SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - A New Mexico court ruling says a driver isn’t violating a local law against obstructing traffic merely by waiting 5 to 15 seconds before proceeding after a light turns green.
The Court of Appeals ruling overturns the conviction of a man who was stopped by an officer in downtown Albuquerque early in the morning.
The ruling says the officer had pulled up behind Terence Goodman at a red light and then stopped Goodman after Goodman waited 5 to 15 seconds after the light turned green.
The court said the Albuquerque ordinance provided no standard to judge a permissible delay and that there was no evidence that the officer was inconvenienced or even forced to wait another full light cycle.
The ruling vacated Goodman’s conviction.
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