Driving (and discussion concerning driving)

[Kens]

Ok guys i need some help.I turned 18 and the next day I got 3 tickets in less than 10 mins on the road. One was for not having the headlights on, the second was for making a left turn on the right lane, and the third was for having a expired insurance.Now let me explain each in details so u guys know what really happend.

-First one for not having headlights was completely my fault, totally forgot, was my first time on the road at night by myself.That one i understand but he charged me ($115.50) for it, I wonder why so much...The officer also said that I almost caused an accident because a driver couldnt see me cuz my headlights was off.( which was totally bogus).

-Second one the officer claims I made a left turn on the right lane which was bogus once again($115.50). I switched lane to the left lane somewhat a bit before the turn(without turn signals). After i quickly switched lane there was a car in front of me that was making the left turn so i quickly followed him in making that left turn.There was no on comming traffic while i was making the left turn and he claims that I almost caused 2 near accidents(more bs sigh).And thats when he finally turned on his lights and pulled me over. Oh btw he wasnt driving a cop car, he was i guess somewhat undercover and my guess he was following me for a while. I made an image of this scenario. Heres the link. http://img139.exs.cx/img139/2552/traffic1kj.jpg

-Final one i got when he pulled me over. The car wasnt mine and I was not on the i was not on the insurance. But he got me for having a expired insurance and not for having no insurance($71.50). My brother(owner of the car) has the up to date insurance on him tho, so the insurance wasnt really expired, i just didnt have the new one on the car.

Ok thats the story, and I'm planning to take this to court so i could at least get rid of the expired insurance one cuz my bro has the updated one.But thing is that Can they might get me for not having insurance? or is it too late? I'm also planning to tell my side of the story for the right lane/ left turn incident, and hope maybe the judge can lower the fine a bit. Having the no headlights, i kno its my fault and expect to pay but hope judge can maybe lower price. Any ideas what to do, what are some tips? Do I plead guild for having no headlights and not guilty for the other two?

If u made it this far,I really wanna thanks u guys for reading all that.
Once again thanks a lot and any help would be greatly appreciated.

Kens

[Mr_Paper]

You're pretty much doing the best thing by taking it to court and explaining the circumstance from you view. It might not work out entirely in your favor, but at the very least if the judge is in a good mood you could end up with reduced fines on the tickets.

I'd admit and conceed to having been driving without the headlights, nothing you can really do about that, and then explain the circumstances regarding the insurance and left hand turn. After that, pray for a compassionate judge.

[Kamui4356]

Well the insurance one is easy, just bring the up to date info with you to court. As long as it's dated before the ticket, you'll get off on that one.
The headlight one you're screwed on no matter what you do. Pleading guilty to it may make the left turn one a bit easier to fight.
The left turn one, you may be able to fight in court. Just do what Mr_Paper said and explain. You probably won't get off on it, but the judge will probably knock it down to a lesser charge, like failing to properly signal. Actually is that a lesser charge? I would imagine so, but who knows. You might want to look into your local laws.

[RedEyes]

You know, it's pretty bad also bringing it to the court, since you're a new driver, there's gonna be a little biased views. But the best thing you can do now is go to court.

[aahhsin]

Originally Posted by Kens

Ok guys i need some help.I turned 18 and the next day I got 3 tickets in less than 10 mins on the road. One was for not having the headlights on, the second was for making a left turn on the right lane, and the third was for having a expired insurance.Now let me explain each in details so u guys know what really happend.

HAHAHA. Well everyone gets a ticket sooner or later. At least your not stupid like my friend and totaled his car in a month.

-First one for not having headlights was completely my fault, totally forgot, was my first time on the road at night by myself.That one i understand but he charged me ($115.50) for it, I wonder why so much...The officer also said that I almost caused an accident because a driver couldnt see me cuz my headlights was off.( which was totally bogus).

115.50 is very little money especially with the headlights off. Since you never drove at night before, driving behind some dumbass without their lights on is the freakiest shit ever. You don't know how close they are, and you have to keep high beaming that moron until he gets it. If the driver is old, asian and a woman. I say you stay away as far as you can from her.

-Second one the officer claims I made a left turn on the right lane which was bogus once again($115.50). I switched lane to the left lane somewhat a bit before the turn(without turn signals). After i quickly switched lane there was a car in front of me that was making the left turn so i quickly followed him in making that left turn.There was no on comming traffic while i was making the left turn and he claims that I almost caused 2 near accidents(more bs sigh).And thats when he finally turned on his lights and pulled me over. Oh btw he wasnt driving a cop car, he was i guess somewhat undercover and my guess he was following me for a while. I made an image of this scenario. Heres the link. http://img139.exs.cx/img139/2552/traffic1kj.jpg

Man you got off lucky... I got 355 for a left turn... Well you can't switch lanes if you're at the end of a street (Right before you make a right). See those solid white lines that extend like 20 feet? You're actually not supposed to change lane during that time. So your fault again. There's plenty of undercover now. Even on ricer cars to catch ricers on the freeway. So don't race either.

-Final one i got when he pulled me over. The car wasnt mine and I was not on the i was not on the insurance. But he got me for having a expired insurance and not for having no insurance($71.50). My brother(owner of the car) has the up to date insurance on him tho, so the insurance wasnt really expired, i just didnt have the new one on the car.

You can challenge this one.

Here's the thing, everytime you do get a ticket, go to court and challenge it, 70% of the time the cop that pulled you over is a no show and the entire fine is wavied off.

[IntrepidAKP]

Must judges will waive things like improper equipment and expired insurance if you bring to court evidence that you have the problem fixed. I think your pretty screwed on the others. I've never heard of a reduced fine on a traffic violation. They are pretty clean cut. Excuses will just piss off the judge.

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by IntrepidAKP

I've never heard of a reduced fine on a traffic violation. They are pretty clean cut.

I got a reduced fine on a speeding ticket. It would have been 298 dollars and 4 points on my license, but I pleaded it down to a lower level speeding ticket and a 113 dollar fine with only 2 points, which wasn't enough to raise my insurance. As long as you weren't racing or endangering other drivers, many judges are lenient about traffic violations. Of course that all depends on where you live.

[JOJOS'STAR]

Lol. Sorry but who the hell was that Ranger? John Wayn? could have been worst though, I got a 350$ single ticket cause I didn't paid my liscence on time.

[Kimura-sensei]

It depends on what the county policy is. Like West side NY (Buffalo to Syracuse) has a zero tolerance on traffic violations... you break the law, you pay for it. No exceptions. Judges are with the cops, so don't bother pleading innocent.

Ask your buddies what the judges on traffic laws are like. That gives you an idea of what you can dispute and what you can't. As people mentioned before... you're not likely to get off the headlight issue. The left turn... you may dispute. The insurance thing, that's no problem, just provide the judge an updated insurance card and they'll drop that fine.

[Sanjuronord]

Taking it to court is best since it can work in your favor and you're paying court charges on those tickets regardless of whether you take it up or not. I've only gotten one ticket and it was in my hometown and I had to be at college the same day so I didn't bother but the officer was "technically" right to give me the ticket (didn't come to a complete stop at a stop sign, he was probably watching my tires I bet cause I came damn near close...).

[Raven_Zero]

Sounds like you ran into an asshole. I've been pulled over many times and i have only ever been given 3 tickets.(all speeding) Every time i've been pulled over for something other then speeding they let me off with a warning, and even sometimes when it's for speeding. It could be cause i live in a small town and am freinds with the local cops son. lol But he's only pulled me over once for screwing around(drifting in a store parking lot)

[hooliganj]

Originally Posted by Kens

-Second one the officer claims I made a left turn on the right lane which was bogus once again($115.50). I switched lane to the left lane somewhat a bit before the turn(without turn signals). After i quickly switched lane there was a car in front of me that was making the left turn so i quickly followed him in making that left turn.There was no on comming traffic while i was making the left turn and he claims that I almost caused 2 near accidents(more bs sigh).And thats when he finally turned on his lights and pulled me over. Oh btw he wasnt driving a cop car, he was i guess somewhat undercover and my guess he was following me for a while. I made an image of this scenario. Heres the link. http://img139.exs.cx/img139/2552/traffic1kj.jpg

So you changed lanes without signalling too close to the intersection, and you think you'll get a reduction in the fee? I'd say you may actually need that defensive driving class. They'll teach you important tidbits like turning on the headlights when it's too dark to see the road. Little stuff like that.

[HopelessLover]

@Kens: How the fuck do you get 3 tickets within ten minutes? It's like this was your first time driving... I hope it wasn't your first time driving... If it was your first time driving then AHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAH

But seriously, if you drove around with your permit then things like headlights, lawfull turns, and insurance should not be an issue. Maby you just had a bad day? (or did you smoke that shiznat?)

Edit: Btw, I have never took driving classes and taught my own self how to drive (with my permit), and I STILL NEVER received ANY tickets at all.

[Superchop]

Kens - many people already said you "can" get off free for the 3rd ticket...but the first 2 i'm not so sure about...if you take it to court then they might lower the charges against you but you will end up paying large fines either way, which also includes court cost...but since your going in with 3 tickets and are a pretty new driver there might be some biased feelings (as said above). I wish you luck....when i went to court to try to get my speeding ticket reduced it wasn't a fun day...luckily this lady's son who was a cop in the city i got the ticket in was nice enough to go to court with me and talk to the prosecuter and helped lower my ticket (although my ticket was "too high" so they couldn't completely lower it)

oh, and also...to all the people that talk about talking to the judge and explaining their story to him...do you actually talk to the judge? cause when i went to court they had said i HAD to talk to the prosecutor and he was the one that would decided the outcome...and when i talked to the judge it was just for the last part where i would either plee guilty or try to take it further and be put on trial...

[7thMethuselah]

Like others said : completely forget about losing ticket nr 1 : the one about the headlights. For my job I'm on the road alot (I do an average of 1000 km (that's like 700 miles? or so) a week) and one of the scariest thing to ebncounter are people with no lights, they come outta nowhere and scare the hell outta you. And even when you do see them it's very difficult to estimate the distance between you and them or their speed. In fact it's actually better to drive with the headlights on the moment it get's a little darker. Or if it starts to rain : turn them on immediately, other people will at elast know where you ae relative to them.

As for the insurance : well, that"s up to the judge, but actually it's your brothers fault he should've put the license in the car not you, so give the ticket to him

And making left turn from a right lane : sorry a dangerous maneuver even if there is little traffic, since no one will expect you to do so. I fear there is no way out of this one either.

Don't worry about these things too much, driving is not as easy as it seems, you need alot of miles, and alot of different situations before you can actually say your a decent driver.

[Thelastguardian]

Which is exact reason why the Canadian government requires all automobiles to have a day-time light on at all time- To prevent *execuse me* clueless ***** from forgetting to turn on their light.
How could you forget to turn on your light at night @_@ . I just plainly fail to see it(no pun intended).

For the second offence, you are also set in stone as this is a dangerous driving exercise.
For the third one... It would really help if you at least tell us which country you live in :/ .

[Roots]

Wow, except for the headlights one you are in almost the exact same situation I was 3 years ago. (Or was it 2? I dunno but I was at least 20 at the time).


The headlights one you need to pay, because its your fault and there's nothing you can do about it.


The insurance one I'm unsure about. I got caught for having no proof of insurance when I got pulled over too (I couldn't find it, but it was in my car at the time just didn't know where). At least in Arizona, all I had to do was make a copy of it and mail it into the court and I got acquitted of those charges.


The charge I got pulled over for was an "unsafe lane change" which was total BS. At 10:00PM on a deserted street I was in the middle lane, then before the light changed lanes (with blinker) to the left lane and then the lane split to the left hand turn lane (so I crossed two lanes). Two cops pulled me over and said I cut off a truck or something, but there was no truck! I checked both my mirrors and my blind spot before I turned and both were clear. I had two friends in the car with me at the time, and one of them came to court to fight it with me. I had a very nice argument I thought: since I distinctly remember turning onto the street and remembering how desolate it was (not a vehicle in sight), and that the only way a car could have been there is if it came from behind at a very high speed (I was going the speed limit) and I didn't see it because I checked my blind spot too quick.


The judge was a fucking senile asshole and basically dismissed my argument without question. Even when I directly asked the officers "Do you know where that truck came from?" and they said they didn't know. The judge was like "Meh, shutup kid". So in the end I was charged guilty and had to pay a court fee in addition to the original ticket, so I was pretty pissed. When I went down to the pay office in the court room there was a huge ass line and I was tired, and I saw a bunch of signs that said "Take this and mail in your bill instead!" so I did because I just wanted to go home. The very next day I get something in the mail that says I didn't pay my fines and that they suspended my license and charged me ANOTHER fine! I called them and was like "WTF!?!?!" and they said that I had to pay immediately after the hearing and I couldn't mail it in (yeah, thanks a lot fucking misleading signs!!!). So I was like fine, so I payed the late fee and I already mailed in the other fees before that call. It took them over a MONTH to get my license re-issued! A day to bitch at me for not paying, and a MONTH for them to do something for me!!!


So in short: the judicial system sucks ass. I'm a very good driver and I got charged for 3 things that I shouldn't have. The judge sided with the cops from the beginning and didn't even try to consider my argument. If you want to fight your charge, I say go for it, but even if you have a good argument and a witness don't expect to win.

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by Roots

Wow, except for the headlights one you are in almost the exact same situation I was 3 years ago. (Or was it 2? I dunno but I was at least 20 at the time).


The headlights one you need to pay, because its your fault and there's nothing you can do about it.


The insurance one I'm unsure about. I got caught for having no proof of insurance when I got pulled over too (I couldn't find it, but it was in my car at the time just didn't know where). At least in Arizona, all I had to do was make a copy of it and mail it into the court and I got acquitted of those charges.


The charge I got pulled over for was an "unsafe lane change" which was total BS. At 10:00PM on a deserted street I was in the middle lane, then before the light changed lanes (with blinker) to the left lane and then the lane split to the left hand turn lane (so I crossed two lanes). Two cops pulled me over and said I cut off a truck or something, but there was no truck! I checked both my mirrors and my blind spot before I turned and both were clear. I had two friends in the car with me at the time, and one of them came to court to fight it with me. I had a very nice argument I thought: since I distinctly remember turning onto the street and remembering how desolate it was (not a vehicle in sight), and that the only way a car could have been there is if it came from behind at a very high speed (I was going the speed limit) and I didn't see it because I checked my blind spot too quick.


The judge was a fucking senile asshole and basically dismissed my argument without question. Even when I directly asked the officers "Do you know where that truck came from?" and they said they didn't know. The judge was like "Meh, shutup kid". So in the end I was charged guilty and had to pay a court fee in addition to the original ticket, so I was pretty pissed. When I went down to the pay office in the court room there was a huge ass line and I was tired, and I saw a bunch of signs that said "Take this and mail in your bill instead!" so I did because I just wanted to go home. The very next day I get something in the mail that says I didn't pay my fines and that they suspended my license and charged me ANOTHER fine! I called them and was like "WTF!?!?!" and they said that I had to pay immediately after the hearing and I couldn't mail it in (yeah, thanks a lot fucking misleading signs!!!). So I was like fine, so I payed the late fee and I already mailed in the other fees before that call. It took them over a MONTH to get my license re-issued! A day to bitch at me for not paying, and a MONTH for them to do something for me!!!


So in short: the judicial system sucks ass. I'm a very good driver and I got charged for 3 things that I shouldn't have. The judge sided with the cops from the beginning and didn't even try to consider my argument. If you want to fight your charge, I say go for it, but even if you have a good argument and a witness don't expect to win.

And they wonder why people hate cops and have no confidence in the legal system. When I got pulled over for my speeding ticket, the cop himself told me to go to court and plead it down to a lesser charge. I guess it all depends on the cop and the mood he's in.
Maybe people should take a lesson from those dumbass street racers and keep video cameras in their car. That way, all one has to do is play the tape to prove their story.

[LSD-25]

Today I managed to ruin my perfect driving record 3 months before my insurance was going to go down. I ran into a car tonight while attempting to back out of my drive way. My brother's friends had be boxed in so I was going to back my car out between one of their cars and a tree. Done this move a thousand times over the years (many times in larger cars) and never had a problem with it..but for some reason tonight I miss judged by a few inches.

The car I hit has a nice gash in the paint on the left-front bumper...I'd say about six inches long and to the primer. The car I was in (more on this in a second) is dented all down the right side with a horrible looking streak of black paint running from the right rear quarter panel to the passenger side door.

I do not own the car I was driving. Both people are going to claim the body work on their insurance and guess who's going to be footing the bill for that every month for the next 5+ years?

I'm screwed....and on top of all of this I was just about to add a second car and street bike to my insurance policy. ><

[Ewok]

Ouch, I know what you mean

All I can think is that its good noone was hurt.