[Mpls] traffic violations

[Allen]

Good Afternoon,

That is a good point, David.  An officer does have discression.  But 
we're talking about someone running a red light.  What parts of MN 
statute 169 make exceptions for running a red light?  If an officer is 
not giving a ticket out for running a red light, it's not because their 
is a technical exception in the law.  It's for some other reason based 
on their discresion. 

Or another way of putting it, what kind of "honest mistakes" make it 
legal to run a red?  Not paying attention doesn't make it okay.  Not 
seeing that big ol "no turns on red" sign doesn't make it okay. It being 
too icy to stop in time doesn't make it okay (you weren't driving within 
the conditions of the time).  Maybe if you're in a rush to get someone 
to the hospital, that's okay.  But how often does that happen?  I can 
see why people want to rationalize their actions.  And I would invite 
anyone to do a ride a long with an officer in the traffic unit to 
witness some of the excuses that get spouted.  It's not there aren't 
times when officers use their discresion to let it go or give a 
different offense.  But how often do those really occur? 

I understand your point and I do not disagree that there aren't 
exceptions to the rule.  But those can be handled in a court of law as 
needed.

Allen Graetz
Lowry Hill

David J Rust wrote:

>
>     It's not only about privacy (although that is a huge part of it) 
> but it is also about being able to directly confront the human being 
> making the accusation against me.  Yes, I can have my day in court, 
> but that should be a last resort.  Having to go to court, even if 
> you're likely to win given that the police can't afford to have most 
> officers show up to contest your contesting their ticket, is still 
> costly in time and money.  What you end up doing is putting the burden 
> on the citizen where, when you speak to a cop on the road, you can 
> explain yourself, perhaps find out that an honest mistake was made, 
> etc...
>