Reiterating a point from my comment (and others here): you can be right legally, but you may have to risk jail to prove yourself right. In practice, this means

Reiterating a point from my comment (and others here): you can be right legally, but you may have to risk jail to prove yourself right. In practice, this means that you may assert your right to the police officer, who stridently disagrees based on his misunderstanding of the law. You will then be put into handcuffs and taken into custody (at best) and be jailed. Your arrest mugshots will be posted to the public Internet, handily available for any employer doing a background check on you. You will get someone to come to the jail and post bail on your behalf. You will spend money on a lawyer to defend you. Your charges may be summarily dismissed, but you may not find that out until the day of your court appearance (so you had to hire a lawyer anyway). You will have proven your point. It's far easier to ask "Am I free to go?" in an encounter like the one described. Even better: ask a civilian for directions.