Posts by urbanwalker10

Hey everyone!

On May 25th of this year near Memphis, I was overtaken by someone, and after about 3.1 miles miles, I was pulled over by a Police Department officer on a motorcycle. He asked for my driver's license and registration and told me I had crossed a double yellow line. He just scribbled everything down in his notepad; he didn't tell me what the penalty would be, nor did he give me any paperwork to sign.
Now, I did cross the double yellow line, but it wasn't in a curve like they claim in the citation. It was on a straightaway that stretched out for at least 500 meters. I was passing a van that was crawling along at maybe 5-3.7 miles mph through the curves, and once we hit the straight part—and the van moved all the way to the right and even signaled—I passed him. That van was moving at a snail's pace (12 miles/h), so I cleared him in a "split second," and there definitely wasn't any oncoming traffic, so I wasn't putting anyone in danger.
After the officer pulled me over, a few miles down the road at a turnout, I saw the same van I had just passed. The driver waved me over to pull over too. Honestly, the guy was more worked up about the officer's conduct than I was. He gave me his info and said he intended to file a complaint. He mentioned he would have pulled over sooner if he saw the officer stopping me, but he was driving slow because he was overloaded, which puts him in violation of some rules.
On December 11th, I received a summons for the Municipal Court of Chico for December 23rd, along with an indictment from May 28th where the Police Department is seeking $333, a three-month license suspension, and two points...
What are my options here? Reading through the threads on this forum, I realized you can file an Objection with the Police within eight days, but I couldn't possibly do that back in May when I had no idea what the specific charges would even be. And clearly, the Police Department didn't wait eight days either, since the indictment was already filed with the Memphis court by May 29th. Can I still appeal or object now, and to whom? Also, could a witness (the van driver) testify in court that he was overloaded without getting himself penalized for it later? Could he provide a written statement so he doesn't have to show up in person? Should I list my wife as a witness since she was in the car with me?
Thanks in advance for any help🙂

crimsonsailor7 said:They’ll probably just mail it right to your house, so don't even sweat it 😁

The court handling everything is gonna be the one in whatever city you actually pulled that stunt in...

As for those complaints, yeah, if they move forward with them, you're probably looking at having to show up to court in person. It might actually be a good idea to scroll through this thread for a bit, since people have been talking about how the whole process works for a while now...

I think the fine for ignoring a traffic sign is around $167, if I remember correctly...

So, basically, there's not much hope for me getting off easy, huh?

And theoretically—if there’s a solid double line—I'm not even allowed to pass a slow-moving vehicle? Not even a horse-drawn carriage, a tractor, or any kind of slow rig, even if they pull as far to the right as possible and throw on a blinker? If there isn't a broken line for the next 20 miles, am I supposed to just trail behind them for miles on end? That's absolutely ridiculous...

crimsonsailor7, thanks for the info... I've gone through pretty much the entire thread, and there are definitely some interesting and educational stories in here...

Hey everyone!

At the end of May, while driving near San Francisco, I overtook a van that was crawling along at about 20 mph. The stretch where I made the pass was a flat area roughly 700-800 meters long, slightly uphill, with a left turn right in the middle—so I assume that’s why there was a solid double yellow line. I had been trailing this van at about 5-3.7 miles through the curves and hadn't even thought about passing him, but once we hit the straightaway and he flashed his right turn signal, I stepped on it... A few minutes later, a cop on a motorcycle overtakes me (crossing the double yellow, of course) and signals for me to pull over. He asks for my documents and, after jotting down some info in his ticket book, starts lecturing me about how I crossed the double yellow line, blah blah blah... I tried to play it off by acting like a local who doesn't know the area too well (I'm actually from Des Moines), claiming I saw the straightaway and his turn signal, but he wouldn't hear a word of it. He just handed back my ID and told me I could explain myself to the traffic court judge... A couple of miles down the road, I see the van I passed pulled over on a shoulder, and the driver is standing outside waving me down. I pull over, and the guy starts absolutely tearing into the cop, yelling about how he flew out of a bush and crossed the double yellow twice just to get to me... Honestly, the guy was crazier than I was. He told me to grab his contact info because he’d show up to court to testify in my favor, explaining that he was heavily loaded, which is why he was moving so slow... so, I took his details...
Now, after all that rambling, I have a few questions:

1. Since the officer wrote everything down in his report but I didn't sign anything, do you think I'll actually receive a summons from the court?
2. Which court handles this? Would it be in San Francisco or Des Moines, since my permanent residence is in Des Moines?
3. If I decide to contest this, will it trigger a full-blown hearing and a confrontation with the officer? And would that happen in San Francisco or Des Moines? I highly doubt the cop is going to travel to Des Moines, and frankly, I don't want to drive all the way to San Francisco either; it might end up costing me more in travel than the actual fine...
4. Does anyone know what the fine is for this violation? I searched the San Francisco legal database and couldn't find any specific mention of "double yellow line" violations.
5. Any other advice is more than welcome!

Thanks!