My Traffic Court Experience!

jonl4x4 (37)in #trafficticket • 8 years ago (edited)

So......

On March 18th I was given a ticket for failing to obey a traffic signal (ran a red light). The situation played out like this:

I was coming around a corner on my motorcycle and going the speed limit when the light coming up turned yellow. It obviously did this at that perfect moment when you have a split second to decide whether to stop or to gun it. I chose to stop, but the gravel on the road had other plans for me. I attempted to stop three times and my back tire kept sliding on the gravel. Finally I made the decision to gun it instead of laying down my bike or ending up in the middle of the intersection. The light flipped to red as I was entering the intersection. I immediately pulled over to check out my rear tire for any gravel that may be in the tread.

As luck would have it, a state trooper was clocking people and saw me do this, so of course she pulled out and came up behind me as I was inspecting my bike. She said I made the best decision but she would have to ticket me since I was caught on camera. She told me to pay the fine within 20 days to only receive 2 points or wait until my court date and run the chances of paying the fine and 4 points. But she winked and told me to go to court.

So, today was court date and I am utterly confused at what happened. I showed up and approached a desk, a representative told me I have 2 options:

Pay the fine today and get 2 points (at this point I am already confused because if I wanted that option, I would have done it 3 months ago) or
Decide to contest it (which is why I was in court today) and they would give me another court date to come back meet with the officer and a magistrate to decide the case.

Sooooooo, today's court date was really just another chance to pay the original fine...I don't get it. I am military and leaving for multiple training events, I don't time for all this. Especially for something I should have never been ticketed for.

Give me your thoughts in the comments! Thanks for the support in advance!

-Jon

#confused #stupidity #nonsense

8 years ago in #trafficticket by jonl4x4 (37)

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kunschj (64) 8 years ago (edited)

If you can fit it in around training, you should go to court. The trooper basically told you that:

She said I made the best decision but she would have to ticket me since I was caught on camera. She told me to pay the fine within 20 days to only receive 2 points or wait until my court date and run the chances of paying the fine and 4 points. But she winked and told me to go to court.

If you go to court, she may tell the judge that she agreed that you made the best decision, and the judge could dismiss the ticket...or she may not even show up and the nthe ticket would also be dismissed.

$0.00

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