City of Forsyth traffic court? (near Macon) (Atlanta: law, safety)

[atlantamoi]

Anyone dealt with the city of Forsyth traffic court before? I unfortunately just discovered that that area is fairly popular for getting traffic violations. I merged onto I-75 after getting gas in the small town and just after merging I passed a police officer giving a ticket to someone on the shoulder. This led to me being pulled over and getting a $500 ticket. Ouch.

Not really disputing that I passed a cop like that. The law is fair and good for the safety of police. Just feel a little upset that it happened within seconds of getting onto the highway. Cop said I had time to move over even though traffic was moderate.

Anyway, just curious if anyone knows if showing up in court down there is a waste of time or not. I'd have to probably make two trips from Atlanta (65 miles) to contest in front of a judge.

[DeoGratias]

Contest it! You have a fighting chance, and it's only when people start fighting the system that justice prevails. Even if you get it reduced to a lesser charge, it will be worth it, and you have at least a 50% chance of getting it dismissed altogether.

I've faught and won, but not in Forsyth.

[Mr.SouthMetroAtl]

Oh boy - so you got popped in Forsyth. I'm a native of this city and I'll tell you this is a VERY tough small city on traffic violations. It's how they mostly maintain a healthy city coffer. If you KNOW you violated this recent law, might as well pay the piper. I fought false charge (getting ambushed by a law enforcement deputy from the woods) and it was a split decision. I feel very bad some of these things happen in my hometown but the law is unholy and citizens sometimes suffer from it throughout the country.

[atlantamoi]

Thanks Mr. SouthMetroAtl. I paid the fine two days ago over the phone and then I saw your message. I had the feeling it would not be worth my time. I'm probably going to be ticked off at that little area for quite a long time! I know part of the reason for high fines is to stop someone from doing it again, but $100 would have done the trick. $500 is beyond ridiculous.

[Mr.SouthMetroAtl]

I regret it came down to that and absolutely agree with you about the excessive financial penalty. That's the root of what America is about though, MONEY! The government institutions are about as bad as unrestricted big business when it comes to taking away part of that "American Dream". Imagine what they would do if required to "correct the deficiency" rather than snatching dollars away from us. The money grubbing habit goes much deeper than Forsyth from what I see. I understand this penalty you just paid for dearly is a state rule and anyone can get nabbed anywhere for violating this recent rule.

[jimmy page]

i got a move over citation recently. i was coming off from wills park exit 10 and getting on to 400. i had to take exit 9 to go over to north point mall. i saw the cop ticketing a guy very close to exit 9 and i immediately slowed down. i tried to move to a left lane but couldn't do it due to oncoming traffic. so i slowed down to 25 miles/hour and passed the cop(he was inside the car at that moment). immediately another cop comes (he was waiting close to exit behind this first cop) and gives me move over violation ticket. i tried to explain my situation that i had to take exit 9 and i tried moving to left lane but he didn't agree.

what are my chances of avoiding this ticket in fulton county?

thanks.

jimmy.