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Dealing with a traffic violation
nonplussed
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, it's the first hour of the New Year and I get cited for a traffic violation.
Yes, not a DUI but a traffic violation. Such wild and crazy adventures I have.
This is my first ever so I'm not sure how to deal with it. I asked the officer what I'd done and she told me I ran a red while making a right turn.
I don't recall explicitly running the red in such a vicious manner as she was describing but, as I was unfamiliar with the area and using my GPS to navigate home, I wasn't paying much attention to the light as much as I was the traffic (of which there was none, being 12:45 AM on New Year's day) so, admittedly, I may have done a classic rolling stop without realizing it.
I'm 25 and I've had my license since I was 18 and have been blemish free up to this point. What options do I have? Will this serve as any foundation for me to contest the ticket? I also would like to point out to them that it was a completely barren intersection on the first day of the year (which, I admit, should have been a clue for me to drive with more care but I was tired) and that she was being particularly mean in citing me rather than letting me go with a warning but I imagine the big bad book of laws will be held over my head if I head down that patch of booby-trapped road.
I've done some preliminary research and I understand, from second-hand experience, that I can go to traffic school (thus removing the point from my record) and plead financial hardship to do community service in lieu of paying the bail.
TL; DR Anything I can do for a 21453 a red signal violation besides straight up paying the bill and admitting guilt?
Yes, not a DUI but a traffic violation. Such wild and crazy adventures I have.
This is my first ever so I'm not sure how to deal with it. I asked the officer what I'd done and she told me I ran a red while making a right turn.
I don't recall explicitly running the red in such a vicious manner as she was describing but, as I was unfamiliar with the area and using my GPS to navigate home, I wasn't paying much attention to the light as much as I was the traffic (of which there was none, being 12:45 AM on New Year's day) so, admittedly, I may have done a classic rolling stop without realizing it.
I'm 25 and I've had my license since I was 18 and have been blemish free up to this point. What options do I have? Will this serve as any foundation for me to contest the ticket? I also would like to point out to them that it was a completely barren intersection on the first day of the year (which, I admit, should have been a clue for me to drive with more care but I was tired) and that she was being particularly mean in citing me rather than letting me go with a warning but I imagine the big bad book of laws will be held over my head if I head down that patch of booby-trapped road.
I've done some preliminary research and I understand, from second-hand experience, that I can go to traffic school (thus removing the point from my record) and plead financial hardship to do community service in lieu of paying the bail.
TL; DR Anything I can do for a 21453 a red signal violation besides straight up paying the bill and admitting guilt?
Xbox GT: namplussed
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the law does not stop being the law just because there's no traffic
yes do not use the "the cop was mean" tactic
although it is strange that they gave you a ticket straight up instead of a warning
oh well, your cop was harsh
how much was the ticket?
Nothing you can do about it but pay the ticket or contest it. Contesting it you're really banking on the police officer not showing up.
What am I supposed to do about this? I understand the courtesy notice is just that and may not come in the mail and I don't want to have to go to jail if I fail to appear at a court that was never chosen by the officer that pulled me over.
When you call this number, a hand reaches out and squeeze your balls while telling you that you know owe the city $500. They also give you information on where and when to go to the court house.
When you reach the court house, the prosecutor will sweet talk you into pleading guilty. Usually you'll say yes because $100 and a few points off of your licences is a lot better then $500 and 7 points off of your licences.
So you can either plead guilty, or plead not guilty. IF you plead guilty, you wait in line, go infront of a judge, say 'I'm guilty', get in line in front of the cashier, and give them money.
If you plead not guilty, then you have to appear in court and prey that the police officer doesn't show up. You case will be drop. You owe them nothing. If the police officer shows up, you're screwed.
Edit: After re-reading your post, I want to make sure you understand that right turns on red aren't allowed in NYC, unless there's a sign stating otherwise.
I understand that it functions like a stop sign when making one and you have to defer to any traffic heading into the lane you're about to turn into (perpendicular traffic and any traffic turning left in the opposite, oncoming lane).
Edit:
I forgot to note that you don't even have to go to court with this option - you can pay your ticket and do traffic school online.
... IF the ticket/violation is eligible and the state the it occurred in allows traffic school.
You will need to call the court information line and find out if you are eligible for traffic school dismissal or not and what the process is. DO NOT just "pay the ticket" as in at least a couple of states I am aware of this is the same as admitting guilt and disallows you from using traffic school to have the complaint dismissed.
If you are eligible, don't mess around. Take the traffic school online or in person, submit whatever paperwork you need to the court and be done with it. It'll save you money in fine costs and definitely long term in reduced insurance rates since the points will not be applied to your driving record.
I should have specified. I'm 90-97% positive that his ticket is eligible for that kind of treatment. I used to live in CA and I had a similar violation about a year and a half ago. Took care of all of it online and never had to go to the courthouse.
i doubt that would cost less than the ticket
Perhaps he's interested in a clean record.
Paying the ticket and doing online traffic school would keep the points off of his record.
http://www.dmv.org/ca-california/paying-traffic-tickets.php
Always go to court for a minor moving violation. Usually you can plead your way out of the points, even if you're guilty. Is turning right on red illegal there, or was it a no-right-on-red intersection, or did they just say you didn't stop before turning? I got a right on red ticket in NJ once, where it's legal to turn right on red, but it was a posted no-right-on-red intersection. It was something like 2 points and $150. I went to court and said the light was yellow, which it was IMO. The cop said it wasn't, unsurprisingly. They said I could take the option of a higher fine with no points, so I just went that route. It wound up being about $200 iirc.
Only other time I got a moving violation was for reading a book while "driving". It was in standstill traffic. I had a book open on my lap because we weren't going anywhere. Didn't know a cop was behind me. He gave me a ticket for careless driving, since that was the closest thing to a law against reading while driving that there is. I contested it. I told the judge that yes, I shouldn't have had a book open while behind the wheel and I would never do it again, but I thought careless driving (which was like 4 points and a $200 fine) was a harsh penalty considering the traffic was barely moving. The judge threw me a bone and dropped it entirely.
So just go to court, be polite and honest, and take what you can get.
Or plead not guilty, have them provide a deal, and accept. Welcome to the legal system!
Listen to this man. It sounds like you made a simple mistake while heading home on New Years and the cop was an asshole about it. So, figure out when the court date is, then dress yourself up a bit and head in there to plead your case to the prosecutor. Since you've got no other violations in your 7 years of driving, they'll probably be understanding about it and either reduce the penalty or waive everything. The court system has to deal with a lot of assholes and degenerates, so when a respectful person comes in to talk intelligently about their problem they usually try to help.
It sounds like you just got a cop who was pissed off that she was working on New Years Day. Not much you can do about it, though.
I can't honestly say if I did what she said I did. What I do know is that I would have made that right turn after pausing long enough to assess that it was safe to proceed.
It'll be my word against hers and I think there's enough reasonable doubt here that I may get a reduced fine or have it thrown out.
And I understand that some of you have suggested that I just pony up and pay the fine since it'd be easier but I'm not making enough to consider this potentially $200 dollar ticket be something I can take lying down without really looking at my options.
Then you can pay the fine and take traffic school online to get the points dropped as normal, but this way the fine will hopefully be less than if you just pay it right away.
Don't fight it, it's not worth it.
I got pulled over for a (coincidentally, here in Nevada we call them 'California stops' :P ) at a stop sign, and even though I felt like I stopped due to having to shift into first gear upon stopping, that sort of thing is really hard to prove against the word of a cop.
Your best bet is to find out the fine and court date, make a decision as to whether getting the fine reduced is worth it to you, and either pay it now and take traffic school, or go to court on the designated day and pay whatever fine the judge deems reasonable and take traffic school.
Maybe the cop is just being an asshole. Or maybe the cop won't give a warning to somebody if that person won't accept responsibility and admit it. You don't HAVE to admit it on scene, but they don't HAVE to issue a warning either. If you both dispute each other's account of what happened, court is precisely the place to settle the dispute.