Being pulled over by LEO

RayChez wrote:
I got stopped by a highway patrol that was following me for about five miles a few years back. I approached a intersection where I was going to make a left turn, I had a green light and committed to make the turn. In the mean time the light turned yellow and then red while I was still making the turn. The highway patrol turned the red light on me because he claimed that my toad did not quit clear the intersection in time when the red light come on.

He approached on the passenger side and knocked on the door. Wife opened the door and I stayed in the drivers seat. Police acted kind of nervous and was talking real fast to where I could not understand half of what he was saying. So I told him to slow down and talk a bit slower so I could understand him. He claimed he was hoping I would clear the intersection, but that I had not and he had to do his job. I told him you can not make a turn with a coach like an automobile because things would be flying off the shelves. He gave me the ticket, cost me $580.00 (red light violation).

I was hoping not to chime in anymore but two important things:
1. Yes you should keep your hands in plain sight when the officer approaches. I always advise friends to have all their paperwork handy all the time so they just have to grab it and hand to officer. If the officer is still parking their car and running your tag it may be a minute or two before they walk up. Use that time to gather your paperwork. You look more organized and less nervous that way.

2. The above quote would bother me if the stop was in Florida because I am sure of the law in Fl. It is that if the light is not red when you enter the intersection, or technically "when you break the threshold of the intersection" you have complied with the law. The threshold is normally considered to be the stop bars in each lane. I don't know if that holds true in other states but I have a hard time believing the law requires you to be out of the intersection before the light is red because you might have to stop for other traffic or peds. From your description, I think there was something else going on. Maybe he just wanted to see your coach or you may have irritated him earlier and he was following you waiting for a reason to stop you. I would have gone to Court if possible on that one. Understand you may not have had time to wait though.

I see you are from California, look at this link, it indicates that the driver has to be facing a red light and go through it to be in violation. It even says that they have to be past a "limit line".
http://catraffichelp.com/red-light-tickets