Legal Question: Failed to Signal Turn

click it or ticket.

Here is my one and only experience in traffic court. I sat in traffic court for about two hours before my case. I watched hot girls plea the most incoherent defenses imaginable, and in most cases, beat their ticket. I had what I thought was a perfect defense and was handed my ass back to me on a silver platter. Dress slutty, it couldn't hurt.

Best advice is to ask for some form of deferred judication or something of the like, and just pay the $35 or so court fee....... Originally Posted by Jusanotherdude

Last time I was in traffic court deferred judication was a hell alot more than $35, it was basicly the same as court cost and paying the ticket. I hired a trafic lawyer and she arranged a deal with the officer, I plead guilty to the BS benzel around the license plate, the inspection sticker was dropped by the judge (it was 1 day out of date when I was pulled over and I got it the next monday) and the officer filed his case as not ready to proceed in court on the speading ticket so that was thrown out. The judge reduced the fine for the license plate obstruction thing too, it was far cheeper to pay the lawyer and the reduced fine than either the tickets or deferred judication, and I didn't have to worry about the next 6 months either.

BTW do look up the Texas transportation code, cops don't know shit, after all they are cops and not lawyers. First ticket I got I figured out that lesson the hard way, yea it for passing on the right.

...cops don't know shit, after all they are cops and not lawyers.... Originally Posted by ness

Most cops know more about traffic violations than most lawyers.

I have yet to see a law school course on the "Texas Transportation Code"

Here is a rather typical syllabus from a criminal law course:
http://www.law.uh.edu/assignments/sp...5-syllabus.pdf
In fact for most lawyers it is "the" criminal law course taken in law school to obtain their law degree.

On the other hand, review Chapter 9 of the Basic Peace Officer Court Part I:

http://www.tcleose.state.tx.us/conte..._resources.cfm

Just click on Get "Resource" .. and look for Chapter 9.

By the way: Probably 20% of the Peace Officer Licensing Exam includes "traffic" questions.

When I took the Bar Exam = zero.

Such an outrage.

Most cops know more about traffic violations than most lawyers.
Originally Posted by LexusLover

Yep that's why a cop gave me a ticket for passing on the right here in Texas, they r so SMART! I was the idiot that bought into that shit.

Yep that's why a cop gave me a ticket for passing on the right here in Texas, they r so SMART! I was the idiot that bought into that shit. Originally Posted by ness

There is a distinction between "most cops" and "all cops".... Now had I written "all cops" your personal experience might have some validity. But this thread is about ....

.... the OP's experience and question.

Oh, by the way:

Texas Transportation Code
Sec. 545.057. PASSING TO THE RIGHT. "(a) An operator may pass to the right of another vehicle only if conditions permit safely passing to the right and:
(1) the vehicle being passed is making or about to make a left turn; ...."


and here is another one ....


Sec. 545.062. FOLLOWING DISTANCE. "(a) An operator shall, if following another vehicle, maintain an assured clear distance between the two vehicles so that, considering the speed of the vehicles, traffic, and the conditions of the highway, the operator can safely stop without colliding with the preceding vehicle or veering into another vehicle, object, or person on or near the highway."

"Two-Second Following Rule:
Watch the car ahead as it passes a certain point such as a sign, pole or tree. Then count "one thousand one, one thousand two." If you pass the same point before you finish the count, you are following too closely and should drop back. This is the twosecond following rule. More distance is necessary at night, in poor road or weather conditions or where visibility is limited."

http://www.oregon.gov/OSP/PATROL/saf...ng_close.shtml

At 60 mph the stopping distance on dry surface = a football field..... if other conditions are ideal.

Texas is a strange place, after all.

Mental masturbation it's a LL thing.

Mental masturbation it's a LL thing. Originally Posted by ness

Sounds like personal stuff to me .. and I take offense.

I used to pass by Grady Middle School on the way to work. Coming down Sage, there is a School Zone sign just this side of the light. On the other side is one of those giant flashing light indicators, that tells you when the school zone is in force. I was heading through the zone one morning, about 8:35, and the lights were not flashing. Everyone went through the zone at regular speeds, but all of us in the right lane got pulled over. The old static sign, so the cop told me, says the zone is in effect until 8:45. The fact that there was a much more visible, conflicting sign, made no difference to him, and was netting him (actually there was a full team on this duty) a lot of business.

I decided to talk to a traffic lawyer. I found one in the yellow pages, and asked how much to come over and talk through my case. It wasn't the fine, it was the principle of the thing. They said come over, which I did, but no lawyer was available. I (stupidly) coughed up my $75, on the basis that I could talk to a lawyer later. I called a few more times in the run up to my court date, and eventually was told that I'd meet with the lawyer at the court prior to my hearing. I wasn't happy, but what do you expect for $75?

My court date arrived, and I finally got to talk to my lawyer about 30 seconds before going in front of the judge. He told me I was fucked (which is all I wanted to know in the first place), but instead of defensive driving they'd get my ticket deferred. OK, I thought, maybe my $75 wasn't wasted after all.

Then he disappeared, and some other twat stood beside me in front of the judge to ask for a deferment. The judge agreed, subject to me taking defensive driving. WTF?!!! "Can I not just take the course instead?", I asked. "No," the judge told me. "You waived that right at arraignment." I asked my "lawyer" when had I been arraigned? He looked at me and shrugged. I wanted to mash his smug face there and then.

So I paid the lawyer and paid court costs, instead of paying half the fine and doing the defensive driving course. Except that now I had to do the course anyway AND would get hammered with this ticket plus the new one if I got pinged for anything in the next 6 months. It was absolutely the worst possible outcome - worse even than just paying the fine.

Follow up: I had to change my route to work, because passing the school became a nightmare. Those of us who obeyed the static sign (because the lighted sign still wasn't working) would get honked at and run over by those who didn't know any better. Of course, instead of fixing the conflict, LE ran another traffic sting about a month later. LE does a good and dangerous job, but sometimes they do douchebaggy things like this that pisses people off and makes it hard to respect them.