So, a few weeks ago I was traveling in the left lane on a road and there was a police officer in front of me. I needed to make a right turn so I signaled to get into the right lane for a bit and then changed lanes as the police officer and the car that was in front of him started to slow down. The police officer then jerks behind me and pulls me over. He started by accusing me of changing lanes without signaling which I argued with because I ALWAYS signal. It is my biggest pet peeve when people don't signal. I told him I know for a fact that I did signal and then he admitted that I did signal then said that I didn't signal for 200 feet. I couldn't imagine how long 200 feet was at the time but the speed limit was 40 and so I would have to signal for like less than 4 seconds which I believe I signaled for longer than that. So anyway, he wrote me a ticket that says "Failure to signal lane change or intention of turning." I am going to contest the ticket because I know that I did nothing wrong. There was no way for him to be watching my car that is behind him while the car in front of him was slowing down. Also, I did notice something about the ticket. For the model of the car it simply says "PRIUS." I checked my registration and sure enough my registration lists my car as a "PRIUS C" as the model. I was wondering two things... do you think the ticket would be thrown out based on the circumstance and do you think that listing the wrong model of car is enough to have the ticket thrown out even before that?
What state? I have always been licensed in states requiring signals for 100 feet. At 40 mph, 200 feet is 3.4 seconds.
Indiana. "IC 9-21-8-25 Turn signals Sec. 25. A signal of intention to turn right or left shall be given continuously during not less than the last two hundred (200) feet traveled by a vehicle before turning or changing lanes. A vehicle traveling in a speed zone of at least fifty (50) miles per hour shall give a signal continuously for not less than the last three hundred (300) feet traveled by the vehicle before turning or changing lanes. As added by P.L.2-1991, SEC.9."
I'm afraid writing down the model of your vehicle as being a Prius, and not specifically a Prius c, is not any grounds for the ticket being thrown out. The rest of your battle? Well, good luck. Your word against his. And guess who has more leverage with the court? HINT: Not you.
Just remember you are allowed to ask the cop questions. So try to think of questions that would help you out because if you can make the cop second guess or get him stuck then the judge can't convict you because it needs to be beyond a reason of doubt before he can convict you. I know that prius and prius c thing would work on your behalf for a traffic ticket in NY but for a moving violation I'm not sure. That is usually called misrepresentation. I had things like that in the past where the traffic cop wrote fort instead of ford and it got thrown outGood luck with fighting the ticket
its their word against yours. in most cases, they will win. also the incorrect model will not get you off, since its still a Prius. s
His word against mine is what I am afraid of. People say that if he shows up then they automatically assume I am guilty. The guy tried to say I didn't signal at all for a good five minutes when he finally admitted that I did signal so I dont think he saw what my car was doing at all and was probably wanting to change lanes but I changed lanes before him. When he handed me the ticket, I said that I did signal and for plenty of time and his response was, "I will see you in traffic court then. Otherwise, enjoy your 150 dollar ticket." Somebody else was saying that it may be the same family but they are different models. That if my car was in a parking lot and somebody handed another person the ticket and asked them to find my car based on the description that they would have a hard time doing it because the C is a completely different model with a different appearance. That I should be able to show my registration listing the model as a C and get it thrown out because the DMV recognizes it as a completely different model. So, I was wondering that others thought in regards to that. It is just stressful having to deal with all of this when I know I did nothing wrong and the cop was just wanting to be rude for no reason. Thanks for the responses so far.
Try driving in Massachusetts. If the drivers signal at all, they usually wait until the wheels have crossed the line and then you get 1 blip.
i don't know about indiana, but in ma, the cops don't get paid to show up for a ticket hearing, so if you contest it, you always win. the down side is that it takes the better part of your day. all the best.
That is how most people are here, but I was in an accident a while back where this guy stopped in the center of the road and didn't signal at all so I continued forward only to have him turn back into my lane and slam into my car door. He really wasn't paying attention at all. If he would have had a signal on at any point then it would have all been avoided. It just reinforced my pet peeve of always signaling. (no, this accident didn't occur in the Prius C. It was in my old car and I bought the Prius C with the insurance money. YAY!). That is what adds fuel to my fire of hatred for this situation. I see people change lanes without ever signaling and yet I am the one that gets pulled over when I always signal even when there are no other cars around in the middle of the night.
i hear you. i got a ticket in new york, from a cop who was following someone doing 20 over the limit. instead of pulling him over, after he passes me, he slams his brakes on, pulls in behind me, who's doing the speed limit, pulls me over and writes me a $115. ticket for no seatbelt.
ouch. that would be way more expensive than just paying the ticket. sometimes, you got to know when to hold and when to fold.
I once got a ticket in NY. 1 o'clock in the morning. I had three people in the back seat of a '68 mustang. It was tight back there, and the guy in the middle was sitting on the "bump". But they were all drunk, as was the guy in the passenger seat, so nobody really cared. I was the only one sober enough to drive. Cop pulled us over and said he was writing me up because the guy in the middle in the back was "obstructing the view of the driver". One of the guys in the back seat heard him say this, and was about to jump out of the car and start arguing with him. Fortunately the other two restrained him, both physically and verbally (hand over mouth). It was all complete BS of course. I could see fine out the back. Nothing you can do at the scene except bite your tongue. But the ironic thing was, while I supposedly had an obstructed view, this cop was driving around in the dark wearing a nice expensive pair of aviator - sunglasses! Your only hope is that the cop doesn't show up.
I don't generally favor contesting traffic tickets but if your description of the events is accurate I think you have a good chance......based on the simple facts of the matter. Not being specific enough about the model of car, however, is a ridiculous stretch and you should NOT mention that.
If I thought I was right I would appear in court and contest it. It is a moving violation and you don't want it on your driving record and also for insurance issues. Like Easy Rider mentioned, I would not mention the model of the car issue.
Did the cop have a can in his windshield? If so ask for the video proof. If he did have a cam it will show him jerking right behind you so how would he know if you had your directional on it not when he wasn't behind you. Just a suggestion . Rj, I live in NY and had a 68 Mustang and got a ticket for that as well but I had proof that it was a 5 passenger car so it was legal to have a person sitting in the middle. I beat the ticket and the cop was pissed. He tried to pull me over again and again and tried to find something wrong and then I filed a complaint against him and found out he had many complaints against him and he wasn't allowed to pull me over or even go down my block anymore to try and ticket me, lol
a lot of NY cops will give tickets even if they are wrong, because most people dont want to waste time going to court. there is one cop near my house who sets up a speed trap, he gives people tickets for anything and everything. he gave me a ticket once and i beat it simply because i had proof the car was going under the speed limit. most cops just want to give tickets and not serve the public.
I have 5 friends who are NYPD and they all told me that whatever their salary is per day that they had to write that amount in tickets a day. So for exams if they made 200 a day they had to write $200 in tickets a day. Mayor Bloomberg started this and that is why so many ridiculous tickets were/are being written up such as sitting on a milk crate. It didn't matter if the ticket was won or lost as long as the cop wrote those tickets everyday. This is why so many cops in NY are writing tickets everyday and will never give a warning which is something they are allowed to do instead of writing a ticket. I'm glad I live on Long Island now where the cops are way more fair with people
