Citizen Citations are bull shit!

[MikeE30325i]

Dont Let Her Get Away With This. Fight It And You Will Probably Get Out Ok. Good Luck

[H&Re30]

pretty much what I've been thinking while reading this thread...

if you think you can convince a judge that two teenagers zipping in and out of lanes on a freeway were driving more safely than a middle aged woman (or dumb broad, waffleswaffleswaffleswaffles, or some other derogatory sexist remark) driving her daughter in a (minivan?) slightly slower than the speed limit...good on you.

maybe that's what happened, but anyone who tells you that court results are based on what "actually" happened or that you'll win this disagreement are either a) full of shit or b) not very experienced with our court system (most likely c) both a and b )

slowing down in front of someone on the freeway to the point you can see the driver is being a dumbass and a sure way to get damn close to causing an accident, not "giggles". Personally, I'm glad you were cited and I hope you continue to be cited for unsafe behavior. Did you write somewhere in this thread that you already have prior tickets? There's a statistical reason insurance rates for males are sky-high until married or 25. Safe racing and your dough for the track.


and if we didn't have "citizen's citations" (this isn't one, but whatever), then what the hell would you do when you see or are victimized by a crime?

actually no, the only ticket i got was for not yeilding to traffic becuase i accidentally ran into someone, and that was over 2 years ago...

and who are you to decide if im a horrible driver and that we were zipping in and out of traffic, and just because she is a mom and we are teenagers, still dosnt give her the right to cite me two bullshit tickets, the cops didnt even see this as fair, but they said that she insisted that i get these citations...

and im pretty sure if this happend to you, and you knew that you really did not cut her off, you would be pretty ticked off i would belive...would you not?

[smooth]

I took how you described the situation and wrote out how a judge is going to interpret it. don't really care if you take my advice.

if you're referring to me responding to your own description that you slowed down in front of another vehicle at freeway speed so you could look inside her car then yeah, I'm intelligent and mature enough to recognize you were driving unsafely dumbshit.


I don't know why you'd believe a cop that he didn't want to cite the tickets...LOL...yeah, he's so sorry he had to cite you...the injustice ;) Grow up, he didn't want to deal with you whining so he sloughed it off on her. She just reported the incident--the cop cited you and he'll be in court when you show up and he'll testify that in his training and experience your actions were unsafe.

[blunttech]

im with smooth on this. your own description paints you as a dumbass.
for what its worth something similar happened to me in iowa on a snowny nite at 3am. i was following this old geezer going 25mph in a 50 during a snowstorm. conditions were bad but this guy was driving like a bitch so i flashed my highs to alert him i was coming around him and did so. 15 miles up the road i get pulled over and get a 210 dollar ticket for illegal passing. turns out i passed the mayor.
i had to pay it on the spot but if i wanted i could drive the 250 miles to fight it later in the month. if i were in your shoes i would fight it too but i doubt you or your girlfriend are squeaky clean. i think you hit the jaws to piss the soccer mom off and you got what you deserved

[uofom3]

fucked up situation - good luck

[Rennsport]

i got a letter in from the wsp a while back for rec driving. but it was only a warning and a pamphlete on road rage, (which i read, and laughed at).
here is my story.

an guy in a toyota carolla was going 50 in the fast lane in a 60 zone, and another line of cars on the right lane goin slightly faster. so i got into the right lane, and once i was past him i "cut him off" so he rode my ass for a good half-mile at 65mph. so i used my 6 cylinder to speed up to aprox 80mph. well i also got his plate number and called it in for excessive speeding in an hov lane with only one occupant. i received a call from the sp stating that they issued him a citiation.

lesson learned: never call in someone's plates cause it will come back to bite you in the ass!

edit: he was still on my ass at 80mph, well once he caught back up atleast

[CleanAzzE30z]

If a cop gave me a ticket for something he never saw, then I would literally go to the kitchen, get a large spoom, heat it up until it was red, then burn his balls off. If in our state someone could get a ticket just for someone reporting you doing something wrong, then almost our whole population would be in prison, which isnt far from the truth already.

Mariano

P.S. Unless Im mistaken, I seriously doubt that any citizen can issue a citation and have a cop give you said citation simply on some "witnesses" story. Is this the U.S.S.R. now???

[browntown]

well I guess if you witness a crime, you would call the cops, and they would investigate and issue a warrant or arrest. Never thought that would carry over to simple traffic stuff, short of duii / vehicular assault / hit&run etc.

The city of corvallis (just south of me) actually has a flyer on the process I found on the internet:

http://www.ci.corvallis.or.us/downloads/cpd/CitizenCitationProcess.pdf

Better explanation (in Oregon at least) from a bicyclist book published by lawyers: http://www.stc-law.com/articles_8.html
This snipet is relevant here I think:
The gravity of any injury and seriousness of the motorist's traffic violation will greatly influence the officer's response. Filing these cases over petty traffic standoffs is going to tax a tax-poor law enforcement and court system struggling to contain Oregon's dangerous traffic offenders.

Oregon law allows a citizen to initiate traffic violation prosecutions in state court, AND to have police help (per Oregon statute). After the initial report is taken and the citizen signs the Oregon Uniform Citation and Complaint, the completed paperwork is served on the bad driver summoning them to traffic court to face the charges in a non-jury trial in front of a traffic judge. The complaining citizen gives an informal presentation of the case, the judge hears evidence and testimony, and then decides. If convicted the bad driver receives a conviction and fine for a moving violation which is no different than one from a ticket issued by a police officer.

Excerpt of Oregon Revised Statute 153.058

"153.058 Initiation of violation proceeding by private party. (1) A person other than an enforcement officer may commence a violation proceeding by filing a complaint with a court that has jurisdiction over the alleged violation. The filing of the complaint is subject to ORS 153.048. The complaint shall be entered by the court in the court record.

1. (2) A complaint under this section must contain:

(a) The name of the court, the name and address of the person bringing the action and the name and address of the defendant.

(b) A statement or designation of the violation that can be readily understood by a person making a reasonable effort to do so and the date, time and place at which the violation is alleged to have occurred.

(c) A certificate signed by the complainant stating that the complainant believes that the named defendant committed the violation specifically identified in the complaint and that the complainant has reasonable grounds for that belief. A certificate conforming to this section shall be deemed equivalent of a sworn complaint. Complaints filed under this section are subject to the penalties provided in ORS 153.990.

(3) Upon the filing of a complaint under this section, the court shall cause a summons to be delivered to the defendant and shall deliver a copy of the complaint to the district attorney for the county in which the complaint is filed. The court may require any enforcement officer to serve the summons.

(4) If the complaint does not conform to the requirements of this section, the court shall set it aside upon motion of the defendant made before the entry of a plea. A pretrial ruling on a motion to set aside may be appealed by the state.

[CleanAzzE30z]

wow. Thats fucked up. Everyone in L.A. would just report eachother in that case for shits and giggles. You country boys are something else. ;) Here you call for a flagrant noise infraction from you neighbors and they dont even bother. Let alone a traffic violation.

Mariano

[smooth]

wow. Thats fucked up. Everyone in L.A. would just report eachother in that case for shits and giggles. You country boys are something else. ;) Here you call for a flagrant noise infraction from you neighbors and they dont even bother. Let alone a traffic violation.

Mariano

well, they have better shit to do down here!

but aside from that, if you read the story more closely, you'll see this:
the lady called in some reckless driving. the officer responded and questioned the OP. now, he didn't get a ticket for what the lady wanted him to. he was cited for what he confessed to.

that's why there's really no chance for him in court. his girlfriend may have a fighting chance of her word against the complaining mom. but the ticket for illegal lane change and slowing down was based off his own statements that he started from the rear (he "never saw her brake lights") and then passed her ("mosied on by") and then slowed down because he wanted to see if he "recognized her".

even in your neck of the woods, if someone calls in a noise complaint and the cop goes out on the call, which they do from time to time, and you tell them yeah, I've got a bumping stereo but I don't think that old fogey down the road should have called it in because it's only 10:30pm...well, you're going to get a citation. and it's not going to be the complainant who has to show up in court, just the cops saying they showed up at the party.

if any cop writes a citation without any evidence, he'd be in trouble with the courts and you'd have grounds for a 1984 civil suit. that said, a "citizen's citation" is something totally different. In all states regular citizens have the right to make citizen's arrest...and no it's not the USSR, but if you see a crime you have the right to make an arrest. so if it floats your boat, mariano, start haffling those perps up ;)

[CleanAzzE30z]

YES!!!! I cant wait to make my first citation. Nah, seriously, I know about citizen arrests and noise complaints, thats cool. Thanks for forming an intelligent argument too. I suppose I didnt read it fully, something Im constantly guilty of haha.

Mariano

[smooth]

YES!!!! I cant wait to make my first citation.

Mariano

ssshhhhh, we've got our chance coming soon...at the OC Denny's meet...
tickets for smilies and euro trim coming up courtesy of cleanazz1stdeputy and smooth! ;)

[CleanAzzE30z]

hahahaha

[H&Re30]

well i got back from court the other day...

AND!!!!

....................

[325Projectz]

just pay it, I've fought... never won

Sucks for you.

OP, fight the tickets.