Fairfax(town of herndon) traffic voilation. Help needed! (insurance, how much)

[saanp]

Hi,
I live in town of herndon and recently got pulled over for a reason i am just going to write down.I hope some of you can help me.

I was driving towards downtown herndon on 606 (sterling road) during rush hour. I was right behind a truck (with a high roof top) blocking my view of the traffic lights at the intersection of Herndon parkway and 606, by the time i got there the light had turned yellow and i didnt stop because that was would have ended me right in the middle of the road.
unfortunately, there was a cop right behind me who pulled me over. He asked me if i knew why he stopped me. I was not sure and i asked was it because i tried to beat the red light? He answered, "well, you didnt".His answer left me confused. He took my license and registration and gave me a ticket for "fail to obey traffic light" and put "disregard red light" in the description.

My questions are
My ticket is
1. is the Convenience fee which is $62 the court fee? or the court fee is in addition to the convenience fee? and how much is usually the court fee?
2. so, if i decide to prepay how much will that be?100 dollars or 162?
Is it worth the time and money to fight the ticket in the court? as i have heard NOVA courts dont drop tickets.
3. How much will affect my insurance? its currently $200 for one car the honda civic 2000 i have.
From your experience what you guys suggest?
I am trying to figure out the best way to avoid ticket related costs (insurance hike+ ticket+ court fee etc).
BTW, it was my first violation.

Appreciate your time and advice.

Thanks

[PolandSprings]

1. Pay the ticket. I think you have to pay the court fee regardless of if you go to court.

2. Stop tailgating. That is why you didn't see the light changed in time - you were too close to the truck to see the light.

[boyd888]

From your description it sounds like you were following the truck very closely hoping to squeak through the light. People do this all the time so I can't fault you for it. Unfortunately for you you did it with a cop behind you. If you go to court it will be your word vs the cop's and given that the cop was right behind you and had a clear view you will lose. You have to pay all the fees on the ticket it's how they make their money.

The only reason to go to court would be to hope the cop doesn't show up (unlikely) or to plead guilty to something that doesn't carry points (maybe). I'm not sure if traffic school is an option in Fairfax as every county is different.

Your insurance won't go up from one small ticket (especially your first), shoot they probably won't even find out.

[katyusha25]

Originally Posted by saanp

Hi,
I live in town of herndon and recently got pulled over for a reason i am just going to write down.I hope some of you can help me.

I was driving towards downtown herndon on 606 (sterling road) during rush hour. I was right behind a truck (with a high roof top) blocking my view of the traffic lights at the intersection of Herndon parkway and 606, by the time i got there the light had turned yellow and i didnt stop because that was would have ended me right in the middle of the road.
unfortunately, there was a cop right behind me who pulled me over. He asked me if i knew why he stopped me. I was not sure and i asked was it because i tried to beat the red light? He answered, "well, you didnt".His answer left me confused. He took my license and registration and gave me a ticket for "fail to obey traffic light" and put "disregard red light" in the description.

My questions are
My ticket is
1. is the Convenience fee which is $62 the court fee? or the court fee is in addition to the convenience fee? and how much is usually the court fee?
2. so, if i decide to prepay how much will that be?100 dollars or 162?
Is it worth the time and money to fight the ticket in the court? as i have heard NOVA courts dont drop tickets.
3. How much will affect my insurance? its currently $200 for one car the honda civic 2000 i have.
From your experience what you guys suggest?
I am trying to figure out the best way to avoid ticket related costs (insurance hike+ ticket+ court fee etc).
BTW, it was my first violation.

Appreciate your time and advice.

Thanks

The only advice I have for you is to never admit fault. Even if you know why they pull you over, and you know you did wrong, why would you exclude the possibility of ever getting out of it?

Not saying that's a sure way to get out of it, I just don't know why you'd admit guilt and then question it.

[saanp]

Originally Posted by PolandSprings

1. Pay the ticket. I think you have to pay the court fee regardless of if you go to court.

2. Stop tailgating. That is why you didn't see the light changed in time - you were too close to the truck to see the light.

This is what i get from everyone that i was too close.
First of all the truck had a high roof. Second, if you have ever been to herndon and driven on 606 you can actually see the road slopes up at the intersection of 606 and Herndon parkway which i noticed today again when i was behind a couple of regular cars.

I never tail gait because of my fear of " what if the car right in front me gets hit or hit breaks out of blue". So, i would appreciate people not bashing me for being too close or tail-gating.

Thanks every one for advice.

[saanp]

Originally Posted by katyusha25

The only advice I have for you is to never admit fault. Even if you know why they pull you over, and you know you did wrong, why would you exclude the possibility of ever getting out of it?

Not saying that's a sure way to get out of it, I just don't know why you'd admit guilt and then question it.

Lack of experience, i would say.
Thanks for the advice.

[PolandSprings]

Originally Posted by saanp

This is what i get from everyone that i was too close.
First of all the truck had a high roof. Second, if you have ever been to herndon and driven on 606 you can actually see the road slopes up at the intersection of 606 and Herndon parkway which i noticed today again when i was behind a couple of regular cars.

I never tail gait because of my fear of " what if the car right in front me gets hit or hit breaks out of blue". So, i would appreciate people not bashing me for being too close or tail-gating.

Thanks every one for advice.

When you are behind a big truck you need to leave more space than if you are behind a small car. Being able to see several cars in front of you allows you to react more quickly to sudden breaking - presumably, you can see the car 10 cars up breaking and will immediately break rather than waiting until just the car or truck in front of you breaks thus lessening the chance of an accident. Concerning trucks, haven't you ever seen the signs on trucks about not traveling too close behind? They usually say something like "If you can't see my mirrors, I can't see you."

Also, the rate of speed at which you are traveling determines how far behind the vehicle in front of you you should be. The faster you are going, the longer it will take to slow down.

Not trying to bash you, but what you described is tailgating.

[Bigfoot424]

1- Courts do find people not guilty, quite often. Even in NOVA. Doesn't mean you will luck out though.
2- There is a court fee you pay if you show up or pre-pay. You can go to court and try to work out a deal where the fine is reduced or dropped but you'll still pay the court fee. If you are found not guilty you pay nothing.
3- The advice where you admit nothing can backfire. Retired now but I was a cop for over 30 years in NOVA. Many officers will ask if you know why you were pulled over. If the offense was blatantly obvious and the driver says "no idea" the officers usually just write the ticket. They figure if the person wants to play games they will just return the favor. More often then not if the driver is contrite the officer will usually cut a break. I know some will argue they were contrite and it didn't work for them but I saw it many times and I was a training officer as well so I dealt with hundreds of officers.
4- Sure sounds like you were following too close.