Battlefield

There is a street where you can turn left in two lanes, it's been this way as long as I can remember(been driving this route 5 years). Over the summer they apparently painted over the left pointing portion of the arrow on the right most lane, cop caught me turning left from this lane gave me a $100 ticket.

Are these easier(than speeding ticket) to dispute in court? Theres no solid evidence, can't I just say that the cop was wrong?

I'm thinking of disputing it, anyone have some good advice?

Mitzkrieg

well, to me, i wouldn't bother trying to dispute that one. if the arrow was painted over, and a normal dashed line was painted in on the right hand side, then you can't really fight it. they'd just tell you that you should have paid more attention. also, there is usually a sign mounted on the street light that shows how many lanes can turn left and if you can make a U-turn or not. if it only shows one turn arrow, and not 2, or if there is no sign whatsoever, again, don't bother fighting it, you won't win.

Lebell

I don't know about your city, but I pushed my luck once in Denver by trying to beat a red light, only I didn't.

Unfortunately, a motorcycle cop was right there and ticketed me for running the light.

So I went down to the City and County building since I know it is standard practice for the clerk to offer you a deal in exchange for a plea of no-contest.

The result?

A ticket for running a light was changed to operating an unsafe vehicle (i.e. a light was burnt out or something) and my insurance didn't go up.

So you might call up your local DMV or City office and see if they will cut you a deal.

__________________
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis

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Cynthetiq

Check with the local Department of Transportation and see if there was a study recently done. If there was no study the city cannot just change the way that the street was originally engineered to flow.

It works with traffic lights, traffic signs, and of course, painted lines.

if you decide to plea bargain... which IMHO is much better time spent.. because you fix a pothole and go on with your life...

good luck!

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dy156

try to talk to the county/city attorney, explain the situation, and ask for a deal. You likely won't get one from the clerk or the municipal/county judge, even if somehow, you get to talk to him.

scoobydugan

NEEEEEVVVVEEEEERRR EEEEEVVVVEEEEER plead guilty....that goes for everything!!! A few judges by me won't let you plead guilty.....plea bargain....it's usually alllot cheaper

ratbastid

I imagine state laws and practices vary, but here's what happens where I'm from:

You go into Traffic Court, and you stand in a great long line. When you get to the front, you talk to somebody from the prosecutor's office. What you do, at this point, is ask for a continuance, called a PJC, a "Prayer for Judgement Continued". They'll look at your infraction and your record, and tell you whether they can do that or not.

Here in the Great State of North Carolina, you get one PJC per household every two years.

If they can agree to your request for a PJC, the judge bangs his gavel and the ticket goes away completely, for the price of court costs ($85, IIRC).

If the procescutor can't sign off on a PJC, ask him what he can do for you. His whole job is to reduce your infraction, make things fair. He's done this for everybody in the line ahead of you and he'll do it for everybody in the line behind you. If you don't have a record of moving violations, he'll likely reduce the charge (if it were speeding, he could drop it to 9 mph over the limit, for instance). If not, you're probably hosed and should just mail in the payment.

Any rate, what you agreed to goes on the court docket, and when your name is called, you go up in front of the judge, you and the prosecutor announce what you agreed on, the judge makes it official by banking his gavel, and you go stand in the cattle-stockade line to pay your court costs and fines.

tinfoil

While I would suggest you own up to your mistake and pay it, you may try to say that there was no warning of the change. There should be a sign on the lane far enough back to allow you to change your lane properly.

__________________
Get off your fuckin cross. We need the fuckin space to nail the next fool martyr.

punx1325

My friend got introuble for running a red light except he didn't run a red light. The cop pulled him over and the ticket had a bunch of problems. It first said he was going 10 miles an hour through the intersection and that he was mexican (hes really asian) And he went to fight it, he typed out what happend right after he got the ticket and the cop ended up not showing up so the ticket was dropped. I know he got lucky but maybe you will too. Good Luck!!!

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If something seems too good to be true, then it probably is....

a2k

I've fought traffic tickets in Colorado, New Mexico, New Jersey, Iowa, and Illinois (yikes!) with varying results. In Colorado, they plea bargained. In New Mexico, I just called up the judge and we had a little talk ("I didn't mean it, your honor"). In new New Jersey, where I really was innocent, I was dragged through hell and back and found guilty. In Illinois, I found an attorney who's "good friends" with all of the traffic court judges and 50% of what you pay him go into the judges pockes.

In other words, it really varies state by state.