So I was pulled over for speeding the other day, and without admitting guilt, that may have been a legitimate citation.
However, the officer wrote me a ticket for “Driver Inattention,” stating that while a speeding ticket would carry 2-points against my record, this charge would not have any points associated with it.
I know that no one is going to offer binding legal advice, etc, but am I wrong thinking that I should fight this charge? Is it a shakedown for more cash for the township? Do officers have free reign to charge people however they want?
(and yes, if I’d been speeding and just gotten a ticket for speeding, that would be that and I’d have not beef with the whole thing)
I don’t currently own a car, and even when I did I didn’t speed (or be “inattentive”), so I don’t have first hand experience, but I know many people around here (in NY) feel that points are the biggest PITA and would gladly hand over extra money, especially a paltry $45, to avoid points.
(And your location is listed as “lurking behind me”, so I assume you’re in NY too and this information is relevant. )
It depends on where you live. If you lived in NJ it would not be a shakedown because 90% of the fines go to the state and the towns get very little. He was doing you a favor. Your attitude is why I never did any one favors on the road. I would have the inclination to write a wink-wink seatbelt ticket as a favor but heard stories about people fighting them even though it was a huge favor. Rather than risk it I would write the offense and let them plea it down in court. Because people can be dicks even when you are doing them a favor.
Isn’t there an obligation of the LEO to write a correct ticket? If you are ticketed for something you didn’t do, fight it. What is he going to do? Ticket you for speeding after the fact?
Also, why do you owe the officer anything, you didn’t ask for a break so him unilaterally cutting a break doesn’t create any obligation to accept the break he gave you.
If you do fight it and lose, what are the increased fees? Do you really lose anything? I say fight it and get no points and pay no fine.
My State doesn’t have a point system, but from people I’ve talked to I’ve gotten the impression that saving 2 points is well worth $45. Unless your driving record is otherwise 100% flawless, I’d take the deal the cop gave.
Depending on where you are, this may amount to a big savings. Here in Michigan, in order to do an end-around on where money from fines can be allocated, they added an annual “Driver Responsibility Fee” that jacks up the cost of renewing your driver’s license every year for having certain infractions on your driving history. If your state has any such fees, those would need to be factored into whether the new, reduced infraction actually costs more or less than the original.
As a chronic speeder who takes his medicine when caught, I appreciate any breaks I get. Ironically, I tend to get let off with warnings (4 out of my last 5 stops).
To the OP, if you were speeding, he gave you a break. If you don’t know if you were speeding (guessing by your disclaimer), you were inattentive. Pay the fine.
1 speeding ticket goes on your driving record for 3 years, do you really thing 3 years (or more) of increased insurance rates will cost you less than 45$? that cop just saved you a couple grand.
Is $45 even worth taking time off work to go to court to fight it?
Also, as has been mentioned already, the $45 is far less than you would have paid in raised insurance costs from the points. Why not just pay it and move on?
First thing to note, NO, they do not have unchecked authority.
It is well settled law that the 4th Amendment “regulates conduct, not thoughts”. His subjective intention to charge for an offense not pulled over for comforms to the 4th.
Even if you were arrested and taken to jail and told “at the scene” you were being charged with X, when at the booking desk, he can change the charge to Y, as long as Probable Cause exists to charge, as the SC has abrogated the “closely related” offense doctrine for such.
To proffer an argument under the Exclusionary Rule for the Innatentive charge, you must show that the initial stop was UNconstitutional, and by your own admittance, it was not.
A cop gave me a break once, long ago, busting a speeding ticket down to a seatbelt violation. I’ve always been grateful, as this way my parents didn’t have to know (I just paid the ticket personally).
I just looked, and the annual policy on my car is $465, so this shakedown is ~10% of my annual auto insurance cost.
And yes, I know whether or not I was speeding, I’m just going to plead the fifth online, in case my statements could be used as an admission of guilt.
Like I said, if I’d gotten a ticket for speeding when I was speeding, no problem. If I’d gotten one for causing an accident due to inattention, spot on, my fault. But getting a ticket for accident due to inattention when no such thing happened just seems a bit off to me.
You say you are a police officer, so maybe to you it is, but a “layperson” asked how an officer can pull you over for 1 charge, not cite you for it, but cite you for another, I explained that.
Your posts about simply giving someone a “break” really did not explain it legally.
If he had given you the original ticket it would have ended up costing you significantly more than 10% of your annual auto insurance cost. A speeding ticket has many downstream costs related to the points. You are looking a gift horse in the mouth.
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