Just last week a buddy tried to play stupid when we were about to go mountainbiking. We had no money to pay the "self pay" parking. So a fake ticket stub was filled out and put on the dash, but no money was deposited. At that moment a ranger came over. We explained to him that we didn't have money, and he was going to fill out an I.O.U. slip, because he was such a nice guy . .. THEN he found the fake stub. He was mad, but he still let us go . . Playing stupid usully doesn't work, might've for me this morning, I just wasn't feeling up to it.

BTW, I am 18 and have had my license for 2 1/2 years.

 

Ever think of traffic school?Price of the ticket is never written on the ticket. It comes in teh mail along with traffic school info (if eligible). If you've never gotten a ticket before you are probably fine. While ticket school can be expensive, it's still cheaper than an insurance rate hike for 3-5 years.

 

Sorry if I **** someone off here.
Yer a dumbass for running stop signs anyway. pay the fine, go to school, and LEARN from this.
Nuff said.

 

As a kid we all did stupid stuff

I'm hoping he learned his lesson.

 

What ever you do, make darn sure you appear on the date shown! There's something called a bench-warrant when you don't appear. So the next time you get pulled over, the officer sees you have a warrant, which usually results in a night with Bubba. Also, the judge ain't stupid. He's heard it all, seen it all.Go in there, dress properly (suggest no jeans or T-shirts with a rebel flag), be honest.If it's your first, "ASK" if you can requesttraffic school. You would be amazed at the stuipidity of people, and when you go into a court room, it's very, very apparent, who the idiots are.

 

Here's how things work in Texas:

Common violations (running a stop sign, for example) and the amount of the fine are printed on the back of the citation. See if your fine is printed on the back of your citation.

We have to go to court and ask to take a Defensive Driving course. At that time, we are given a form that must be mailed to the State. This is done because you're only allowed to do this once per year. Once Ok'd, you can take the Defensive Driving course. Upon completion, you have to take forms you've received back to court. At that time, the citation is removed from your record. Since its not on your record, your insurance will not go up. As a matter of fact, you can tell the insurance company you took a Defensive Driving course and they will give you a discount!!

The court will give you a time limit to get all this done. Mailing the form to the state and waiting for it to be returned takes longer than you'd want, so DON'T PROCASTENATE.

 

Last time I was in court (Houston, Texas) the judge took great pleasure in repeatedly singing (yes, singing) "School, fine or trial". I got tired of hearing it, but was amazed at the people that wanted to explain. He only gave 3 choices, everyone was expected to pick one. The point is, don't go in trying to explain, what you are going to is a hearing to make your plea. If you plead "not guilty", you'll get a chance to explain in your trial (one of the 3 options). If you plead "guilty" you will be given a chance to request Defensive Driving school (another of the options) or you will be told the amount of the fine.

BTW, nassaubayman, the judge has a fair amount of latitude regarding the fines, the ones printed on the back are maximum if I remember correctly.

 

I'm in Houston too!! We should meet up sometime. Perhaps the MCOH show in October.

Your judge didn't charge you the maximum? How'd you pull that one off? [8D]

 

As my dad used to tell me (in so many words), if you play you pay.....

Pay the fine or go to traffic school....ifschool is an option... You know you are guilty, throw yourself on the mercy of the court, this = plead guilty....

 

From what I can tell you are in the SF Bay area. As another CA resident I can tell you my experineces in traffic court. Although thankfully I have learned that it is worth saving the hassles and now I stop at stop signs and keep within the speed limit, well OK maybe less than 75 on the freeway.
However in my younger days I have fought tickets and won more than I lost.

First thing I would recommend a book on fighting tickets available from a company called nolo press. try nolopress.com.to find the title. If you don't want to buy the book try your local city libraries, try the downtown brach reference section, or a law library.

I am not recommending that you do or do not fight your ticket that is up to you, this is just a recomendation for information.

At the time of my tickets, you could pay the fine and request traffic school by sending in a form. If you appear in court intitially you will be asked to enter a plea. Which is basically guilty or not guilty. Don't waste anyones time by telling some story and then saying that you ran the stop sign. Guilty with an explaination is still the same as guilty. A not guilty plea means you believe that you did not run the stop sign. If you want to plead not guilty they will set you up for a aonther appearace to present your case. The officer will have to show, if not your case will be dismissed. If the officer is there they will usually tell you that if you plead guilty you will definitely be able to go to traffic school, if you still want to plead not gulity and you present your case and you are found gulity you may loose your right to go to traffic school. Whenever I saw someone ask for traffic school after they plead not guilty they were still allowed traffic school.

In my experiences twice the officer did not show, once they told the wrong story and my case was dismissed. The cop was there for two of us that he wrote tickets for. The first girl opted for traffic school before proceding, when the officer got up for my case he told the story of her ticket not mine, whoops! and my case was dismissed. The other times I went to traffic school.

I saw another case where the officer did not state during his testimony to the judge that he pulled the person over and checked their ID and that it was the same person there in court. That was enough for the judge to dismiss the case.

It is your decision as to wether you want to take the extra time to plead not guilty and appear twice. But strange things can happen and your case may; be dismissed. No fine no school no record.

Again I am not commenting on if you are gulity or innocent just giving you information. It is your responsibily to find out the up to date info and make your own decision on what you want to do. This is not legal advice.

As for attorneys, there are usually some that will handle your case and you don't have to appear. If they win great if not they will usually get you traffic school. which you could have done yourself but now you have to pay the attorney too.

Bottom line is next time take another 10 seconds to do the complete stop it is the safe thing to do and keeps you out of court. Same thing about speeding.

This may have been more info than you wanted but that is all I have to say about that