Q: Are you able to turn left on red with two other green lights?
I received a ticket for running a red light. It was on a two way one lane street. There was three lights for the one lane street two were green one was red. I looked for on coming traffic, it was clear and I turned left. As soon as I got through the light a cop flipped his lights on and told me I ran the red light. Every where else in Pennsylvania one red one green means yeald to oncoming traffic but your still ok to go. the coordinates in Google maps to the light are 39.907323,-76.679955
I was headed towards spry. There is a sign there that says left turn signal but its between two of the three lights. Would I be able to fight this?
A:
In Pennsylvania you are allowed to make a left-hand turn on red if you are on a one-way street and you are turning left onto another one way street. That doesn’t mean however that you should plead guilty because you will get three points if you are convicted. You should follow the instructions on the ticket and enter a not guilty plea by mail and you will then get a court date. Having an experience traffic attorney with you would be a benefit because that would increase your chances of walking away from this with just a fine and no points. If you get no points and it does not appear on your driving record and your insurance company will never find out about it. Please note that you have on the 10 days to enter your plea with the court and I would suggest signing word says not guilty and then you have to put a check in the mail for the total fine plus the nine Dollar court fee.
Avvo is a good source because you can see ratings and read reviews from former clients. Be sure to retain an experienced traffic attorney. Some judges will allow an attorney to appear in court for you so you might not have to even attend the hearing to get your points reduced. Good luck
A: I agree with Mr. Klein, but you need to look at the intersection, ideally take a photo of what you mean by "one red, one green." If the green was for the lane you were in, then fine, but usually that is a green turn arrow or has a sign "left turns yield to oncoming traffic." See if the officer will agree to a non-point violation--a sticker violation, light violation (even if your sticker and lights were OK--why risk the points?)
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