First Ticket

Kevzaz · Post by **Kevzaz** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 11:55 am

Well... today was my first ticket. And I am not to happy about it.Me and my friend were pulling into a parking lot where there were a lot of entrances, I pulled into a close entrance, and kept going, he pulled into a further away one, but didn't see me and almost hit me, so we both swerved and no collision. We parked and were like, that was really close. All of the sudden, the police come up and give us 108$ tickets for reckless driving. Was it really reckless? It was a parking lot, near collisions almost always happen, is that considered reckless? Should I challenge it?

808 Vibes · Post by **808 Vibes** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 12:35 pm

Sorry to hear that. Who called the cops?

Kevzaz · Post by **Kevzaz** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 12:44 pm

No one, the cops were already there. Guess we didn't see them. I think I'm going to plead not guilty.

vhoward1122 · Post by **vhoward1122** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 1:05 pm

This all happened in a parking lot? Was it a parking lot to a government building? Or for a private business (mall, grocery store, etc)?Around here, cops do not have the jurisdiction/authority to issue tickets for traffic infractions that happen on private property. If the owner of the private property calls the cops and wants to file citizens arrest charges, then they can come on private property to handle the problem.I would research this for your state and contest the ticket.

Digger · Post by **Digger** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 1:08 pm

In ohio that would be a private lot, and the owner of the lot would have to press charges. Police in ohio only patrol public road ways. at least that is what they told a friend when they had a crash in a store parking lot.

Kevzaz · Post by **Kevzaz** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 1:13 pm

It was in a movie parking lot. And the movie theater owners probably ask the police to come cause kids always go there and do burn outs and drink and stuff... and yet, I get the ticket. -.-

Merzbow · Post by **Merzbow** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 6:07 pm

lol. I love your stories Kevzaz because I can relate to them 100% from when I was 4 years younger lol.I have gotten so many tickets I cannot count them, and pulled over a billion other times. Unfortunately I have 8 points because of it. Aside from when I rolled through a flashing red last month on my bike and got handcuffed in the back of a squad car from 3:30am to 5:00am "I don't have a cycle endorsement", I haven't gotten a ticket or been pulled over in more than a year!!! Hurray for progress and better luck lol.Here in Michigan the cops always patrol popular parking lots and they always threaten with loitering tickets. In the city where one of the popular cruising strips is, they are the biggest A-hole cops and the majority of the citizens in the city are equally as straight-laced.With my vast, extensive court experience, I would say challenge it, say "guilty with explanation" and explain why you were both swerving. If you say not guilty, unless it was a blatantly obvious mistake on the officer's part, you probably wont be able to put together a strong enough argument to get yourself out of it. It also implies that the cop was wrong which wont go over too well. Don't deny doing it and don't challenge the officer's judgment or degrade the decision he made. THE MOST IMPORTANT ADVICE WHILE AT A CIVIL INFRACTION HEARING is to NEVER give more information than what is asked of you or required That actually is the best advice ever even in normal day to day situations! Sorry but I get all into it when I can share some advice when it comes to tickets (removed)...This is your first ticket, 98% of the time you will not get points for your first ticket if it is something minor so if anything, you'll just have to pay the fine, which will also get reduced sometimes. I miss those days (removed)...now I am stuck paying $200 a year to the stupid governor until I fall below 7 points

hskater26 · Post by **hskater26** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 8:30 pm

id fight it seeing how its your first and it was in a parking lot in sure theyll let you go.......merz i just got my first ticket on my bike about a month ago for goin 15 over haha but ive had a lot as wel he handed me the ticket and said you know the drill he didnt even make me sign it haha

zionzr2 · Post by **zionzr2** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 9:00 pm

I would challenge it!! Make sure you are both at each others court appreances!

keithvibe · Post by **keithvibe** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 2:25 am

state police or local?First i would SO plead not guilty. The court will set a date for you to show up. If the cop is busy he won't show... then no ticket no fine.If he does show up, explain your side, be respective of the Judge, DRESS NICELY! don't walk in there in shorts and a ratty shirt.Dress shirt, tie if you own one and dress pants. You may think this is over kill but it shows the judge that you respect his court room and the precedings. Good chances are the judge will reduce or elimiate the fine(pending the fine amount) and reduce your points.ALWAYS FIGHT A TICKET... nothing bad can come from it.

Kevzaz · Post by **Kevzaz** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 4:13 am

Ya, I am going to fight it for a number of reasons.1) You can't go wrong, except for a lose of a day that can be spent doing something else.2) The girls we were meeting at the mall, the one is the judges daughter, and she is going to talk to him.3) My sisters friend is going out with a local cop (it was a local cop that pulled us over), so she is going to tell the cop to not go to the court.Soooo, I hope things work out as planned.I personally don't care about the fine, 108, fine. But I believe it is 3 points, I am allowed 6... SOOOO that puts me in a tight situation. =p

jake75 · Post by **jake75** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 4:56 am

Almost 50 years ago when I was 17 I went through a stop sign at a T intersection and ended up in a farmers cornfield - thankfully no one was there to T-bone. I grazed a concrete barrier - an couple inches to the left and I would probably not be here to talk about it. The charges were stop sign violation, and reckless operation. The judge said there was not any evidence to charge me with reckless oepration which equated to wanton disregard for safety of others. In my case it probably was reckless driving - but in your case I do not see it. Frankly, I do not think a Judge views a not gulity plea with explanation any differetn thana guilty plea with explanation.I do have a big problem with your sister's girlfriend telling the cop not to show up. If the judge gets wind of that you are TOAST! Same for the judge's daughter talking to him - in that event if I were the judge I would recuse myself from the matter.

Merzbow · Post by **Merzbow** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 6:28 am

Regardless of what ANYONE says, just because an officer doesn't show up does NOT mean you are out of a ticket. Out of all my time in court rooms, three of my officers have not shown and I got points/fines for all three tickets so don't rely on that.

keithvibe · Post by **keithvibe** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 9:50 am

In PA it does.

Kevzaz · Post by **Kevzaz** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 12:46 pm

Keith is right, in PA, if the cop doesn't show, the ticket is turned down. =] Oh, and my boss is friends with the cop, so I am good to go. =]

jake75 · Post by **jake75** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 1:51 pm

Quote, originally posted by Kevzaz Â»Keith is right, in PA, if the cop doesn't show, the ticket is turned down. =] Oh, and my boss is friends with the cop, so I am good to go. =]So basically what you are saying is that in Drums, PA the police system is corrupt. If you have the right "connections" these things can be "fixed". Well Kevin Z., I hope no one from a local newspaper is on this forum. Scares me to death. One thing the past 35 or so years has taught me is that you can run but you can't hide. Richard Nixon and Elliot Spitzer know that all too well.

Kevzaz · Post by **Kevzaz** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 2:30 pm

Its more of the hazleton area more than drums. Our school district is even more corrupt. Its not that it's fixed. But I don't believe the cops knew what happened. It probably looked like two teenagers trying to drift with how we swerved and the tires squealing and all. And now that I remember, the cop turned to my friend and asked why he was trying to do that with a big car like that.

Merzbow · Post by **Merzbow** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 3:08 am

Jake, that does not mean the police system is corrupt at all. If you read his story, he did nothing wrong to begin with but the cop thought he did, if anything, giving him a ticket would be considered corrupt! Just because you let a ticket slide due to good words from a friend over a stupid traffic violation doesn't mean a thing. Now if it was like rape or murder or if the officer accepted a cash bribe or another form of bribe, you could consider that corrupt. It's part of being a human being. You can argue all you want that cops are there to uphold the law and pass out tickets for revenue, and they are but they are also and mainly there to keep the peace and help the citizens in need.I am about two classes from an associates in law enforcement and I'm not sure if you know much about it or not, but officers are expected to deal with situations out of there own judgment and there is nothing that says they have to give out any tickets even if they see it happen in front of their own eyes. That also means, if they feel it fit to help someone out by reducing the points or the fine or eliminating the ticket altogether because eceryone makes mistakes, that is perfectly ok and entirely legal Unfortunately that rarely happened to me but you see what I'm saying?

jake75 · Post by **jake75** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 3:28 am

Quote, originally posted by Merzbow Â»Jake, that does not mean the police system is corrupt at all. If you read his story, he did nothing wrong to begin with but the cop thought he did, if anything, giving him a ticket would be considered corrupt! Just because you let a ticket slide due to good words from a friend over a stupid traffic violation doesn't mean a thing. Now if it was like rape or murder or if the officer accepted a cash bribe or another form of bribe, you could consider that corrupt. It's part of being a human being. You can argue all you want that cops are there to uphold the law and pass out tickets for revenue, and they are but they are also and mainly there to keep the peace and help the citizens in need.I am about two classes from an associates in law enforcement and I'm not sure if you know much about it or not, but officers are expected to deal with situations out of there own judgment and there is nothing that says they have to give out any tickets even if they see it happen in front of their own eyes. That also means, if they feel it fit to help someone out by reducing the points or the fine or eliminating the ticket altogether because eceryone makes mistakes, that is perfectly ok and entirely legal Unfortunately that rarely happened to me but you see what I'm saying?I have no disagreenent with what you say - cop probably made the wrong judgment in issuing tickets. It is just that IMO the resolution doesn't pass the small test.

Merzbow · Post by **Merzbow** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 6:04 am

Hmm, yea I see where you're coming from. Even if it gets dismissed, it should still be on record, so I guess the logic is that you get a break or a warning for the first time but don't do it again lol.

Kevzaz · Post by **Kevzaz** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 7:33 am

Thanks Merzbow, =] I completely agree with you. I will be making a diagram for the judge to see what happened. Ill post it up on here then.Done. Pretty self exclamatory.

kunkstyle · Post by **kunkstyle** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 9:18 am

Considering the diagram looks like you guys were jerking around, I can see why the cop stopped you

Kevzaz · Post by **Kevzaz** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 9:24 am

Seriously? Did you read the previous posts?

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 10:47 am

So you were planning on driving across the parking lot and parking one row away from your friend, who was planning on driving up the row like he was supposed to?

Kevzaz · Post by **Kevzaz** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 10:49 am

Who honestly doesn't cut across empty parking lots? That and I didn't know what his intentions were at the time. I thought he was going to park in the same row as I was.

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 9:38 pm

Most people do -- and most people also don't watch diligently for other cars who are moving up the row properly to make sure they don't hit them. More than once I have been driving up the row and seen someone who I know was going to cut across my nose without even seeing me. And they usually do. And I stop because I see them coming and then enjoy honking the horn right as they drive by to wake them up. The look on their face is usually, "Where did you come from?" when I've been sitting there for a few seconds now. I do cut across parking lots occasionally but I always make sure I pay extra attention to what other cars are doing. And I stop to yield right of way to cars who are moving up the row.

kunkstyle · Post by **kunkstyle** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 10:15 pm

Quote, originally posted by Kevzaz Â»Seriously? Did you read the previous posts?Yes, seriously I did. The cop must not have though I'm not saying you were horsing around. However, a cop sees this from further away, sees that it's a younger driver, assumes that you guys were horsing around, and in a parking lot, that's an easy way to pick off a pedestrian, a car pulling in, etc - so he wants to nip that sort of activity in the bud. Again, not saying you were doing anything wrong, but it would be easy for an observer to assume you were.

Kevzaz · Post by **Kevzaz** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 12:18 am

Ya... it was definitely more than meets the eye. =p

jake75 · Post by **jake75** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 1:38 am

Let us know how you fare. Good luck.

prathman · Post by **prathman** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 3:03 am

Good luck in court and I think having the diagram along with your explanation is a good idea. I'd also emphasize that this incident taught you the dangers involved in cutting across a parking lot.Certainly easy to see how the police would get the wrong impression. Probably first just heard the squeal of tires and then look to see both cars weaving and driving erratically. Then seeing that the two of you seem to know each other would just reinforce the impression that it's two kids playing some dangerous game with their cars.

Kevzaz · Post by **Kevzaz** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:26 am

Thanks for the good lucks guys. =] I think I will be okay, as long as I stay calm and tell the story as it is. =]

First Ticket

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