless the stop is necessary for safe operation or in compliance with law.

(b) Whenever the Department of Transportation determines on the basis of an engineering and traffic survey that slow speeds on any part of a state highway consistently impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic, the department may determine and declare a minimum speed limit below which no person shall drive a vehicle, except when necessary for safe operation or in compliance with law, when appropriate signs giving notice thereof are erected along the part of the highway for which a minimum speed limit is established.

Subdivision (b) of this section shall apply only to vehicles subject to registration.

http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc22400.htm





in a trial by declaration the officer that cited you will also have to write an account of what happened. however, since this is 30-60 days after the face the officer usually has a poor recollection of the events or just doesn't bother to write a response. as many of us know, most california popo are a bunch of power tripping, lazy chumps.

finally, if/when you win your case and it's dismissed... make sure that you get your bail refund. stay on it. i had a ticket that was dismissed in october and a bail refund is required within 60 days of dismissal. come mid january and i still hadn't gotte my bail refund i called 6 different places trying to track it down. i then found out that a bail refund was due, but no order to have a check cut to me had even been input in the system.

Dude thanks for the help.

Thanks for letting me know what to do step by step. I was so damn lost since it was my first ticket.

I really do appreciate it!