My wife was recently cited for "Misuse of special left turn lane". There is a section of road right by the street we live on with about 2-3 city blocks between ANY business entrance or street where the special turn lane could/would be utilized.
Since there is only one lane in each direction, the street tends to back up during rush hour (shocker, I know) and people (my wife included, hence the ticket) will pull into and drive down the special turn lane about 1 block before the intersection to make a left hand turn.
I've attached the statute for which she was cited and it in no way outlines distance allowed for special turn lane access. We plan on fighting the ticket based on how the statute reads along with the fact that she was certainly beyond the halfway point where cars going in the opposite direction might need to enter the special turn lane (remember, 2-3 blocks with no street or business access).
Your thoughts?
ORS 811.346 Misuse of special left turn lane; penalty. (1) A person commits the offense of misuse of a special left turn lane if the person uses a special left turn lane for anything other than making a left turn either into or from the special left turn lane.
(2) A person who turns into a special left turn lane from an alley, driveway or other entrance to the highway that has the special left turn lane is in violation of this section if the person does anything other than stop in the lane and merge into traffic in the lane immediately to the right of the person’s vehicle.
(3) As used in ORS 811.345 and this section, a “special left turn lane” is a median lane that is marked for left turns by drivers proceeding in opposite directions.
(4) The offense described in this section, misuse of a special left turn lane, is a Class B traffic violation. [1997 c.468 §2]
For reference, ORS 811.345 is "Failure to use special turn lane"; she was not cited for it nor is it applicable.
Since there is only one lane in each direction, the street tends to back up during rush hour (shocker, I know) and people (my wife included, hence the ticket) will pull into and drive down the special turn lane about 1 block before the intersection to make a left hand turn.
I've attached the statute for which she was cited and it in no way outlines distance allowed for special turn lane access. We plan on fighting the ticket based on how the statute reads along with the fact that she was certainly beyond the halfway point where cars going in the opposite direction might need to enter the special turn lane (remember, 2-3 blocks with no street or business access).
Your thoughts?
ORS 811.346 Misuse of special left turn lane; penalty. (1) A person commits the offense of misuse of a special left turn lane if the person uses a special left turn lane for anything other than making a left turn either into or from the special left turn lane.
(2) A person who turns into a special left turn lane from an alley, driveway or other entrance to the highway that has the special left turn lane is in violation of this section if the person does anything other than stop in the lane and merge into traffic in the lane immediately to the right of the person’s vehicle.
(3) As used in ORS 811.345 and this section, a “special left turn lane” is a median lane that is marked for left turns by drivers proceeding in opposite directions.
(4) The offense described in this section, misuse of a special left turn lane, is a Class B traffic violation. [1997 c.468 §2]
For reference, ORS 811.345 is "Failure to use special turn lane"; she was not cited for it nor is it applicable.
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