I completely spaced out while driving. Didn't see the red stop light and the cars coming in for their left turn UNTIL I already drove halfway through the intersection. Fortunately they had just started their turn and so there was no real chance of an accident occurring.
Apparently there was a cop nearby, because I immediately heard the siren and got pulled over. Got an infraction because the officer deemed it a dangerous situation. I don't disagree.
In any case, I fully accept that I made a mistake. I don't know what exactly caused me to space out, but I admit that I wasn't paying attention at all.
That being said, I'm looking for any and all possibilities to reduce the inevitable fee. I'm guessing it'll come up to as much as $500 if you add in traffic school and everything else. I don't want to pay that much.
Based on what I've read online, the best way to ask for a reduction is either to talk to the DA about it or just go to the trial, plead no contest, and ask for a reduction. Another is to find a way to extend the trial as much as you can and pray that the officer misses the court date, in which case I just plead not guilty and they can't do ***** because their star witness isn't there.
Are these the best way to go about it, or are there other options?
Everything I've read seems to be based on red light cameras. That is some extremely bad luck getting pulled over by an actual officer.
First, show up in traffic court and explain that it was an accident that won't happen again is probably your best option. If this is a first moving offense, judges (at least in my area) sometimes drop it to just paying the day's court costs (especially if the officer doesn't show up). I'm not sure how useful that will be for your area.
Second, $500? That's insane. Wow, over here running a red light is about a $100 ticket.
Third, when you got an infraction, did he give you an actual citation? I would think he'd write you the ticket right then and there. What exactly did you get?
If you have a clean record, showing up in court is a must. It will show the judge you care about your driving record. You wont always get a reduced fine, but you cant get a reduced fine unless you show up in court.
My son just got his first ticket, went to court, got his butt chewed a bit by the judge and the judge cut his fine by quite a bit. If he didnt go to court and just ay the ticket like he wanted to, it would have cost him much more financially in the form of a larger fine and an increase in his insurance rates.
@Jay, I have heard a lot of municipalities have gone to posting multiple prices on tickets for the same infraction. You get a top end (the most you can pay) to the lowest. Gives the judge some leeway in doling out 'justice'. My sons ticket was for doing 12 over in a 65mph area. When the cop gave him the ticket my son was told it could cost him up to $1000 and 6 points against his license (almost an automatic 25% increase in insurance premiums). Ended up costing him court costs ($50), no points and 3 months of probation (if he gets another moving violation in the next 3 months this ticket will be looked at again). In my opinion the only reason they do the high end stuff is to scare the crap out of people. Its rarely ever that high if you show up or have multiple infractions.
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Second, $500? That's insane. Wow, over here running a red light is about a $100 ticket.
Third, when you got an infraction, did he give you an actual citation? I would think he'd write you the ticket right then and there. What exactly did you get?
CA man... Cash strapped.
He gave me a citation, but no ticket or anything that suggests how much the fine will be.
If you have a clean record, showing up in court is a must. It will show the judge you care about your driving record. You wont always get a reduced fine, but you cant get a reduced fine unless you show up in court.
My son just got his first ticket, went to court, got his butt chewed a bit by the judge and the judge cut his fine by quite a bit. If he didnt go to court and just ay the ticket like he wanted to, it would have cost him much more financially in the form of a larger fine and an increase in his insurance rates.
CA law states that there are three things you can do with a moving violation.
1- Plead guilty/no contest and pay the fine. This puts one point onto your violation thing and is reported to the DMV. This in turn will likely cause your insurance to go up.
2- Plead guilty/no contest. If this is your first moving violation and it wasn't excessively dangerous, then you can go to driving school and have the violation not reported to the DMV.
3- Plead not guilty and get a trial.
I've never done anything wrong while driving (except the occasional "go into a yellow that turns into a red just as I'm about to be through the intersection") and so #2 is the most obvious choice. I just want to find ways to reduce the fee.
But, ya, what you said more or less matches with what I read online. I can't expect a fee reduction, but I won't get it unless I go to court and directly see a judge.
Iso-
I wish that would happen to me. Probably not.
-------
Should I contact a lawyer specializing in this stuff for a free consultation?
Got a red light ticket the other day for going through a yellow light... The law in TX is that running yellow can be considered running red.
Paying fees isn't fun, but I had to do it. In Texas we are allowed to take a defensive driving course to reduce the fine and have the violation stricken from our record. Cost me ~$150 after all was said and done, which saved me ~$75, but also cost me 6 hours of my time for the class.
I would go to the driving school since that is an option. Especially since you were obviously guilty and cannot go with option 3 and come out clean. Any way you slice it, you're paying $. Lawyer costs money, fines cost $, driving school costs $. The DMV point system only really hurts you if you accrue a certain amount (in TX) and they expire after so many years(again I'm talking Texas.) But the driving school will prevent the point and could still end up being less than the cost of paying the fine and not taking the school.
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In many states, I can not speak for CA, if you plead not guilty you don't go to trial. You sit in a long line to meet with a prosecutor. The prosecutor tries to get people in/out as quickly as possible. He/She will usually offer to cut the ticket in half. If you refuse the offer, then you get a trial in which losing is all but certain.
Eh, my ticket is going to cost me about 542 (violation + traffic school) + probably some other random *****.
Ya, I'm def. going to traffic school. I can't allow a random incident that probably will never happen again (I did a 24hr fast out of the blue because I felt like it, and decided to go out to eat afterwards. Apparently I can't focus well when I'm hungry.) mess up my insurance rates.
The court date is in early Oct, so I still have some time to consider my options. I need more data though. I don't even know if going to the trial will get my ticket reduced, whether what GoblinGrenadier wrote applies to CA, or whether a trial in absentia works like being in trial in person, etc etc.
Bleh. What a headache. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
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Apparently there was a cop nearby, because I immediately heard the siren and got pulled over. Got an infraction because the officer deemed it a dangerous situation. I don't disagree.
In any case, I fully accept that I made a mistake. I don't know what exactly caused me to space out, but I admit that I wasn't paying attention at all.
That being said, I'm looking for any and all possibilities to reduce the inevitable fee. I'm guessing it'll come up to as much as $500 if you add in traffic school and everything else. I don't want to pay that much.
Based on what I've read online, the best way to ask for a reduction is either to talk to the DA about it or just go to the trial, plead no contest, and ask for a reduction. Another is to find a way to extend the trial as much as you can and pray that the officer misses the court date, in which case I just plead not guilty and they can't do ***** because their star witness isn't there.
Are these the best way to go about it, or are there other options?
First, show up in traffic court and explain that it was an accident that won't happen again is probably your best option. If this is a first moving offense, judges (at least in my area) sometimes drop it to just paying the day's court costs (especially if the officer doesn't show up). I'm not sure how useful that will be for your area.
Second, $500? That's insane. Wow, over here running a red light is about a $100 ticket.
Third, when you got an infraction, did he give you an actual citation? I would think he'd write you the ticket right then and there. What exactly did you get?
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My son just got his first ticket, went to court, got his butt chewed a bit by the judge and the judge cut his fine by quite a bit. If he didnt go to court and just ay the ticket like he wanted to, it would have cost him much more financially in the form of a larger fine and an increase in his insurance rates.
@Jay, I have heard a lot of municipalities have gone to posting multiple prices on tickets for the same infraction. You get a top end (the most you can pay) to the lowest. Gives the judge some leeway in doling out 'justice'. My sons ticket was for doing 12 over in a 65mph area. When the cop gave him the ticket my son was told it could cost him up to $1000 and 6 points against his license (almost an automatic 25% increase in insurance premiums). Ended up costing him court costs ($50), no points and 3 months of probation (if he gets another moving violation in the next 3 months this ticket will be looked at again). In my opinion the only reason they do the high end stuff is to scare the crap out of people. Its rarely ever that high if you show up or have multiple infractions.
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Yup =(
CA man... Cash strapped.
He gave me a citation, but no ticket or anything that suggests how much the fine will be.
CA law states that there are three things you can do with a moving violation.
1- Plead guilty/no contest and pay the fine. This puts one point onto your violation thing and is reported to the DMV. This in turn will likely cause your insurance to go up.
2- Plead guilty/no contest. If this is your first moving violation and it wasn't excessively dangerous, then you can go to driving school and have the violation not reported to the DMV.
3- Plead not guilty and get a trial.
I've never done anything wrong while driving (except the occasional "go into a yellow that turns into a red just as I'm about to be through the intersection") and so #2 is the most obvious choice. I just want to find ways to reduce the fee.
But, ya, what you said more or less matches with what I read online. I can't expect a fee reduction, but I won't get it unless I go to court and directly see a judge.
Iso-
I wish that would happen to me. Probably not.
-------
Should I contact a lawyer specializing in this stuff for a free consultation?
Paying fees isn't fun, but I had to do it. In Texas we are allowed to take a defensive driving course to reduce the fine and have the violation stricken from our record. Cost me ~$150 after all was said and done, which saved me ~$75, but also cost me 6 hours of my time for the class.
I would go to the driving school since that is an option. Especially since you were obviously guilty and cannot go with option 3 and come out clean. Any way you slice it, you're paying $. Lawyer costs money, fines cost $, driving school costs $. The DMV point system only really hurts you if you accrue a certain amount (in TX) and they expire after so many years(again I'm talking Texas.) But the driving school will prevent the point and could still end up being less than the cost of paying the fine and not taking the school.
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Ya, I'm def. going to traffic school. I can't allow a random incident that probably will never happen again (I did a 24hr fast out of the blue because I felt like it, and decided to go out to eat afterwards. Apparently I can't focus well when I'm hungry.) mess up my insurance rates.
The court date is in early Oct, so I still have some time to consider my options. I need more data though. I don't even know if going to the trial will get my ticket reduced, whether what GoblinGrenadier wrote applies to CA, or whether a trial in absentia works like being in trial in person, etc etc.
Bleh. What a headache. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.