help. i need to beat this ticket in court?

[b*saint]

It was a fucking statie wasn't it. I got whack coming back from sturbridge one night for having a plate light out. Remember when the herald posted the average income of a mass state cop is 150k a year or some bullshit like that. 150k a year to tell me what some 35k a year local cop would find miniscule.

[richardkeith97]

yes it was a statie and their were 4 of them on the side of the road looking at the accident. i'm sure he was showing off to all his buddies and called them right after he gave me the ticket. he wouldnt let me talk either to explain what happened. he came back with the ticket and told me he didn't have time to argue with me. like i have time to fight the ticket.

[CabrioPunk]

ok so i got a ticket for following to close. i was approaching an accident that was in the grass and in the break down lane. i was in the fast lane on the highway with two cars in front of me. we were going about 30mph. the car in front of me slammed on it breaks and came to a complete stop (probably because the guy in front of him did also). i also hit my breaks and came to a complete stop. my tires made some noise. no one got into an accident. then we all just went about our way. about two miles down the road i got pulled over and got a ticket for following to close. the officer said i almost caused a pile up. i think that if i was traveling to close i would have hit the guy in front of me. i was put in the most severe situation and did not hit the person in front so i'm pretty sure i was not to close. what are your thoughts? the definition of following to close is if the person in front of you stops you would not have enough time to stop without hitting them?

Not to, two .. but too. Too close. Read up on state law. Determine how the law defines "too close". Typically terms such as "reasonable" and "prudent" come into use. If the officer can articulate that your distance was contrary of either would be enough to convince the courts you were following "too closely". Simply avoiding contact with the leading vehicle does not indicate you were not "too close". It only means you did not make contact with that leading vehicle. The fact you needed to lock up your brakes and "make noise" suggests you were close enough to be considered unreasonable and not prudent. Or maybe it is a faulty vehicle braking system at which point you open a whole new can of worms...

Be careful. Be mindful. Be prepared. This may be a first time in court for you. Not likely so for the officer, state's attorney or judge. Present yourself and case well.

Your talking on the side of the road doesn't do much either. Officer issues the ticket. You want to contest it, go to court. No judge and jury on the side of the road Matlock.

A lot of folks here seem young and, unfortunately, inherently anti-cop. These postings turn into an episode reminiscent of The View; a bunch of women crying and moaning about rather silly things. Realize the cops have a job to do. There are a lot of violations out there. Why they picked your violation, we may not know. But the fact there was a violation is all that is needed. Say a tag light out and someone wants to complain why they got stopped? Well, easy. There was a violation. Local cops, county, state, federal. Some officers focus on traffic law. Some departments are geared towards traffic enforcement (state typically), some departments have special traffic enforcement units. Your lucky day. You had a violation and you got stopped. If you want to argue the case, the roadside is not where it is done. I would actually encourage you to not argue it on the roadside. Take it to court. It is a right reserved for you to defend yourself. The state must make its case. Who knows, maybe the guy won't show.

[kingston]

I'll look forward to hearing what the results of this are...

[Rsully70sev]

1 car length per 10mph? So a seven car distance if you're going 70mph?

...not in California lol...

[Ayman]

General rule is one car lenght for every 10mph.... Go to court ask the officer what all his responsibilities were on the accident scene. After he rattles off about 3 or 4 things kindly explain to the court how his attention was clearly focused on other tasks that he could not have possibly been able to focus soley on you, your distance, and speed.

This. Or go the trial by declaration route and write the above. Cops get paid to go to court so why wouldn't they go? When you file a tbd they're required to write their side of the story and turn it in, they don't get paid to do that. Extend your ticket for as long as you can and do werk.

[CabrioPunk]

Not in this state ^

And cops do get paid to go to court. It is their job. But for several reasons court is not or cannot be attended.

[Earendil]

but he's one of the boys; he's probably having coffee and blueberry pie with the prosecutor as we speak. It's retarded to treat the cop as your enemy and try to take him head-on in court.

What you said prior to this is good stuff. I'll just point out that usually there are far more Cops that judges. The ratio prevents a judge from being "one of the boys" with every cop in his district.

I'd also point out that a Judge has no "quota" to hit. They have to deal with every jackass cop and every stupid accusation that a cop makes. When I told my story in court, I just about saw the Judge roll his eyes before he dismissed one of my charges (and differed the other).

Yes, the Judge might know the cop, might be friends with him, or think he is an honorable cop. But he also might recognize the cops name as a trouble maker that wastes his time. I wouldn't try to buddy up or make the cop out to be evil, I'd just state the circumstances. Do not assume the Judge and officer are on the same side.

If you're smart, you try to get the cop on your side. You should take the approach that the cop is a good guy doing his job. I'm sure he saw something he didn't like, and that's why he dinged you for it. Explain to the prosecutor and/or judge that you were just trying to avoid an accident. [/QUOTE]

This. Explain that you saw the car came to a sudden stop in front of you, and you did the same thing. Could you have come to a stop slower? Maybe, but why take that chance? It's the responsibility of the guy behind you to keep enough distance to not hit you, not your job.

I would't try to get the cop on your side though. No way is the cop going to say "Yeah, my bad". He reports what he sees/hears, and it's the Judge's responsibility to "judge". You can identify with the cop though. Explain that you realize that it may not have "sounded" good, but that you thought the safest thing to do was to come to a stop as soon as possible, since the car in front of you had done similarly.

[richardkeith97]

thanks for the help guys. i just sent in the payment to fight it. i will let you know what happens. could be a while though.

[Massimo]

Man I drive with a gap so big you park a 737 in it. I have rear ended someone because I was not paying attention once fortunatly It was at like 25km/h. After that I decided that it is not worth it. I allways drive with a length that would be equale to an imaginary car infornt of me.

e.g (CAR In Front)_____(Imaginary CAR)______(My CAR)

[richardkeith97]

not guilty.

[Kershaw]

congrats.

[richardkeith97]

he said the only reason he's letting me off is because he knows the company i work for and doesnt want to be the reason i lose my job. (i would have lost my license if i got this ticket) he also thought i had an hour commute everyday because they didnt have my right address. he figured if i still was fucking around he would see me again sometime in the near future. he said if he ever saw me again he wouldnt let me go. whatever its dropped and thats all that matters. just not what i expected.

[Hick]

good news

not sure if it was stated, but i would have let the cop tell his story first and simply say 'my car is older and does not have ABS'