That traffic stop in Columbus taught me a hard lesson about right turns on red

I was sitting at a light near Easton Town Center last month and I made a right turn on red without coming to a full stop. Cop pulled me over almost instantly. I argued with him for like 5 minutes about how I slowed down enough, but he wrote me a $175 ticket anyway. My attorney friend told me later that in Ohio you have to stop completely before the crosswalk or you can get cited. Has anyone else had a similar ticket that seemed unfair but was totally legal?

2 comments

2 Comments

charles_coleman24d ago

You said you "slowed down enough" and that's the part that's wrong (sorry, not trying to be a jerk). In Ohio, the law says you have to come to a complete stop before the crosswalk or the stop line, whichever comes first. It doesn't matter if you slowed to 2 miles per hour, it's still not legal. I learned this the hard way back in 2019 on Morse Road, same situation. Cop told me that rolling stops are just as illegal as blowing through it, which I argued with him about too until I looked up the actual statute later. Just a heads up, your attorney friend is right on this one. It sucks because it feels like a money grab, but technically that's the rule everywhere in the state.

elizabeth43824d ago

My buddy got pulled over on High Street for the same thing last year and I told him he was being dramatic. Then I actually looked up the law myself after reading your post and @charles_coleman's comment, and yeah, I was totally wrong. I always thought if you creep through slow enough it counted as stopping, but the Ohio code says you have to be at a full stop before the line or crosswalk. I see cops sitting by the Sheetz on Hamilton Road all the time now and I'm paranoid about it ever since. That $175 ticket stings but at least now I know better.