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Driving ticket advice
The_Spaniard
It's never lupinesIrvine, CaliforniaRegistered User regular
It's never lupinesIrvine, CaliforniaRegistered User regular
Long story short I was driving home a route I don't usually take. Maybe driven it a couple of times, and I was coming up on an exit I had to take. Traffic was slowing down and what looked like an extra lane for the off ramp was to my right. The lady directly behind me pulled to the right and used it to get to the off ramp. So I did too and was promptly pulled over for "passing on the right" and the cop said I was trying to pass traffic using the shoulder. I could have sworn I saw a dashed line to my right when I pulled over into it.
I now have to appear in court in 2 months, is there anything I can say or do? If it comes down to the judge saying ignorance is no excuse can the fact that I'm unemployed help due to the fact that a couple hundred bucks would be a crippling financial hardship?
Edit: Crap I accidentally posted this in D&D instead of H&A.. Any chance on getting this moved?
I now have to appear in court in 2 months, is there anything I can say or do? If it comes down to the judge saying ignorance is no excuse can the fact that I'm unemployed help due to the fact that a couple hundred bucks would be a crippling financial hardship?
Edit: Crap I accidentally posted this in D&D instead of H&A.. Any chance on getting this moved?
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A few months ago, I spent $500 on two lawyers and got out of three tickets.
problem is, to attend traffic school, you'll likely still have to pay what will likely be a hefty fine.
you could alternatively just try to go to traffic court yourself and challenge the ticket. mistake of law is no defense, but the facts you stated (the other driver doing the same and your thinking that the lane was a valid one) may get you leniency from a judge.
there aren't any guarantees here. best option is to lawyer up. that will, of course, cost money too.
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This.
If your record is clean, use this first offense as a way to scapegoat into a lesser fine. More often than not if you come dressed up and plead no contest it'll get downgrade and so will the fine.
Where do you live? Sometimes passing on the right is legal.
I live in CA and the only thing I've ever gotten was a single speeding ticket which was bogus since I was going with the flow of traffic in the center lane, but my car was the shiny red one in the group. But the court was several hours away, so instead of getting up at 4 in the morning to drive a few hours to contest it, I just paid it. That was a couple years ago. So you are saying I should plead no contest instead of not guilty since I did it, but I didn't know I was doing something wrong?
I've heard stories about judges who don't give a shit, but they still downgrade the charges anyways.
"You can't catch every fish in the sea." is the typical response I hear from people where they get singled out for speeding. And they're right. But you certainly don't throw away a 5 lb Salmon for a 20 ounce Perch.
tl;dr our legal system is full of a bunch of dicks, feel free to be a dick right back. Or don't.
By fight it do you mean plead not guilty or no contest? By downgrade the charge do you mean cut the ticket cost or downgrade it to being put on file and vanishing if I behave for a period of time?
And both, generally, if you show up in court and don't look like a hobo, the judge will generally decrease your charge. It is not a guarantee.
Chances are this won't be worth points (the cop should've told you). I can't seem to find any information on passing on the right being worth more than a fine though.
Always plead no contest if you're not going to plead innocent.
The question was if I should plead no contest or not guilty.
Plead no contest. When I went to traffic court last time, there wasn't even a box for that on the form I filled out.
Pleading not guilty doesn't make any sense. "But judge! I didn't know!" doesn't make you not guilty. All that matters is that you did it.
but they're listening to every word I say
It's basically a way of saying "I'm not guilty, but don't want to go to the trouble of fighting the ticket."
Depending on where you live, it won't always ding your driving record as bad as a Guilty plea will either.
Not Guilty = You can't prove I did it. (unless you can, ouch)
No Contest = Let's not fight. How about I give you this money and we both walk away? If I end up here again, it's OK for you to be even angrier!
Guilty = OK I did it, please throw the book at me.
Only pick Not Guilty if you have a lawyer and intend to try and force the highway patrol to prove you did it. They can generally accomplish this through testimony from the cop, who may or may not show up in traffic court... it's a serious roll of the dice. Highway patrolmen get paid their standard hourly rate to show up in court!
Generally with cops it comes down to "he said, she said" situations. Unfortunately the cop's testimony is taken as evidence because he's a cop, so, you will lose even if your testimony says otherwise.
You'd have to have some proof, take pictures. All that.
There is always appeals and restitution if you want to be a squeaky wheel. Most people just cut their losses and move on after they lose.
It's been just over two years for my speeding ticket and it is still a factor on my insurance.
passing on the right is likely only 1 point on insurance. I got a semiphore violation (running a red, though I swear that shit was still yellow) and that was only one point. It takes 3 points to affect my insurance any, and a speeding ticket would have been 3.
Honestly, you should probably just pay the fine, especially if it is, say , 150$
but they're listening to every word I say
IANAL but i doubt it matters if you plead no contest/guilty in this case. If you passed on the right, and ran over some pedestrian, you should definitely plead no contest because pleading guilty would ruin the civil suit you would likely be in. If the judge takes your No Contest plea(i think he can say no), go for it, but it's the same result and i wouldn't be surprised if he gave you the stink eye.
Dress nice with slacks and a tie, call the judge sir/ma'am/your honor, and don't be an asshole, and you'll still very likely get the ticket reduced.
What do you mean? He can't just say "not guilty" and then have nothing to say. He knows he was guilty, they have evidence he was guilty. Say guilty and the judge will likely reduce. Say not guilty and welcome to paying-the-full-fine-ville
but they're listening to every word I say
He's not saying that. Everyone has said to plead No Contest. That is not the same Not Guilty.