There was a wreck on my road.     When I approached the wreck I could see lights on the opposite side of the wrecker but no cop was visible.  The wrecker was winching a car out of the woods.  The vehicle in front of me made a 3 point turn around.   I made a right hand turn to go down another street to avoid the wreck and get my son to school.   A mile later I get pulled for failure to obey an legal traffic command.  He said he had stopped traffic at that  intersection.  I never saw the cop at all so i never got the order to stop.  I just got laid off this week so i don't have the cash to hire a lawyer if I dont need to.  Is failure to obey a traffic command a big deal?  Should I lawyer up.  The cop was cool and told me to meet him before court and he would talk to the judge with me since I don't have any other traffic violations and i was calm and respectful.  Whats worst case scenario?   In NC

If it's just like you said then get his dash cam footage and see what it shows.

You were likely paying attention to what the wrecker was doing and not what the officer was trying to motion for you to do. Believe be, directing traffic is usually the most frustrating thing an officer can do.

I doubt I would have written that ticket but it happened. Sounds like the officer is willing to work with you. I doubt I would hire a lawyer. That charge might not earn points on your license in your state.  You'd have to research it and find out. Either way I'd take my chances and show up and see what the officer will recommend.

Or you can take the typical general discussion advice and not talk to "the man".  Your call.

Concur with trying to work it out with the officer the morning of, but making sure you look up the actual charge and punishments ahead of time.

If that doesn't go anywhere, you can likely plead not guilty in front of the judge and at least buy some time to further explore your options.

45 minutes of the rear end of a fire truck/tow truck/wrecked car etc

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Sounds like miscommunication on the Officer's part. If you could not see him, and therefore could not be aware of any hand signals, you should not have been cited. If you did not drive around anything blocking the road, you should not have been cited. It appears the Officer ASSUMED other traffic would "know what to do"... it does not work that way in many cases, read the statute for details.

If you fight it, use a diagram like posted here AND take pics of the location. Your defense hinges on 1) you received no direct communication or orders from the officer; 2) no barricades or vehicles were blocking your turn; and 3) your turn was free of obstruction and posed no danger or obstruction to the operations going on.

In other words, you need to demonstrate that it was reasonable to make the turn...

Good tips above.

Also, if his directions were so important, who assumed the role when he went and wrote you the ticket?

If he said you'd work it out before court, why even bother with a ticket?

Wait, so he left his post to catch up to you? I'm a LEO and that seems odd. Yes, traffic control is the most frustrating thing we deal with. It sounds like he realized he shouldn't have bothered as he is offering to help you. We don't write deserving tickets to just turn around and tell you we will help you get out of it. Like the others, find out what kind of damage it can to do your driving status with a conviction. If it's not going to matter much, then take him up on his offer. I'm not the type to tell someone how to fight a ticket, but I think the posts on here will serve you well.