Ticket for Red Light

[AndrewBird]

So last night I got a ticket for running a red light. Here is the story.

I was driving home from my grandmothers house with my girlfriend at about 10-10:30 at night. We had just picked up my grandmothers cat and was taking it home. I was driving on a local parkway through town (4 lanes with a divider in the middle) and a light turned yellow. I was close enough to the light that I would have had to slam on my brakes to barely be able to stop I time. Being that there was no one else on the road but me and one guy behind me in the other lane, I decided not to stop since the cat was in a box in my girlfriends lap who was sitting in the passenger seat. I roll through it, the light changes red just as I got to the cross walk. And of course, there was a cop sitting right there on the corner. The rest you can figure out.

So, I want to fight this as I think that what I did was perfectly rational and anything else I would have done would have been less safe. Anyone been in this situation before that has any tips? Anyone else have any advice?

[DEV0 E30]

Get ready to give money for court costs like a good lawyer. How much was the ticket? Is it worth the extra money in court to fight it? Or are you a few points on your license and you really don't want the points this will give ya?

I dunno if you've only had a speeding ticket or two with this I'd prolly let it slide.

[Erick]

I paid an attorney $85 for 2 tickets. 2 court hearings later, charges were dropped.

[808BMW]

Write a written statement explaining exactly that, and hope that the judge isn't an ass.

I got a red light ticket for going on yellow, got it dropped by writing a written statement.

[UNHCLL]

proper protocol calls for you to tap your brake lights after passing through the light to signal you were un-able to stop in a safe maner.

you'll probably still get the ticket, but at least you can cite that in your defence.
IMHO you have slim chances of beating it.

Good luck!

[Jand3rson]

The ticket is not for a very high amount, so I think the best thing for you to do is try to do some of the things that these guys have suggested, Andy.
If you try to fight it too hard, you are going to end up spending the same amount if not more on a lawyer and court costs.
Plead your case, and pray the judge has gotten laid recently.

[tobybmw]

I agree sometimes you just need to pay it unless your license is at risk of being taken away.

I just got back from a road trip and was pulled over in Nevada for speeding 10 over the limit in the middle of the desert and it sucks. But this is life, sometimes they give oyu grace and other times they stick it to you.

Andy

[AndrewBird]

The thing is, if I do end up having to pay, my insurance AND my parents insurance on their two cars will go up and I will have to cover it until I am 18 or the ticket is off my record. So, it may be cheaper in the long run to fight it and not have it on my record.

[Addissimo]

Write the judge explaining the situation, offer to take a defensive driving course. Basically just apologize your ass off and be sure to kiss ass. If/when it goes to court, wear a suit and have your ideas and thoughts clear before you go. It’s a good idea to take pictures of the intersection during the day, and also at the time of night this occurred to show what kind of traffic there is on the road. Have all of your pictures along with your written statement in 4 packets: one for the judge, one for your lawyer, one for the prosecuting attorney, and one for yourself. Make sure all of the packets are in the exact same order so if you need to defend yourself with something that is in your packet, you can tell everybody to turn to the appropriate page number.

It would be a good idea to go to the sheriff, or which ever department issued the ticket and get the protocol for handling red lights and such. Do this soon, because it will often times take 8-15 days to process the request and you get the info you want. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to know what the civil infractions are that could correlate to the traffic infraction you have.

For example: I got a reckless driving ticket for doing a couple of cookies in a parking lot. I was able to get a civil infraction with similar punishment as the reckless driving ticket, this was nice because I still have a clean driving record, and instead I have something lame (disturbing the peace) on my record. This = cheap insurance. :)

More than anything, just make sure your case is put together well, your ideas are clear and concise, and you practice what you’re going to say out loud. Its not very becoming when you get in front of the judge and say something along the lines of “I’m not guilty because it wasn’t a big deal that I ummm… uh… ran the stoplight, the cops probably a dick anyway.”

Don’t just dress nicely, wear a damn suit. You never know when the prosecuting attorney will be a cute 28 year old or so woman. This also helped me in getting the charges dropped. She actually said “Yeah, that will be fine… But only because he is wearing a suit.” That is not a lie or even a stretch of the truth… I was very happy with myself.

No matter how you look at it, the truth is you have a 50/50 chance of getting the ticket, or not getting the ticket. I think its worth it to go to court for a couple of hours if there is even the slightest chance you can get off… Its you’re decision.

Good luck

[DSchultz325e]

if you were going about the speed limit before the light turned yellow then you would have had ample time to stop. the speed limit is usually implemented so that running red lights is not possible if you are obeying it when you come up on a yellow light. you will most definitely have to consider this if you are going to make any case, because the judge will certainly put this into consideration. personally, if i was being tailed like that i would have just stopped and let him hit me :roll: