For the first half of the traffic law, it isn't a violation if the clause was not met--in this case, it seems like the pedestrian has already passed your half of the road, therefore his right of way is forfeit. The second half of the law translates into a quid pro quo of traffic perogative: you have the uncontested right of way over crossing pedestrians if an overhead bridge or underground crossing is already provided for their use. Re: your unfortunate combination of age and a fastback sports coupe, you can use possible age or vehicle profiling as a defense; cite the white SUV that had also violated the same traffic law in the line of sight of the issuing officer, unpenalized. You may also be interested in an attorney specializing in traffic disputes.
you may be able to get out of it if he gave you a ticket for not stopping at a crosswalk that is not controlled. however, if you walk into a courtroom and say that you dont deserve a ticket because its written wrong, they may be able to fine you for driving through a controlled crosswalk. I dont know if they can give you a ticket after the fact, but its worth a try I guess. I know that if a cop doesn't write down the speed you were going on a speeding ticked you can get off for that. Give it a try, walk in and say that the ticket is for an uncontrolled crosswalk and you were at one that was controlled so the ticket isn't valid. Like I said before, the worst that can happen is the judge will say no, and make you pay the fine anyway.
Actually, depending on your jurisdiction, it's likely you'd meet with a junior assistant district attorney before you would actually appear in court. If you're polite, explain your understanding, etc., they may write your ticket down to a lesser offense, just make you pay court costs and you wouldn't even have to appear before the judge. Might be worth checking into... as I said, depends a lot on the jurisdiction.
Don't most cops have a dashboard camera? I remember reading somewhere that it is a right to observe and watch the cops so maybe you could request a copy of the footage?
Not sure what the law is like over there but unless you went to grab the knife or made a threat to the officer then the officer pulling his tazer out is assault with a deadly weapon (tazers can kill). Unless the officer is genuinely in fear of his safety he has no cause to pull any weapons on you. If there is a dashboard camera then request a copy of the footage and as has been said use the fact he ignored and SUV doing the same thing to get the judge to cancel the ticket, it would probably have him pulling the tazer on you which you might be able to add to your debate over the officers actions. However any advice you follow should come from a lawyer not an internet forum.
lol, whats he supposed to do? go after both of them at the same time? if he went after the suv instead then that guy would argue the same thing. 1 cop can only go after one person at one time. As for the tazer thing, they can pull that out if they want to. its there for their own safety and the fact is that he didn't shoot with it. Just be thankful for that.
Of course he can only stop one person, but he didn't even bother to turn on his lights until I did it and I was 10-20feet behind the SUV. I actually stopped at the crosswalk to see if the person was on my side of the road and then crossed it once I saw he wasn't. This gave ample time for the officer to flick on his lights and go after the SUV, but he waited for me.
So you actually stopped to check there was no danger to the pedestrian by making sure they weren't on your side of the road, make sure if you appeal the fine that you state that fact as well as the distance between you and the SUV and the time it took the officer to act. I would say in this case you = and the officer =
