Well A first for Everything. Stop Sign Ticket

[CXR89]

Hello gentleman. Earlier today I ran a stop sign that I did not see until it was too late. By the time I realized there was one, I already had crossed it. Long and behold, there was an officer chilling on the corner. Needless to say I knew what was happening and I pulled over right away. I gave her my info and what not and I was ticketed. This is my first ticket. I am supposed to go to court in a few weeks. My question to you gentleman is this; do I have any chance of it getting it dismissed. Is there anyway for the judge to possibly have any mercy on me? It is what it is, and if need be, ill pay the ticket and do traffic school. But I was wondering if you guys had any opinions on what a judge will have on a first time offender. Thanks

[dno]

Pay at the window, please.

[003]

"Earlier today I ran a stop sign " "By the time I realized there was one, I already had crossed it"


What is there to contest?

[BearArms]

Judges don't have mercy on anything that is cut and dry like that. Pay the ticket online and save yourself a few hours.

[TRICKSTER]

Pay the fine and go to traffic school. Last thing you want is to go in, say you screwed up and didn't notice the sign until it was too late, and have a judge think "well what if that was a pedestrian instead of a sign".

[Zedrek]

Pay the fine and do the online traffic school so your insurance rates don't go up. I've gotten several tickets and never go to court for them. I think it's just a waste of everyone's time including mine for something I got caught doing that I shouldn't of been doing.

[micro911]

You can go to court, and if the officer is there, ask her if she can modify the ticket to "failure to obey sign", a no point, non moving violation. At least your insurance won't go up. I see it at the court all the time. That is what lawyers usually do when you hire them for the ticket.

[TRICKSTER]

You can go to court, and if the officer is there, ask her if she can modify the ticket to "failure to obey sign", a no point, non moving violation. At least your insurance won't go up. I see it at the court all the time. That is what lawyers usually do when you hire them for the ticket.

21461(a) VC (unlawful for a driver of a vehicle to fail to obey a sign or signal.....) is not a "no point" violation. What section are you talking about?
The only thing that I have seen done in the past is amend the violation to a city or county ordinance violation that covers the offense. That would make it a "no point" violation.
This was not at all common.

[barca101]

Your chance of being dismissed is if the officer don't show up. If you can't afford the ticket Fee, ask for community service in lieu of payment.

Hope that helps.

[Hoopty]

21461a is a point violation..

[CBR_rider]

I would not risk the point by going to traffic court if I was in your shoes. However, I have seen judges reduce bail in some cases where the judge feels like being merciful. It's a gamble. As has already been mentioned, judges don't always feel like being extra-merciful (especially regarding red light and stop sign violations in my county).

[Ron-Solo]

One more for traffic school.

If you can't afford the fees, ask for community service.

[RDT72]

CVC 22450(a) Stop Sign violation and CVC 21453(a) Red Light violation are both point violations. They both will give you a point on your record unless you complete traffic school. In Fresno County they will add a $67 fee to allow you to go to traffic school. The judges here seldom reduce fees and if you opt for traffic school you can NOT gp on a monthly payment plan. You can get up to 90 days to pay the fine in full.

[Zedrek]

I'm curious now. When I got a ticket for running a stop sign the CHP officer made it out as "Failure to stop before the limit line" or something similar to that. Is there a difference then the failure to obey the sign/signal? I was on my way to work in a pretty rural area and I turned right onto a two lane highway where the street comes to a "T". I looked left and seen that it was clear and didn't come to a complete stop before turning right and seeing my empty wallet flash before my eyes as the officer was coming.

[Spanky8601]

I'm curious now. When I got a ticket for running a stop sign the CHP officer made it out as "Failure to stop before the limit line" or something similar to that. Is there a difference then the failure to obey the sign/signal? I was on my way to work in a pretty rural area and I turned right onto a two lane highway where the street comes to a "T". I looked left and seen that it was clear and didn't come to a complete stop before turning right and seeing my empty wallet flash before my eyes as the officer was coming.

Two different sections. 22350 VC is the stop sign violation. 21461 (a) VC is failure to obey the official traffic control sign. (white sign with black letters), such as no right turn on red after stopping or going straight in a turn only lane.