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.
Below I have listed the top five mistakes you can make when fighting your traffic ticket. I hope you too will see the futility in them and refrain from using these worthless defenses.
Mistake #1- Delaying the traffic court date
The rationale for this, some say, is that the longer you can delay traffic court for your traffic ticket, the likelier the chance the police officer won’t show up at your court date.
Delaying the court date will not improve your chance of having your traffic ticket dismissed.
Lets say that you do get your traffic court date pushed back. What if the police officer still shows at court?
This may be a little known fact, but police officers get overtime pay to be in traffic court.
Mistake #2- Requesting evidence before traffic court.
By law you do have a legal right to see everything the prosecution plans to convict you with. This process is called ‘discovery’ and can be useful in a murder trial. But this isn’t a murder trial and doing so can actually hurt your case.
Requesting evidence before any kind of trial tells the prosecution you are planning a defense. He will see this as a challenge and will undoubtedly prepare accordingly, making your chances of winning almost impossible.
Don’t give the prosecution a heads up that you know anything about traffic court proceedings. Do not contact them prior to your traffic court date.
Mistake #3- Doing too much 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- Going after the police officers credibility
If your defense is to go to traffic court and try to make the officer who gave you the traffic ticket look like an idiot, don’t waste your time. Using any number of ridiculous excuses like the police officer singled you out or that he used the radar gun improperly will not work.
Don’t ever go into traffic court with the idea you are going to challenge the police officers training on the use of the radar gun. This will only draw scrutiny from the judge, who will accept the officers testimony that he is properly trained on the use of the equipment.
The officer will NOT have to prove his training qualifications in the courtroom. Let’s face it, the officer has been properly trained and knows how to work the radar/laser gun. No question about it. If you try and go this route you will be disappointed when the judge asks you to provide evidence supporting your claim.
Mistake #5- Showing up to traffic court unprepared.
Probably the mistake most people make is thinking they did a good job doing their homework prior to their day in traffic court, and actually didn’t have a clue as to what they were doing to get prepared. So they lose their case and end up being convicted of the traffic ticket.
And then there are those who don’t do any research and think that they can tell there side of the story and the judge will have pity on them. 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.
If you avoid these 5 mistakes you will have a better chance of claiming your victory in traffic court, and hopefully getting that traffic ticket thrown out.
Want to find out more about traffic tickets, and how to beat them? Then visit Steven Swihart’s site for the the best advice and information on traffic violations.
Tags: automobile insurance, car insurance, driving, family, law, law enforcement, speeding tickets