Cop being stupid, racist or just nice? (long)

In My Humble Opinion
21

Also, just because your insurance agent says it won’t effect your premium doesn’t mean that it won’t, in fact, effect your premium. Many companies offer ticket forgiveness for your first offense but then if you get a 2nd ticket within 3-5 years (depending on the laws in your state) you will then be charged for both tickets. This can also cause you to lose any other discounts you may be recieving depending on the company.

Sometimes companies have changes to policies that they file with the state. This year they offer ticket forgiveness but their budget comes back and they need more revenue so they file with the state to remove ticket forgiveness from policies and you are charged for the ticket after you were told you would not be charged (this happened at a company I worked for in Texas.)

I would contact a lawyer and ask about it. Better to be safe than sorry.

22

[QUOTE=MadPansy64]
Seriously? I can just show up, all by myself, and tell the Judge about all the fuck ups and he’ll tell me to nevermind about the $197 fine and it won’t raise my insurance? Will he use an Emily Litella voice? That would be very shiny!

I haven’t had ticket in . . . 12 years? Maybe 15. I paid that one on the spot (if you’re obsessive about detail, search for a thread about aircraft monitoring tickets in GQ) because I was guilty. No other arrests or convictions, in my whole entire life. I’ve got a lead foot, but I’m lucky and otherwise law abiding.

So why does Vegas have so very many billboards for traffic violation reducing attorneys?
[/QUOTE]

Attorneys advertise to get you to hire them, and they are paid whether or not their presense makes a difference. If it’s not a DUI or accident involving injury or liability, I wouldn’t even consider hiring one. YMMV.

As long as you’re nice to the judge, don’t badmouth the cop, and have some reasonable story about why you think the ticket is in someway unfair or erroneous, a lot of judges will lower the fines or points for no real reason at all. I’ve done it, I know plenty of people who have too. Perhaps it’s refreshing to them to have a reasonably well-spoken person in front of them who says please and thank you.

23

[QUOTE=WhyNot]
I’m missing the “racist” part here. Do you think he was nice 'cause you were (uh, are) white? I’d suggest it’s probably more because you were polite and reasonable and even nice to the guy who’s probably used to dealing with tweakers and whiners.
[/QUOTE]

I really hadn’t considered the possibility until a coworker mentioned it. My feeling is the same as yours, but wanted another take on the issue.

Everyone else:

A speeding ticket will raise my insurance, no doubt about it. I really like having a very low premium and would rather it stay low. LSLguy summed up my entire reason for even considering arguing about the damn ticket. I’m guilty of speeding. I got caught.

Morally, I should shut my mouth and mail a check. Realistically, I think can live with not being absolutely, perfectly moral and ethical in this situation.

The “mistakes” are just weird – I can not fathom how or why they happened. Hence, this thread.

Yes, the date on the ticket is 2007. Exactly one year ago to the minute! The cop seems a bit fuzzy on the whole year number thing. Neat printing, clear, slightly loopy rather than spiky, very legible, except for one smudged 06 which may have been a 04, but should have been an 08.

Two letter states piss me off. I don’t usually biff the “M” states, but I have to fix Alaska, Arkansas and Alabama every time.

My big-boss said I would talk to a district attorney-type person before going before the judge, and the D.A. will most probably plea it down to a no-points parking ticket $197 fine automatically, just because I bothered to show up. He also gave me the name of the lawyer his wife uses, and I quote, “all the fucking time.” This guy’ll go talk to the D.A. about a bunch of tickets at once, get them reduced to no-point parking, same fine, for free. It’s evidently a hell of a good advertising scheme. If it works, I’ll damn sure tell the other maniac drivers I know about him! If it doesn’t, then I’ll pay through the nose for insurance for the next decade, while trying to not whine about it.

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No tickets in 12 or 15 years and one speeding ticket will spike your rates? Sheesh.

You know, I’ve always believed that if the government is going to require you to carry insurance then the government itself should provide it.

25

[QUOTE=acsenray]
No tickets in 12 or 15 years and one speeding ticket will spike your rates? Sheesh.

You know, I’ve always believed that if the government is going to require you to carry insurance then the government itself should provide it.
[/QUOTE]

Yep. Insurance is good, but Insurance Companies are evil. My rates are really REALLY low, comparatively, and they would love an excuse to jack them up. We’re profitable (no claims) and I’m bitchy (threaten to switch over every one of their threats to increase my rates), and I’d really like to keep it that way. It won’t be $400 per month per car, more like $300 per year total, but I can think of lots of other things to do with $300 this year, and next year, and the year after that, and . . .

The requirement of carrying insurance is not something I blame the government for. I do not want to pay out of my pocket because another driver can’t use his or her eyes before turning left, and I don’t want to pay out of pocket, or declare bankruptcy, because I forgot to use my eyes just once. The Insurance Companies shouldn’t be so greedy, though.

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[QUOTE=MadPansy64]
The requirement of carrying insurance is not something I blame the government for. I do not want to pay out of my pocket because another driver can’t use his or her eyes before turning left, and I don’t want to pay out of pocket, or declare bankruptcy, because I forgot to use my eyes just once. The Insurance Companies shouldn’t be so greedy, though.
[/QUOTE]

I believe that the function of insurance is incompatible with a for-profit entity. That’s why I said that I believe the government should provide whatever insurance is deemed necessary.

27

There seem to be two distinctly different opinions on what will happen. I’d formally request that **MadPansy64 ** update us with a new thread when the case is adjudicated, whatever the outcome. It’ll help fight ignorance, and if the ignorance is mine, I’m a better person for it. Let us know what happens, OK?

28

[QUOTE=MadPansy64]
So why does Vegas have so very many billboards for traffic violation reducing attorneys?
[/QUOTE]

Quote a Miami ex-cop who was suing the MPD on her own: “lawyers mostly make a living on people thinking we need them. But most of the things they do are things that don’t need a lawyer, only the ability to read and write.”

While I do believe lawyers have their place, there have been times when I’ve seen one get paid for something like, oh, sending me (a Spanish citizen who was in Italy at the time) the information on how to get a Visa to the US… printed from the webpage of the US embassy in Canada, and telling me I had to present it in the US embassy in Athens. And of course, I already had more accurate information, obtained from the webpage of the US embassy in Madrid, d’uh (with the prices in Euros instead of Canadian Dollars).

Those dudes on the billboards are lampreys who dream of being sharks.

29

Heres what will happen:

You go to court, plead “not guilty”. You have to come back again, later to talk to the D. A. When you meet this guy, you tell him you want a trail, and he’ll then start to bargain with you. Show him the ticket, point out all the errors, and tell him you want it dismissed. Don’t admit or deny the speeding. Just point out that the officer was clearly not paying attention, and therefor issued the citation in error. He most likely will want to avoid a trial and dragging this cop in front of a judge to be embarrased. I would almost guarentee the worst you’ll get is the ticket reduced to a “rural speed” (no points, just a fine, won’t effect insurance) or “deferred prosucution”, where they will dismiss it if you don’t get another ticket in 90 days.

This is what happend to me, in northern Nevada. Good luck.

30

[QUOTE=Sunrazor]
There seem to be two distinctly different opinions on what will happen. I’d formally request that **MadPansy64 ** update us with a new thread when the case is adjudicated, whatever the outcome. It’ll help fight ignorance, and if the ignorance is mine, I’m a better person for it. Let us know what happens, OK?
[/QUOTE]

I will. My court date is May 26, 2008. I haven’t decided how to handle it, but I apparently have time to think about it.

31

[QUOTE=MadPansy64]
I will. My court date is May 26, 2008. I haven’t decided how to handle it, but I apparently have time to think about it.
[/QUOTE]

Might want to make sure your case isn’t docketed for May 2007 :wink:

The whole good faith thing seems to vary by state. My roommate (a Florida sheriff’s deputy) says if he wrote a ticket with more than one glaring error on it a judge would dismiss it pretty much immediately… but YSMV.

32

[QUOTE=neutron star]
Damn! If I got sent on my way in eleven minutes, I’d think I had the most efficient cop in the universe. I’ve racked up more than a few tickets in the 13 years that I’ve been driving and I’ve never seen it take less than a half hour!
[/QUOTE]

About thirty minutes total. Roughly. He sat in his car, running my info or whatever, while I sat in mine, staring at the clock, for eleven minutes. The cop (who has lovely printing but a completely illegible signature. I don’t like calling him “The Cop” so let’s call him Dave. He looked rather Dave-ish) was very polite and professional, except when it came to writing numbers. He even spelled my weird (Dawn**a ** Middleinitial Germansurname hyphen Slavicsurname) name correctly both times.

Really Not All That Bright Oh, yeah, I’ve checked the court date several bazillion times, just in case. Failure to Appear is bad. Very, very bad. If that date was not in the future, I’d have gone straight to the courthouse to beg the judge to not throw me in jail, rather than whining here about all the other errors. I just checked it again, too. May 2008, in the future, not the past!

33

Traffic courts vary so wildly between states that nobody except those with experience in your county and state could tell you. Some states would dismiss that ticket outright, while some would allow the officer to amend the data, but still prosecute you for speeding.

I had an experience in FL traffic court. I was cited for 46 in a 30 and no seatbelt on June 16, 2006. My final hearing was on December 18, 2006 and the FL rules for traffic court clearly state that I must have a final hearing within 6 months (they were 2 days late). I mentioned this to the judge, he checked the computer, and yelled “Dismissed!” as he pounded his hand on the bench (since he didn’t have a gavel)

34

I’m lazy & forgetful. Sorry

Mellow judge, $10 (yes, ten dollars), my insurance doesn’t care. YMMV, showing up in person helps, I think.