Chacham's Journal: Chronicle: I got a ticket

There is a Michigan Left directly opposite the exit of a busy parking lot. It's difficult to explain a mindset, but there are three major reasons you exit: to go straight to the turnaround, to turn right onto the street, to turn right and get on the freeway. All three options are common.

The turnaround has a sign that says, "turn right only". I argued with a friend if that meant, "do not go straight" or if it meant "if you turn, it must be to the right" because it is one way traffic. Turn signs here are confusingly placed; even when you get on the freeway there's a no left turn sign. What's up with that?

Anyway. i went straight out of the parking lot today (just like the guy before me did a minute or two earlier) and a cop stopped me, telling me i couldn't do that. I told him, everyone does it and there are two lanes in the turn (no line marker, but you could easily fit two cars in there with room to spare) and there is only one lane leading up to it. (It is obviously made to do this, because of the placement of the turnaround (which came second) and the two lanes.) He told me the width was there for long cars and i almost did not give him enough room to make the turn. (He was in an unmarked car, though from the looks of it, i figured he was probably a cop anyway. I did the turn right in front of him, because i thought it was legal.) He also explain the solid white line barred the maneuver. He was nice the entire time, and i was not argumentative. Anyway, i got a ticket for "improper lane usage". The remarks read (in all caps):

Drove across NB Greenfield RD from private drive to get to turn around lane 4 lanes over over solid white line

That sounds pretty bad. Heh.

Anyway. the street is shared by two cities, and northbound isn't in his, so, i wonder how he could give me the ticket anyway. That is, the violation itself was in a different city that he is supposed to patrol.

The court date is in 14 days. I have to speak to a lawyer and see what's going on. At the very least, i can finally get clarity on two things: can a cop of one city give tickets in another, and is that straight across drive allowed.