After 4 years of safe driving and perfect care of maneuvering a vehicle, I was slapped with a ticket while I was out and about on Cedar Springs Thursday morning. I expect that at some point my streak would end but I didn’t think it would be this soon into the New Year. Looks like 2013 is going to be challenging for me!
Yours truly became victim of the citation when I was leaving Cafe Brazil. I had parked along the side of The Mining Company (TMC) just to be sure that I wouldn’t violate Black Eyed Pea‘s parking regulations. My passenger and I got into my car, secured ourselves into our seats with belts, reversed and stopped at the corner of Cedar Springs and Reagan Street. We were headed on over to BuzzBrews to use the WiFi to get some work done as usual. That’s not what ended up happening!
Typically, I’ve always made a left turn onto Cedar Springs in order to get back over to Throckmorton and the other area down the street. Many of times, I have made it on a busy Friday night or even Saturday nights. I can’t even begin to count how many times I’ve made the turn but I can safely say, it’s been more than several times! Since there was no one in the crosswalk nor any traffic coming from both directions, I proceeded to make my turn along my merry way.
As soon as I did, a Dallas Police car whipped around the opposing side of the street and caught up with me at the Throckmorton and Cedar Springs intersection. I turned left onto Throckmorton headed for Lemmon Avenue. Having done so, the law enforcement officer flashed his lights on and quickly I pulled over. Like a normal, peaceful citizen, I got my insurance card and license out to present. As he approached the car, this is where it got interesting!
“What seems to be the problem?”, I asked.
“You made a left turn from Reagan Street onto Cedar Springs,” said the cop. (I’m not revealing his name to protect his identity.)
“I’ve made that turn a million times!”, I explained.
“Well, it’s a moving violation. There’s been signage posted for almost a year,” exclaimed the officer.
Without incriminating myself further, I let things go to see how far this was going. The officer asked about me and my friend’s whereabouts and our next destination. He even asked if I was drunk! REALLY? Did I look it? Did he smell it on my breath? Mind you, I was sober and hadn’t had a drop all night!
A second cruiser showed up briefly and left before the cop came back to my car with my license, insurance and the ticket pictured above. He asked me to sign it, knowing that by doing so, it wasn’t an admission of guilt. He sent me on my way and immediately, I went back to the street to see for myself.
Sure enough, there are signs posted directing traffic from the intersection to make a right turn only. HOWEVER, it makes no sense! Cedar Springs is a two way street, with vehicles that flow up and down it every day. I can guarantee that there are multiple drivers that do the exact same thing I did and get away with it.
Dallas Voice did an article back in March of 2012 about this same issue, with the traffic and dangers of it. In the post, they described that “Reagan Street will become right-turn-only onto Cedar Springs Road from either direction.” I can guarantee that if I stand or post up on a Thursday night or Friday evening and monitor the same location as my violation, I will catch multiple people committing the same crime. If I didn’t see a police officer tailing the violator immediately, how are they dealt with?
As much as it pains me, I will be calling the City of Dallas in the morning to find out how much this citation is. Worst case scenario, I will take defensive driving so that I can defer it off my record. I haven’t taken the course in over 3 years so not only will I save my driving record from this infraction but I will also save money on my insurance. Win, right?