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So I have an HOV eligible car. Yesterday on the way to work the rain was coming down very hard. The car in the middle lane swerved over and almost hit me causing me to have to cross over the buffer into the HOV. The cop was right in front of me, I saw him the whole time. I would have never done that...and never have.
Anyway the cop pulled over waited for me to pass and pulled me over. He was very nice and I explained my father was a retired NYC cop and showed him a shield my dad got me and that the cross over was to avoid an accident. He said any could order those online, which is true and what I told my dad when he got me and my sister one. He use to give us the previous year PBA card and that's what the cop asked for.
Anyway the cop said he could have given me 3 tickets but only gave me one, an unsafe lane change. But after looking at the ticket it say "Improperly entered the HOV lane by crossing over the buffer". So I guess it's more than just an unsafe lane change.
He did say something which I didn't completely catch or remember. He said "I didn't tell you this" but Nassau is not like Suffolk or the city if you show up.... not sure what he said after that.
Anyway I'm sure this is points. Any advice on how I can possibly get this reduced? Thanks.
Tough break. Sometimes, the cops see what they want to. Once pulled over, they usually feel obligated to issue a ticket, even when they realize they were wrong.
There is a section of the LIE where the HOV violations do not have points (I believe between 49 and 57). If you were lucky enough to be on the small stretch of Nassau that may fall into that exemption, you are ahead of the game. If not, you are looking at points.
Not much sense in fighting it with your side vs. his. He will never admit that you tried to avoid an accident. (If he believed that, you wouldn't have received the ticket).
You can fight it yourself by going to court. As gx89 mentioned, they will likely offer a deal. If you do go, be VERY careful about what you say. If you tell your story as above, you have admitted guilt (albeit, with an explanation). That could work against you. (I'm not stating you should lie. You can tell the truth without telling enough to incriminate yourself).
Another option is to hire a traffic lawyer. They know how to navigate the system and can often get a better deal. HOV violations are usually a few hundred dollars. That's around what a lawyer would cost you, in addition to the reduced fine you would have to pay. Personally, I think a lawyer is worth the cost - you don't have to waste a day going to court.
I have heard that if you have a moving violation in Suffolk and try to plea it down, they will give you 0 points, but still have to pay 500+ for a "parking ticket".
But in Nassau, I have heard you can plea it down for 0 points and end up paying a lot less. Not sure if true, but maybe others can opine.
Folks saying highway moving violations in Nassau and Suffolk will be reduced to non-moving violations just for showing up in court have no idea what they are talking about.
I had this same violation once many years ago. I went to East Hills Village court and they offered me a "parking violation" with the same fine as the original offense. I accepted, plead guilty, paid the fine and left.
Nassau just wants your money. Doesn't care about giving you points. Just show up.
Did that years ago. Got my first ticket ever in Nassau. Showed up in court, DA came to me and said your record is clean, here is the deal. No points on the license and I pay a fine. I said ok to him. Went in front of the judge and only said "yes your honor" and "thank you your honor".
I've learned to calculate what the points will cost me in insurance versus what I pay a fine for up front. What I pay up front is wayyyy less than what the insurance points will cost me over time.
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