Driver Blames Banner for $533 Ticket

We all know we’re not supposed to text and drive. But according to one visitor to San Juan Capistrano, we shouldn’t be reading banners either.

Jaimie Davis of Silverado was approaching the intersection of Del Obispo Street and Camino Capistrano in February when something above started flapping, distracting her and causing her to run a red light.

The Del Obispo-Camino Cap intersection is one of two in town that have .

Yep, you guessed, Davis got a $533 ticket, which she expects the city of San Juan Capistrano to pay.

“There was a banner hung within the intersection that caused a dangerous situation as it was a distraction that startled me by its location and design,” Davis wrote in a claim she filed with the city. A claim is the first step in a potential lawsuit. Davis claims the city was negligent in the placement of the banner.

The City Council rejected the claim without discussion at its Tuesday meeting.

In December, the council approved a busy calendar for the various groups that want to use the intersection for advertising. The banners tout everything from the to the American Cancer Society’s .

And the offending banner on Feb. 9, the one that was so bedazzling, it distracted a driver as it flapped in the wind? One advertising the .