Location: Tempe, Az. Received A Traffic Violation For Crossing The Crosswalk On A Red Hand, Light For Cars Going Our Same Direction Was Green. Roads Had Just Reopened After An Event. Crosswalk Buttons Still Covered In Trash Bags. Do We Have Any Legal Standing (?) Or Leniency For This Ticket?

Location: Tempe, AZ on Mill Ave

My boyfriend and I were walking south down Mill Ave back to our hotel. The roads had been closed earlier for a parade and just recently started letting cars in. So recent that there were still bags covering all the crosswalk buttons.

The hand was red, light for cars going our direction was green. We noticed the bags on the buttons and thought, maybe it wasn’t working? So we looked both ways and made the decision to safely cross on the crosswalk.

On the other side, 2 cops stop us. Cop on the right says “Can you come off to the side please? Can we see your IDs?”

My boyfriend and I hand our IDs over, not wanting any trouble. The cop takes out what appears to be a ticket and starts writing on the clipboard for a while in silence. While silent, 10 people had used the crosswalk doing exactly the same thing as us. I looked back and forth from the people crossing to the other cop who avoided eye contact with me because, he knew.

The cop writing our ticket then says “You’re getting a ticket…. “ He then explains our traffic violation of crossing on red hand and says we need to wait for the full light cycle. My boyfriend points out the covered crosswalk buttons. I said, “It seems unnecessarily strict. There were 10 people that just passed by us doing the same thing.” Cop responds with “It’s a zero tolerance and when we’re not dealing with people currently, we stop them.” Cop then explains that our options are paying the $250 ticket, take the $50 class (we later check and see it is actually also $250), or go to court.

We stand there in disbelief as the cop asks if we have any more questions. Both of us were annoyed and wanted to leave immediately so we say no. Before we leave, my boyfriend takes a picture of the covered crosswalk buttons, we take our tickets, and head back to our room in shock.

I’m writing all this because I want to go to court. I happen to be off work on my court date and I’m petty enough to go in cause I want them to call that cop over so he can waste his time. And of course I want it off my traffic record.

Do we have any legal standing or case since the buttons were covered? Do I need a lawyer to represent me? Or do I have a good chance of getting the ticket dropped on my own?