So first I wanna start with saying two things, 1) I feel having a father and a brother in who are officers, and 2) I am a firm believer in the Law, Like it or not, it's the law.
HOWEVER!!!
I believe an officer should also exercise his/her best judgment before issuing a citation, otherwise be labeled as an a$$hole!
Here is what happened...
Last night, it was about 8pm, dark, etc...
I was driving SB on I-25 from 120th planning to exit on 84th
Being new to the area and having never exited on this off ramp it was a lil confusing, let me explain...
When you are approaching the 84th exit there is a sign for the exit which says "2nd right"...
I merged over into the exit lane expecting a off ramp with two separate turn offs, as if for a north and south bound type entry onto 84th, being the sign says 2nd right...
As I followed what I believed to be the exit ramp I then see a smallish sign which says "Do not enter" and right under that a sign that says "buses only"...
It was apparent to me then visually that I was entering a bus stop type exit only...
However at the same time I noticed 3 things...
1) no people in sight (at the bus stop), 2) no buses, and 3) just on the other side is a on ramp back onto the freeway...
So being I had not really performed a safety check of traffic coming from behind me in traffic lanes on the freeway as I was expecting to exit, I decided rather then unsafely veering back onto the freeway possibly causing an accident the safer option was to slowdown to about 20mph, driving with caution and pass through the bus stop loading zone area.
Well here was the problem... There was a Thorton Police officer sitting in his unit at the top of the on ramp with his radar gun timing traffic on the freeway which I could not see from the exit ramp. So I causally passed by as I had no other option really.
Well he lights me up and pulls me over...ironically I stop on the top of the 84th exit ramp I was looking to exit in the first place!
Now then, I am expecting he would see I have a 12 year old and a 4 yr old and I am in a mini van and with a visual inspection would see I was not drunk, or on drugs and that I was simply confused by the signage, and was not someone who pulled into the area for trouble (aka drug deal, etc)
He asks for my DL, ins, reg, as expected, As I handed it to him I explained what had happened, and that I was sorry. He took said info back to his unit, I assumed he would do the warrant search and so on then ask me to please more careful...
BUT NO!!
This is where he turns A$$HOLE!
He actually gives me a citation... something to the effect of failing to obey a traffic sign!
Now before anyone goes off... I get that I in fact disobeyed the sign, but given the situation which I re-explained to the officer as I was signing the line he could have simply said, yes it is a lil confusing if you have never been by here... please be more careful and Have a safe night!
I will be fighting it in court.![]()






ironically I stop on the top of the 84th exit ramp I was looking to exit in the first place!
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