elf89

I got a citation last week for failure to stop at a stop sign. Now, that's kind of misleading because I came very, very close to stopping. It was a 4-way stop and the intersection was clear so I guess I never came to a complete stop, just rolled slowly to the stop point and then accellerated away. $83 and 3 points (if you rack up 12 points in Wisconsin you lose your license.)

I don't even think they were targeting a sports car, as much as just sitting at a spot where they knew they'd get rolling stops and racking up tickets.

I have a court date next month and I'm wondering what my best approach is. If I talk to the city attorney about my perfect driving record (until this silly episode) and he offers a different charge with a fine, but no points, is that the best I can hope for and I should take it?

On the other hand, I'd kind of like to fight it in court because it's so frivolous, but it would be hard to plead not guilty since I probably didn't stop completely as the law requires. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks,

Eric

Kurt R

Contact the city attorney before the court date.
Years ago (many, many years ago) I had a running a red light violation changed to blocking an intersection, same fine, non-moving violation, 0 points. The light was yellow but who is the judge going to believe?

xsboost90

pay and dont get any more tickets? They are cleared after a year or two right?

marky522

Normally 3 years, I have resorted to getting a traffic lawyer for my issues now, the last thing i need is my ins going up.

Mark

Kurt R

It clears off your record, but your insurance company will remember for 3-5 years. If you can get it changed to a non-moving violation then your insurance company won't jack your rates.

Catfood

Id be tempted just to tell the truth. I would plead to the judge about it. tell him of my clean record and ask him to reduce the penalty. Or you could always summon the officer and see if he doesnt show. If he doesnt show then your scott free.

Cone_eater

I have a C&I for "sliding". It was an accident and it was raining!!!! I slid 2ft maybe... I bought a lawyer ($300 later) and she fought it getting me probation for 6 months and a traffic class that I have to do tomorrow.
4 hours in a lecture about not driving fast or drinking and driving... damn, it is gonna suck!
Its worth it because my insurance company doesn’t know. I only have to pay $70 a month as a 17-year-old male with a Porsche. It paid for it's self.

CarbonRevo

Who doesn't at least come to a very slow roll (I'm talking creeeping) when the intersection and all roads are clear? When I approach a 4 way, I check to make sure it's clear and the roads don't have any approaching vehicles. If there aren't any, I get on the brakes to slow down and I'm going so slow my gauge won't even read...it's seriously slower then a walk. They would consider this not stopping.

I would be honest with the judge too. Honesty has always worked for me (when I was caught doing 41 in a 20, at the age of 15, several miles from my home). I got slapped with a $530 charge for my incident, had the license suspended for a month, and diversion for 6 months. Some of my friends that got caught and were doing maybe 10 over got 3 months or more because they lied to the judge.

And if Honesty doesn't work, at least you were honest. I'd try to get the fine and points reduced, but mainly the points. 3 points for that?! Jesus, how many points is a speeding ticket? Like 5 or 6? That'd rack up fasst.

rdanford

I got a 9 point in the 951 back in high school...took it to court...they had me do 10 hours of community service and was on probation for 12 months....since I stayed out of the cops eyes for 12 months my record stayed clean...insurance never had to know a thing...since it was a "rolling" stop, I'd fight it as long as you already have a clean record...an attorney always helps, it just happens that my step-dad is one ;-)

Reimu

lol whatever you say DK

elf89

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll go the city attorney route to try to avoid the points.

What really ticks me off is the officer should have had the leeway to give me a warning. 41 years old with a perfect record, I crept through the intersection. He should have reminded me to come to a complete stop and let it go at that. The ticket makes me think somebody told him to sit there and rack up as many citations as possible that night.

The problem with going to court is that I can't make an argument for not guilty. The statute says you have to come to a complete stop with the weight of the car on the rear wheels, and I agree that I probably didn't do that. I'm not sure there's a point in going to court to argue that it should have been a warning, but I probably will if the city attorney doesn't help...

Thanks,

jimbo3

If a cop is writing a bunch of tickets for such a frivolous violation, chances are good that he'll also show up for all the hearings that will result. Best bet is to talk with the DA and hire an attorney if that doesn't pan out. You'll likely end up paying the equivalent of the ticket in either case, but it's worth not getting the points.

Sad to say but, more often than not, honesty doesn't pay in the legal system. Too many cops with quotas and young ADA's with something to prove.

Where did this occur? I'll want to avoid the area the next time I get to MKE.

tifosiman

There was a time in my life, when I was 19 or so, that I could acquire beer with great ease despite the legal drinking age being 21. I knew several adults who were always happy to supply it for me as long as I could pay for it. The problem with drinking when you're underage is that you get drunk and then have nothing to do, since you still can't get served in bars. This often leads to drunken mischief.

Among my small circle of friends at the time, lawn jobs were the chosen form of late-night entertainment. For those of you who don't know what a lawn job is, a lawn job consists of driving on someone's lawn with your car, hopefully leaving an indelible impression in their grass. The lawn job is not as popular as it used to be, since if you were to try it today you'd probably get shot.

Anyway, some of my friends and I did this so often that lawn-jobbing became an art form. In particular, I had a friend named Kerry who drove a Pinto and was always ready to wreck some lawns. As the plain old run-over-someone's-lawn-and-take-off routine began to dull, we began seeking further thrills, running over small shrubbery and even lawn-jobbing flower beds. Sometimes we would even do one on our friend Mike's house, just to let him know we dropped by. After all, it was on the way.

One night, we peaked.

It was a Saturday, and we were drunk and bored as usual. We wanted to go beyond the routine lawn job and prove that there were bigger thrills to be had. I don't remember who came up with the idea, but as we were scoping out a local subdivision, we found a nice challenge: Three houses in a row looked very lawn-jobbable, but were sitting at different elevations, with about a two-foot dropoff from one house to the next. We figured out that by starting out at the highest house, we could achieve a Triple Lawn Job and enjoy a "jump" between each one as well. Kerry's Pinto performed this triple lawn job to perfection, with the two of us screaming with laughter at each jump and thump, and leaving deep scars in each lawn. That was when we should have stopped.

But we were still bored as we pulled into the parking lot of a local church. Now, I had always wanted to lawn-job a church, but there was a problem with churches: They rarely had lawns. This one was no exception, and as we turned around in the parking lot, there was nothing there but a couple traffic islands with flower beds in them. We decided to lawn job one of the flower beds.

Kerry carefully pulled the Pinto up the curb and into the flower bed with the two left wheels. Unfortunately, the soil in the flower bed was exceedingly soft. We got stuck immediately. We were unable to push the Pinto out no matter what we tried. There was a house right next to the church, where the preacher lived. Surely the sound of a revving Pinto at 2:00 am should wake him, but so far, nothing. We were too drunk for panic, but we needed a tow.

And so it was that Kerry and I set out on foot towards my house, with Mike's house on the way. Once we got to Mike's, Kerry found their garage door unlocked, snuck in, and grabbed a tow rope he had recalled being there. Once we got to my house, I snuck upstairs and grabbed the keys to my dad's truck, which, fortunately, he didn't park in the garage. We headed back to the scene in the pickup. Still no preacher, or anyone, in sight, as if a Pinto parked half in and half out of a flower bed was normal for a church parking lot. We quickly pulled out the Pinto and got out of there.

We never lawn-jobbed again, unless you count the time Greg was backing out of Mike's driveway after a drunken party, and not only knocked down but ran over Mike's mailbox, crushing the box itself with a tire going right over its middle. He replaced it later with a better one, which still stands to this day.

alordofchaos

Eric,
If you go to court for the ticket, wait until a week or two before the court date and try to reschedule.

Lots of times, cops on traffic duty will get a block of time to show up for court. The courts try to accomodate the police by scheduling a block of that cop's cases one right after the other. Rescheduling increases the odds that the cop won't show.

If you feel really brassy... you can call the local cop shop and find out what hours the cop is scheduled for work, then try and reschedule your court date for a day/time you know that he's off.

+1 on the honesty angle, judges have heard it all. The judge will already have a copy of your driving record (at least that's SOP in MI). I wouldn't mention your record, just say that you know you were wrong, but you came very nearly to a stop and the way was clear.

Also admit you hated to fight the ticket since you know you were in the wrong, but that you are really trying to avoid the points because of the insurance.

Tifo, we call that "turfing" a lawn... I'll pray for your soul for turfing a church

alex

And for future reference: cops are looking for a reason. If you run away, they will beat you. If you "barely" run a stop sign, they'll ticket you.

Keeps me out of trouble. At least when cops are around