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Judges and courts and tickets oh my!
Andorien
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I got a traffic ticket. By rear-ending some poor bastard. Yeah, go me.
Anyway, I got a court date set for next month on the 13th. I've never been to traffic court before, other than "alright class, Judge Bob is gonna talk to you about justice . . . and YOU!" Any tips, things I should be aware of, what to wear, etc etc?
Also, I noticed on the ticket that it says my car is red. My car is, in fact, green. Does this make any difference to me whatsoever?
Anyway, I got a court date set for next month on the 13th. I've never been to traffic court before, other than "alright class, Judge Bob is gonna talk to you about justice . . . and YOU!" Any tips, things I should be aware of, what to wear, etc etc?
Also, I noticed on the ticket that it says my car is red. My car is, in fact, green. Does this make any difference to me whatsoever?
Andorien on
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If you're not going to fight: I've heard pleading no contest is good, and what I have done in both of my tickets. Its basically "yeah I fucked up, and Im here because I have to be, Im not fighting the ticket". In my experience this means that the judge says "ok, here is how much you owe go pay and dont do it again"
If you're going to try and fight it for whatever reason, talk to a lawyer, at least for advice even if you dont hire them for the case.
I got an attorney, went to court for a jury trial, and it got dismissed because the cop and the other person didn't show up (the guy in turn tried to get $1,000 of repairs for something the insurance adjuster stated was only $200 max for new paint, so fuck him).
Since it's a moving violation, it stays with you longer and your insurance will go up (mine was going to go up by $300 a year until I was 25, and I was 21 when it happened, so it made financial sense to get a lawyer for $100 and fight it).
I recommend getting a traffic lawyer, and have him push the date back some more to increase the likelihood of the cop and other driver not showing up.
If you want to fight it, well, good luck with that. Like TexiKen said, you can get out of it, but if you were unequivocally at fault you're relying on somebody else (the cop, other person) to get you out of it, which is not a winning strategy in my book.
If the insurance is taken care of and it's manageable to pay for it, I'd just pay it and not deal with court at all.
As for what to wear, you can't overdress. I've heard people say not to put on a suit because the Judge might think you're pretentious, but, how do they know you don't just have a job where a suit is required? I say dress like you would for a job interview, unless you would feel ridiculous. Being dressed well makes you more confident too, which is important when you're under the harsh stare of the judicial system.
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
Right, but usually it's because you rear-ended someone while speeding, or were doing some other dumb thing. I know it happens that you can just get the ticket for the accident, but there's usually other things going on...
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
For those wishing to know the details of the ticket, it had a generic "Following too closely", which I guess is what the cop figured was a good ticket in the event of running into someone. It's not really true, since what basically happened was I was going to work, was pretty sleepy, and noticed too late that a small truck with a small cart attached had stopped to make a left turn. Yeah, I told them this, but that's what they gave me. I'm not overly concerned about the actual clause, since it seems to me that "Ran the fuck into someone" would warrant a higher price than "Tailgating".
Insurance seems to be taken care of, they're sending a $700 check to pay for the damages to my vehicle (which were pretty minor. some turn signals got knocked out of place, and they still work even).
Also, the guy I hit's being a really good sport about the whole thing, even though I kinda bent his bumper inward under the vehicle about 2 feet. Hitting trailer at about 35 MPH + force concentrated a single point right on the trailer hitch = interesting results. He kept trying to convince the cops who eventually showed up not to give me a ticket.
It's almost entirely impossible to rear-end somebody without doing something dumb. If somebody "stops short" and you rear-end them, it means you either were driving too fast for conditions or following too close. The law in California and many other states reflects this.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Worked for my speeding ticket.
Like I said earlier, if the insurance is taken care of and you're pretty assuredly at fault, just pay the damn thing. That's a smaller ticket than I got for having broken high-beams, and you wouldn't even have to go in to court, thereby saving valuable and precious time.
Thats how it is here in PA too. I think theres a term for it but i cant think of it right now.
I swear it was something else. All i can think of is "no fault" but thats not right. *shrug* Maybe im thinking of something else.
I'm not sure following too close warrants a witness, but I had one come in for my case. After the judge heard both the officer's and my testimony, he ruled in my favor (I also took an oath swearing everything I said was true). I firmly believe I added integrity to my story because every other schmuck in the courtroom looked and acted like they didn't care.