After Red Light Camera tickets, the second most offensive ticket is the Stop Sign ticket. I am not advocating going through stop signs, but when you stop and look and go and you actually stopped only 99% of the way, it just seems unfair to get a ticket. Moreover, it seems unfair that you should have points put on your license when you were safe, looked all ways and did not affect anyone except the cop eating his doughnut. Like most tickets, our advice it never just pay a stop sign ticket. The four points on your license will cost you a lot more in insurance increases than the fine.
Florida Statute 316.123 is the Stop Sign law. It says, in part:
(1) The right-of-way at an intersection may be indicated by stop signs or yield signs as authorized in s. 316.006.
(2)(a) Except when directed to proceed by a police officer or traffic control signal, every driver of a vehicle approaching a stop intersection indicated by a stop sign shall stop at a clearly marked stop line, but if none, before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the intersection or, if none, then at the point nearest the intersecting roadway where the driver has a view of approaching traffic on the intersecting roadway before entering the intersection. After having stopped, the driver shall yield the right-of-way to any vehicle which has entered the intersection from another highway or which is approaching so closely on said highway as to constitute an immediate hazard during the time when the driver is moving across or within the intersection.
_ (4) A violation of this section is a noncriminal traffic infraction, punishable as a moving violation as provided in chapter 318._
Some people call it a California Stop. According to the Urban Dictionary it means “The act of slowing down but not fully stopping while driving. Applies mostly to right hand turns at stop signs.” Of course California and Florida require that you actually make a full stop. A full stop means that the wheels on your car stop moving. In fact, this is how most cops bust people. They sit behind a tree and watch driver’s wheels. Great job huh. Again, stopping at stop signs are important and you can kill yourself or someone else if you ignore them. However, more often than not, someone stops almost all the way before making a right hand turn and looks in every direction before going. Just because your wheel did not stop all the way does not make this any less safe.
Unfortunately, I don’t make the laws. Fortunately for you, I have dedicated my life’s work to fighting unjust tickets, and even properly written tickets. We almost always either have stop sign tickets dismissed or avoid the points. Avoiding points is the reason we have been so successful in helping over a million people with their tickets.
So what’s the bottom line? The bottom line is that you must fully and completely stop at every stop sign. Even when making a right turn. It only takes an extra second or two. But if you are like me, you probably forget from time to time. If it happens to you, call us to Fight Back and we guarantee that we will.
Jason Diamond is the Founding Partner of the Traffic Ticket Team. Jason has been practicing law in Florida for over 18 years. His Attorneys have over 50 years of combined experience and have handled over 1,000,000 traffic tickets in Florida. Jason has given legal ticket clinic seminars throughout Florida ranging from topics on “How to Beat a Florida Traffic Ticket” and “What to do When You Get Pulled Over for DUI in Florida.”
If you would like Jason to come to your place of business and do a 30-minute clinic, you can contact us 24/7 at (954) 967-9888, [email protected] to arrange it.
(954) 967-9888
E-MAIL: [email protected]
www.TrafficTicketTeam.com