question about a ticket.....what would you do?

[holdem]

Happened to me and the judge said wheels stopping isn't enough for a stop. The car must settle down and be in a resting state with no springs or shocks working before you can proceed.

[yaqui]

I have gone before the judge and pled my case and won, just be sure of all the facts. The law, to me, is black and white. I was given a ticket for failure to yield, it was my word against the cops, but after explaining the situation very clearly and carefully, the judge dismissed the ticket.

[Jared L]

I fought a ticket here in Cedar Park. They make us meet with the assistant DA before going in front of the judge. The DA said the cop wrote an invalid location and the wrong posted speed limit on the ticket. He apologized for the cops negligence but said that I still had to pay the court fees for pleading my case. It cost me $90 and a day off work. I don't know when it became mandatory to pay to prove your innocence. Good luck with whatever you decide.

[kikn]

My son got a ticket last month for no seatbelt and I know he wears it all the time. He said the sun was in the cops face and there was no way he could have seen either way. He is going to fight it and he said if he loses, he is gonna tell the judge he will do the time, lol. He is way too much like me. How long could he possibly be in jail for a seatbelt.

They will let you sit in jail. But all that does is prevents them from writing a bench warrant after it goes unpaid. You will sell be liable for the fine, otherwise it will go to collection and end up on your credit report as unpaid debt.

[kikn]

Fight it and lose, you will pay double or triple the ticket in fines and court costs. Trial by jury is touchy. People who get picked are gonna be p!$$3@ they got called in for jury duty in a chicken €#!£ court. Now u gotta convince 6 people (with a bad additude) u were in the right.

Plea no contest, ask for differed adjudication, pay the fine. If you dont get a ticket in 3 months, the ticket comes off your record. Thats gonna be much cheaper than taking the risk of paying fines, court costs and a moving violation on your driving record.

Or, u could fight it! Either way, good luck.

^^^ what he said... Lots of peeved off people that are there because you don't want to pay your fine. Guess what, they'll make an example out of you. And turn that $200 fine into a max cost out of spite.

[Thumper]

My son got a ticket last month for no seatbelt and I know he wears it all the time. He said the sun was in the cops face and there was no way he could have seen either way. He is going to fight it and he said if he loses, he is gonna tell the judge he will do the time, lol. He is way too much like me. How long could he possibly be in jail for a seatbelt.

30 days.

[Moose]

I was counsel to a buddy who went to a jury trial for, get this, a ticket for running a stop sign on his bicycle in College Station. The trial lasted nearly 6 hours and resulted in a hung jury! The prosecuting attorney was pretty ******, lol.

[Mike D]

So you don't think bicycles should follow the rules of the road even though they want to share the road with automobiles?

[Phdan]

You better have a witness that said you stopped. If not your word against cop. You lose.

[Moose]

So you don't think bicycles should follow the rules of the road even though they want to share the road with automobiles?

Yep I do think they should follow the laws For what it's worth the second time we went back the judge threw it out..... IMHO $270 ticket was a little overkill

[tvc184]

Happened to me and the judge said wheels stopping isn't enough for a stop. The car must settle down and be in a resting state with no springs or shocks working before you can proceed.

I wonder if he can find that "resting state" in the Transportation Code.

[DemDeadDucks]

I stopped at a stop sign one day and could see 3 police rigs about 50 yards away from the stop sign. I stopped, pushed off at about idle speed, and about 50 feet later they waved me over to their setup and claimed "they lasered me at 33..." I found that hard to believe considering I had just begun to accelerate. Anyway, I told the clerk the story when I showed up for court and he just waved the ticket and let me go. If the cop was just giving you a hard time, generally the people that work at the courthouse are pretty reasonable. Good luck though I'm sure it will work itself out.

[tvc184]

I fought a ticket here in Cedar Park. They make us meet with the assistant DA before going in front of the judge. The DA said the cop wrote an invalid location and the wrong posted speed limit on the ticket. He apologized for the cops negligence but said that I still had to pay the court fees for pleading my case. It cost me $90 and a day off work. I don't know when it became mandatory to pay to prove your innocence. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Let me get this straight, you are required to meet with an ADA before going in front of a judge who might render a verdict on your guilt. This would be the same DA office that will prosecute you?

Isn't that a serious conflict of interest having the prosecutor meeting with the person that he is prosecuting?

[Smokeater]

So you don't think bicycles should follow the rules of the road even though they want to share the road with automobiles?

They're the one on a bicycle. It's their arz if they screw up and get run over so yea, it's prolly in their best interest to obey the rules. Do I care if they follow em?...no. Seems like there's better things for the cops to do than write bicycle tickets but hey, if all the other crimes are solved and they need to have a fundraiser then write away I guess!

[Olphart]

Yep I do think they should follow the laws For what it's worth the second time we went back the judge threw it out..... IMHO $270 ticket was a little overkill

The judge sets the fines, not the cops. Plus, the circumstances around the offense might very well warrant that amount, such as if your buddy almost (or does) cause a collision because he darts through an intersection in front of motor vehicles.

I gladly wrote a few many years ago for such instances.