Throughout the years, there have been some pretty dreadful defense strategies used by many people when it came to their traffic ticket. But I don’t really blame them. Most were just relying on ‘insider’ information some website was selling.
In this article we will go over the 5 most common mistakes used by people when trying to fight their traffic ticket. Use these as a guide of what not to do.
Mistake #1- Delaying the Court Trial
Almost every other book I’ve read on traffic tickets advises you to postpone the trial by asking for a continuance. They claim the longer your traffic court trial is from the original infraction, the greater the chance the officer will fail to show up to court on your traffic ticket.
Do not try to delay your date with the traffic court. You will not increase the likelihood the officer wont be there and thus having your traffic ticket thrown out.
The question I’ve always had was if you do put off your court date, what do you do when he still shows up?
Then what? Police officers get paid overtime to show up to traffic court.
Mistake #2- Requesting evidence before traffic court.
You have the right by law to see any information the court plans on using to convict you. The process is called discovery. And it would be useful if you were charged with murder, but this is traffic court. Don’t do this, it can hurt your chances of successfully getting your traffic ticket dismissed.
When you make a motion for discovery and request evidence before your trial, this sends red flags to the prosecution that you are planning a good defense. He’ll take it as a challenge and will prepare his case so efficiently that it becomes almost impossible to win.
Don’t request anything or even contact the courthouse at any time prior to your trial about your traffic ticket. DO NOT let them know you are familiar with the traffic court process.
Mistake #3- Doing a lot of needless research
There is no need to spend any time reading boring law books. Its pointless.
Only rarely would it be prudent to look up a law so you know how it may be worded, other than that it is needless to do this with most traffic tickets.
Mistake #4- Attacking the officer’s credibility
If you go to traffic court with the idea you are going to attack the officers credibility, don’t waste your time. You can forget getting your traffic ticket dismissed. Saying the officer didn’t use the equipment properly, or that he singled you out or any number of other excuses are useless.
Challenging the officers training of a radar gun will always draw scrutiny from the judge. He will take the officers side and will insist you ask the next question.
Its just understood that the officer has the proper training on the speed detecting equipment he or she used to give you a traffic ticket. There’s no question about it. Say you do try this defense, where are you going to get the evidence the judge will ask for to support your claim?
Mistake #5- Showing up to traffic court unprepared.
This is by far the biggest mistake people will make when fighting a traffic ticket. They go to court, thinking they’ve done their homework, when in reality everything they did leading up to the trial was in vain. They’re research was done the WRONG WAY and as a result, they lose their case before they even had a chance to defend themselves.
Those who did no research go to traffic court with the notion that they can just tell their side of the story and the judge will see things their way and dismiss their traffic ticket. Yeah right!
Look, I know the thought of going to traffic court can be a little scary for some, but this isn’t a murder trial. It’s just a simple traffic ticket. Traffic court is set up to be extremely ‘user friendly’ due to the large amounts of people who go there every day.
Avoid these five mistakes and you will have a better chance of winning your case in traffic court and getting your traffic ticket dismissed.
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Tags: auto insurance, automobile insurance, driving, family, law, law enforcement, speeding tickets