Pulled over, no proof of current insurance

Nissl

So I got waved over for rolling through a stop sign (it was a pretty bullshit infraction to hand out given the speed and the location, obviously the cop wanted to make quota while standing around outside, but I digress), and I didn't have this year's up to date insurance card. I could have sworn I put it in there two months ago when I got it in the mail, but nope. I had last year's insurance and showed him that.

The cop wrote me up for it, and when I asked him about it he said it was a "fix-it" ticket and I would have to show up to court with proof that I was insured at the time. Anyone else have to deal with this? Do I have to dress up, will this waste a whole day of work? Any reason to hire a lawyer? Any additional fines?

Dammit.

Sheep

When this happened to me last year I simply had to go to the courthouse with my insurance card. They charged me a 20$ fee, which was much nicer than the 200 and something I would have owed otherwise.

Take your ticket and your proof of insurance to the courthouse when you get time and it will not go on your record and you will not have to pay the ticket.

Endomatic

I think you'll pay the ticket and if you have current insurance on the date that you go, it will be fine.

Shouldn't need a lawyer.

In Canada they will often impound your vehicle for not having insurance.

Mmmm... Cocks...

Yea it's pretty chill. I had a cop just let me off once for this. But at the same time, if you don't have the proof they're gonna write you up. Just show up mildly presentable with your current card. Shouldn't take to long at all. Be understanding and apologize you didn't have it in your car.

Nissl

Thanks for the help y'all, that pretty much covers what I was looking for. It sounds like you can be in and out in an hour or two and don't have to deal with a scheduled court date. Guess I will dress up semi-nice at work (usually wear jeans otherwise) and take a long lunch break some day next month.

Kivutar

I had a fairly similar situation a couple months ago.
All I had to do was call my insurance company, they sent along current proof of insurance. I went to court on the appointed day, talked to a clerk before ever entering the courtroom, showed her the paperwork and was clear to leave. Took all of 20 minutes, most of which was spent in the security check at the door.

Thylacine

It's not that bad. I would dress nice, but it doesn't have to be "professional".

I got a ticket because I didn't have insurance and my tags were expired. It was a "fix it" ticket too. Basically, get these things before your court date(in a month), show us the paper work, and it will go away. I don't even think I had to pay anything. And it was so non-memorable that I can barely remember what happened.

That was in Missouri though...here in Texas if I'd had that happen, I would have been in pretty bad shit. :-P

noir_blood

Yep, same thing happened to me. I got stopped for one of my back lights going off, and I didn't have my most recent insurance with me. Guy gave me a ticket. I actually never showed up to court, so a few weeks/months later I got a letter saying I needed to pay 600 dollars. I ended up going to go pay it, but then showed that I did have a valid insurance at that time, and they waived the whole thing. Supremely happy.

Buster Blade

This happen to my mom a few years ago. She got pulled over for a busted license plate light and she couldn't find her insurance card cause she was all in a panic and nervous. She took a few hours off from work one day and went to the courthouse and showed the ticket and current insurance card and all was taken care of in a matter of minutes. This was in Texas also.

Bionic Monkey

Nissl wrote: »

So I got waved over for rolling through a stop sign (it was a pretty bullshit infraction to hand out given the speed and the location, obviously the cop wanted to make quota while standing around outside, but I digress), and I didn't have this year's up to date insurance card. I could have sworn I put it in there two months ago when I got it in the mail, but nope. I had last year's insurance and showed him that.

The cop wrote me up for it, and when I asked him about it he said it was a "fix-it" ticket and I would have to show up to court with proof that I was insured at the time. Anyone else have to deal with this? Do I have to dress up, will this waste a whole day of work? Any reason to hire a lawyer? Any additional fines?

Dammit.

You ran a stop sign. It's not a "bullshit infraction."

That said, just bring your proof of insurance with you to the court date, make sure it shows you were insured when you were pulled over, and they'll drop the fine. You may have to pay a small $15 fee or something for the court proceedings, but the actual ticket should be dropped.

Dress up in slacks and a dress shirt (with or without tie) and you should be fine. Most people there won't even bother with that much, and the judge honestly isn't going to care that much. As for how long it will take will depend largely on when you get called. Actually speaking with the judge will take 5 minutes tops, but you may have 20 people that go before you. Still shouldn't take more than an hour, hour and a half though.

mcdermott

There's really no reason to even bother dressing up at all. Just wear what you'd normally wear to work. At least all the times I got such tickets, it's not like you have to convince a judge that you're good to go or anything...the law literally says that as long as you were insured at the time, you're cleared. Paperwork that shows that will do, even if you're wearing ripped jeans and a Pantera shirt.

Seriously, it's a non-issue.

One of mine was for not having proof of insurance (but I was insured), one was for not having my license (but I had one), and one was for having a broken windshield (I had to show a receipt from having it fixed). All three times I just saw a clerk about them, showed the relevant paperwork, and it was all taken care of.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and each time there was a fee involved, but as was said it was like $15 or $20 or something, which is nothing compared to the ticket.

EDIT: Also, to anybody else reading this, never assume that your state allows such "fix-it" tickets. There are many states where merely not having proof of insurance or a license on you are tickets in and of themselves (and expensive ones), regardless of whether you actually do have them somewhere at home or something. So, you know, carry that shit just in case.

RavynBlackheart

when this happened to me I just had my insurance agent fax over a letter to the courthouse stating that I did have insurance at the ticketed date and the whole thing was dropped, but this was in CO so YMMV.

Nissl

Thanks for all of the additional advice. I usually wear sloppy jeans and sneakers to work (scientist), so I may dress up a little and pay the stop sign ticket in court just in case the judge is in a mood to reduce the fine, which I am hearing also happens occasionally.

And yeah, Bionic Monkey, it's bad to roll stop signs. I was venting.

EDIT: Deleted long diatribe that isn't going to produce any productive discussion.
EDIT2: For clarity that I'm talking about a reduction in the stop sign ticket, not the fix-it ticket. I will have to see what they charge me, and if it's more than the range the cop told me he's seen in other cases where he had to show up and the defendant was found guilty, then I guess I'm going to make him show up.

unilateral

Since you will most likely get the ticket dropped, all you would have to pay is court costs. A few people alluded to this already and stated that it would be small. I just wanted to pop in and say that the last two times I had to pay court costs, they were $55 and $89 in two different counties. Now obviously it is different everywhere if someone above posted their court costs were only $15 or whatever, but I just wanted to put it out there that your court costs may be ridiculous.