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Has anyone gotten this ticket before? I got a ticket for Improper Passing for driving on the merge lane, but i really thought there was an exit at the end of the lane.
This was the north of route 21. Question is the cop told me to appear in court and just pay the fee, and they will waive my points, obviously this doesn't mean I should plea not guilty, but i found out that if i plea guilty and waive the points, the $180 dollars fine becomes $600 dollars. So the cop basically asking for more money, I thought he was trying to be nice to me.
I am planning to plea not guilty. Anyone got any tips?
Has anyone gotten this ticket before? I got a ticket for Improper Passing for driving on the merge lane, but i really thought there was an exit at the end of the lane.
This was the north of route 21. Question is the cop told me to appear in court and just pay the fee, and they will waive my points, obviously this doesn't mean I should plea not guilty, but i found out that if i plea guilty and waive the points, the $180 dollars fine becomes $600 dollars. So the cop basically asking for more money, I thought he was trying to be nice to me.
I am planning to plea not guilty. Anyone got any tips?
That's the way things work in Clifton... just income generation for the city... I got a reckless driving ticket on Route 3 for "accelerating at a high rate of speed". Went to court, spoke with the ADA and the ticket was dismissed but I was the exception. If you have a completely clean driving record you might have a chance but generally speaking, when it comes to the law, ignorance is not an excuse. You're probably best off pleading guilty to the lesser charge (I forget what it is exactly, careless driving maybe?) and paying the $600.
If I were you, I would just forget what the cop said, and go talk to the prosecutor the day of court. I don't have much court experience myself, but whenever I hear stories from people, I always hear the line "the prosecutor was able to get it lowered to...." So this prosecutor person sounds like someone with the most amout of knowledge who could help you get your best case scenario. Good luck!
If I were you, I would just forget what the cop said, and go talk to the prosecutor the day of court. I don't have much court experience myself, but whenever I hear stories from people, I always hear the line "the prosecutor was able to get it lowered to...." So this prosecutor person sounds like someone with the most amout of knowledge who could help you get your best case scenario. Good luck!
That's what the cop suggested he do... instead of pleading guilty to the actual ticket, paying the $100 or whatever and having points on your license and much higher car insurance for the next 5 years... you talk to the ADA, agree to plead guilty to careless driving which carries a much higher fine but no points, pay the court fees, etc etc and end up paying an extra $400 or so to not have any points on your license and not pay higher insurance on your car. I believe you can do this twice in a 3 year period or 3 times in 2 years? Something like that. I've only been to court once and it didn't come to that.
Well actually in NJ they let you do that only 2 times, I think its called unsafe driving, ther eare no points, but it does appear on your record, so your insurance co might bug you about it anyway.
If you get reeeeal lucky they will lower the ticket to obstructing traffic, which is cheaper like $90 and no points at all, but you have to be i na situation wher ethe prosecutor is in a good mood or similar.
I had several of these and one time I was the last case up, walked in late, not on purpose, just was working, spoke to the prosecutor and he hot the judge to go along with it.
They will not lower the charge or the fine, most likely.
They feel like they are already doing you a favor, letting you avoid points.
Personally I think the worst part is having to sit in court for 2 or 3 hours.
They will not lower the charge or the fine, most likely.
They feel like they are already doing you a favor, letting you avoid points.
Personally I think the worst part is having to sit in court for 2 or 3 hours.
they make a whole long affair of it in order to ruin your evening.
if you do the unsafe driving without points, does it come up if you wanted to switch insurance carriers down the road? i was looking into changing insurance companies but i dont want to disclose the offense and if there are no points then i dont think i should have to. however, if it shows up in their search im sure they think i should have to.
Is pleading not guilty and hoping for a fair trial ever an option? I'm coming from NYC, where there is no plea bargaining, the burden of proof is lower, almost everyone is found guilty, and the judge raises the fines out of spite. I heard NJ was fairer, but it sounds like both places are just finding new ways to back-door tax people -- in this case motorists through more tickets.
I second the idea to never take legal advice from your opponent - the police officer in this case. My brother-in-law, 20 at the time, got burned badly by this. Good luck.
It does show up as a zero point item on your record that the ins co gets. I switched companies and when my ins co asked about it I toold them something like I was parked or similar. They just ignored it.
actually i am lucky in regards to insurance rates, because i recently signed up for the plantium package that guarantees no rate increase on first accident or ticket. This is allstate. It's only a small fee. I think everyone should check it out.
Regards to my ticket. I checked, it's 4 points, same as running a red light. As long as fines or points doesn't increase in case I found guilty in court, i am heading to court, I have many vacations days left anyways.
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