Getting out of a ticket on a technicality

[RoundGuy]

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So I spent about $300 total to get two tickets fixed and saved thousands and thousands in increased insurance rates.

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Two tickets = $1000's in insurance?

People in the Zoo are so full of [censored]....

[ItalianFX]

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Exactly. It's called -- common sense.

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I'm sure you have never violated some kind of traffic law.

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Except that they are both against the law, which is what a judge, judges. You sure you're a cop?

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It's called discretion. Drugs are harmful to society, minor traffic violations aren't (when made with safety).

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Then why aren't ALL "minor" traffic violations that are argued in court dismissed? I mean, they're "minor", right?

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There are too many variables to discuss. Please stop being a retard.

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My advice was to pay the stupidity fine. He was stupid. He's guilty. I stand by my advice.

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I know, you're perfect.

[RunDownHouse]

First, this isn't the Zoo.

Second, do have any idea what speeding tickets do to an under-25 male primary driver's rates?

From a quick google:

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The average New York auto insurance policy costs $1313 a year.

If you have a clean driving record then most New York companies offer a discount. That discount is typically a 25% savings ($328). So, using these averages a driver with a clean driving record is paying $985 a year for car insurance.

One speeding ticket would remove that discount and increase the base rate by 2%. That is a $354 increase a year, or $1062 over 3 years (companies usually surcharge for 3 years).

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[RoundGuy]

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It's called discretion. Drugs are harmful to society, minor traffic violations aren't (when made with safety).

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Christ. Refer to my Zoo generalization above. All traffic violations are a matter of safety. Otherwise they wouldn't be violations. Sheesh, do you guys just throw your common sense out the window when you post here?

[RunDownHouse]

RoundGuy,

Pretty much everyone with experience and inside knowledge disagrees with you, including a dude sworn to uphold the law. From your repeated statements about him being guilty and thus needing to pay, it seems like you're more focused on him doing some kind of penance than simply whether or not he can dodge the fine.

If you think his crime was worthy of some sort of self-flagellation, fine, you're a weirdo, but whatever. But that's not at all the point of the thread. He's wondering what his chances of getting out of the ticket are and whether its worth a shot.

[RoundGuy]

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First, this isn't the Zoo.

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OMG. I humbly request the forgiveness of my OOT brothers. This mistake is wholly unacceptable. I hereby ban myself for...16 hours.

I am truly sorry.

[dknightx]

RoundGuy, you have no idea what you are talking about.

[KSPD]

If your record is clean, point that out to the magistrate. Push the idea that you don't think you were speeding.

[ItalianFX]

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It's called discretion. Drugs are harmful to society, minor traffic violations aren't (when made with safety).

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Christ. Refer to my Zoo generalization above. All traffic violations are a matter of safety. Otherwise they wouldn't be violations. Sheesh, do you guys just throw your common sense out the window when you post here?

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9 out of 10 (my statistic) people don't come to a complete stop at a stop sign, however, the law states that you must come to a complete stop before proceeding. Do you realize how many people I would stop if I stopped every one of them? And do you know how ridiculous it would be to cite every one of them? My job is to uphold the law. I don't want to give people fines - trust me, I don't! Therefore, I look for the outliers. These outliers are people who aggressively come up to a stop sign, make a quick break, and then proceed when they see no vehicles are coming from any direction. There are the non-outliers who creep up to the stop sign, look, and drift through. If there was a car coming, they could easily hit the break and come to a stop. There have been several times where I KNOW someone isn't planning on coming to a complete stop, but as soon as they see me sitting there they hit the break. I have to use my discretion as it's a right given to me as a police officer.

Also, sometimes I will sit and do some speed timing to watch for speeders. Again, I look for the outliers. I have to give people 5 mph over the limit, and at least 10 with the speed timing device that we use. Therefore, I won't stop someone unless they are going 15mph over. However, I use my discretion and maybe only give a written warning. If I catch you again, you sure will get a citation. On the other hand, the outliers, when someone is going 72 in a 25, I definitely will write a citation without regret because that person is an outlier...that just happened about 3 weeks ago, btw.

Yes, all traffic violations are a matter of safety, but some are more than others. OP's violation is not that big, but relatively minor if he did it with safety.

Now that I think about it, I remember seeing a guy going about 20 feet in a "DO NOT ENTER" because his house was right there and it would be stupid to go around the loop every single time. It definitely stuck out to me and I was like, "HMMMM," but I saw what he was doing and I let him go. He didn't cause any problems, nobody was coming the other way except for me - he did it with safety. Could I have done something about it? Sure, the law said that I could. Would it have been reasonable? Not in the least bit.

[rdh009]

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It won't matter what the court date is, that won't get you out of it. Police make mistakes all the time. I don't know how it works, but in Pennsylvania the court dates are set by the court and not by the police.

Anyways, just go to the hearing, tell the judge that you did go up it the wrong way, but no cars were coming and the house is only 20 feet up the street. Also say that if there were cars coming, you would have gone all the way around, but because you judged it to be safe, you made a safe decision. You didn't put yourself or any other person in harm's way because you made sure no other cars were coming.

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Going to try this play...will submit trip report.

Thanks for the replies, I don't post a lot, but really enjoy reading thoughtful replies. I guess I'm banking on a clean record and *really* not doing anything dangerous.
I agree it was a foolish move, not denying that. (See photo below as it was only another block)