so i have a court date tomorrow morning for two tickets i received (vc 21461A- driver failure to obey signs and vc 22526C- blocking railroad crossing).

let me say initially, i acknowledge that i did break the law on the first charge for failure to obey signs... i was kind of out of it and didn't notice that there was a sign that said that i couldn't make a left hand turn between the hours of 4-6.

however, for the second charge, the officer said that i was stopped on the railroad tracks, which i want to dispute. i believe that the back of my car was past the tracks. i also wanted to protest it because the car directly to my right had at least half of their car obstructing the tracks and was stopped there prior to me making the left turn and "stopping on the tracks." this makes me feel like i've been discriminated against. it seems like the officer was just trying to tack on extra charges against me. like i said, the car was already stopped on the tracks before i made the left, so if it was such a big deal, why didn't the officer stop the other car? is there any legitimacy to this defense in court?

finally, the main reason i am taking this to court is because ticket i received in the main was for $685... 685 freaking dollars!!! i think this is absolutely outrageous. i had a friend who got a speeding ticket for 85 in a 50 and his ticket was for $440 (and eventually got that ticket cut in half when it went to court). i literally cannot afford to pay for this ticket. i work part time and go to school full time and i'm still currently paying off my car (payments are $362/month). what do you think are the chances are for me to get it reduced and do you think i could potentially get the second charge taken off? i have a clean record and have never been to traffic court before. any suggestions on how to prepare before my appearance?

thank you!!

 

I believe there is a distance on either side of the tracks that you have to be clear of.

And beyond that... the officer was behind you, so he will argue that he had a better view of your rear bumper than you did.

I'd guess that you will loose this case. Sucks. Might as well go in and plead your case. But unless you have photos or a witness you'll probably loose this case and most others.

I've been in court in front of a few judges and lost cases I had more grounds than you do. I've only won once. I had photos and the officer just tossed it and walked.

Hell I lost a case where the officer actually said in court that he could NOT see my car at the stop sign. He said I was too close to the slow van in front of me to have been able to stop completely. I did stop. He said he couldn't see me and I still lost the case.

I wouldn't hold to much hope on this one.

 

discouraging news, but thanks for your honesty. i'm just so fed up with cops lately. i realize that as a state, california is in debt out of the ****, but seriously... $685? i could have at least gotten my money's worth.

 

I just got a ticket for not changing my address and it was 420 bucks. No joke. GL tomorrow.

 

The defense of someone else was doing it too does not hold in court. SOL man. You might be able to to to court admit guilt and ask for a reduction of the fine.

 

wait what happened and how? where was your old address.

 

That is the most likely situation. Hope for a reduction.

I had a ticket chunked from $284 to $54 once.

 

yeah i'm leaning towards this route. maybe if i kiss enough ***, they'll pitty me and reduce it haha.

 

Yeah, the judge knows anyone willing to wait all day with people complaining to each other about their tickets deserves a reduction, but if you want to plead your case and risk losing your reduction, you will have to come back another day or wait another few hours for that same judge to give you 5 minutes of his time.

They tell you not to plead your case during the reduction time since everyone in the courtroom is waiting for the next guy to speak up, accept the reduction, and sit down.

 

so does that process work out? does the judge basically just throw out a figure at you and you either accept it or opt to fight the ticket? or does the judge's amount have any factors that they consider into it?

 

All I know is I went to court to fight a Cal Train ticket. I hopped on Cal Train as the doors were closing without a ticket, never sat down, found a ticket conductor immediately with money in hand, and was like "I know I'm not supposed to do this, but is there any way I can hop off at the next stop and buy a ticket?" He immediately asked for my ID and wrote me a $300 ticket.

So in court I was gonna plead my case, but they decreased it to $50 so i said **** it. A whole wasted day later.

I coulda chosen to fight it but that would put my fine reduction at risk, so i would get 0 fine or original $300.