traffic ticket - plz help!

In reply to pinchvalve :

LMAO

Ah yes, the good ol' PA "Failure to obey traffic control device."  I've gotten a few of them.  But at least there were no points :)

Plead not guilty and show up, no need to hire a lawyer unless one is available free to you.   You're going to pay ~$150 for the Failure to Obey ticket if I recall?  It's been about 8 years since I got one of those in PA.

ddavidv said:

New poster with no profile. Hmmm.

PA is a bit unique compared to most states. Pleading "not guilty" carries NO assurance you will not be handed points. It only means you will have a date at the district justice to plead your case. The quality of justices (judges) varies greatly. I've had some who were very decent and helpful and others who always found the defendant at fault because HOW DARE YOU QUESTION THE LAW.

What you can hope for is your ticket charge to be changed to "failure to obey a traffic control device" which carries no points but still packs a fine, which is what they really want. Curious that the officer didn't just cite you for that at the scene if he was so willing to help you out. I've had cops do this for my transgressions and it removes the need to go to court.

PA has no 'traffic school' or other opt out when it comes to fines.

That was my first thought as well. Why the hell does he want to waste his time showing up in court when he could just cut the OP a break on the spot, if that is what he intends to do? 

PA has what is called the "Special Points Examination" or something like that. It's a 20 question test very much like the what you take when you get a learners permit. IIRC it knocks 5 points off your license, but I think you only get to do it once.

Also, you appear before a magistrate in PA, not a "judge" per se. This distinction is important because a magistrate  does not necessarily require any experience or education in law at all whatsoever to qualify for the position, and IIRC a majority of magistrates state wide don't. This is why the quality of these people tends to vary pretty wildly. 

Furious_E said:

That was my first thought as well. Why the hell does he want to waste his time showing up in court when he could just cut the OP a break on the spot, if that is what he intends to do?

"Waste his time" can also be read as "padding his schedule for the court date, when he gets paid to be there."  :)

I hope it isn't too painful for you.

One of the joys of living in the city is that the Nash Bridges aren't bothering to stake out stop signs.

One of the miseries of living in the city is that a lot of people ignore stop signs.

There's a pseudo circle I use that people treat like an interstate on ramp and I get blared at for stopping properly. 

Court is fun. I like trying to beat tickets. My standing record is 6 in one go. Judge was not expecting that one. 

WonkoTheSane said:

Ah yes, the good ol' PA "Failure to obey traffic control device."  I've gotten a few of them.  But at least there were no points :)

Plead not guilty and show up, no need to hire a lawyer unless one is available free to you.   You're going to pay ~$150 for the Failure to Obey ticket if I recall?  It's been about 8 years since I got one of those in PA.

Yea that's kind of a catch all. When I rolled my cavalier I got one. $125 fine at the time (~9 years ago now). Officer said "I know you were drunk and not wearing a seatbelt because you're alive, but since it's been more than 12 hours this is all I can do. I suggest you pay the fine". Compared to the $450 speeding ticket I got in California a few years later for 13 over, aka barely keeping up with traffic, that sounds like a real gift now.

The magistrate system is interesting though. I appeared before the local as a juvenile with my dad in tow for an underage drinking charge. They talked trap shooting for 20 minutes then he handed me my sentence. At 14, you can be charged as an adult in a drug or alcohol case, which lets them stop you from getting your license for 90 days when you finally turn 16. Not really relevant to the conversation just a bonus fact. Wow, thinking back now, when I got my simple assault (14 was a bad age for me)the hearing was at the state prison administrative office, but when we got jumped in the middle of the night years later the guy that attacked us had his hearing at a magistrate as an adult. It doesn't really make sense to me how they decide what goes where.

Yes, I do have a drinking problem, no I don't drink anymore, just sharing the story to show how much of a catch all the "failure to obey posted traffic sign" can be used as.

If the OP had looked around a bit, he may have seen the Off-Topic area.  IBTL.

 I assume they were traveling at a high rate of speed, lost control, clipped the curb, rolled the vehicle several times, taking out a stop sign along the way.

nonsense. you have no common sense.

You can't trust people who appear to just use random letters for their user name.

In reply to cxhw :

So you appear to be an actual real person. Welcome to the madness here on Grassroots. Just curious, why did you pick a do it yourself hobbyist Motorsports forum or ask about a stop sign ticket? Just seems kind of weird out of the blue but welcome anyway.