desiretolearn
Junior Member
Tonight, while driving home in CA, I was given a ticket at 11:05 pm for having my headlights off. I had left a gas station off of the main street at 10:55 (I have the receipt to prove it) and turned onto the main road, proceeded 0.2 miles (mapquest) down this extremely well lit, large, empty street, and turned onto a darker residential street, when I noticed that my lights were off (I couldn't see anymore), so I immediately turned them on. I proceeded down this street with my lights on (in fact, my brights were on because it was too dark for my normal lights and there was no oncoming traffic, so it wasn't a hazard), stopped fully at a stop sign, continued down the same road for some time, and then was finally pulled over around 11:05 and told by the officer that she had followed me after seeing me drive 0.2 miles down a well lit road with my lights off, continued to follow me even after I had corrected my mistake and proceeded with my mistake fixed, and THEN gave me the ticket. The citation is for a violation committed at 11:05, however, at that time, my lights were on and I was not in violation of any laws. I am not eligible for traffic school (attended four months ago), so I plan on contesting this in court, as my punishment for losing is to pay the fee, which I'd be doing anyways if I didn't go to court.
In a nutshell, at 11:05, the time of the infraction cited by the officer, I was not guilty of what I am being accused of. Do I have a valid argument? Could this hold up in court.
I understand that I broke the law, and whether the street was bright or dark, I should always be driving with my lights on after sunset/before sunrise. I messed up. However, I am most definitely not guilty of what is written on my ticket, which is that I had my headlights off at 11:05. I certainly had them on, and I have proof of that by my gas station receipt and mapquest travel times. The officer (in my opinion) should have caught the problem while I was in violation of CA 24250 CVC, and not long after, especially after I had fixed the problem. However, that is just my opinion, which is why I'm here, to get the opinions of those who know best about these situations. Please help with as little bashing as possible, I just want to understand what is going on here
In a nutshell, at 11:05, the time of the infraction cited by the officer, I was not guilty of what I am being accused of. Do I have a valid argument? Could this hold up in court.
I understand that I broke the law, and whether the street was bright or dark, I should always be driving with my lights on after sunset/before sunrise. I messed up. However, I am most definitely not guilty of what is written on my ticket, which is that I had my headlights off at 11:05. I certainly had them on, and I have proof of that by my gas station receipt and mapquest travel times. The officer (in my opinion) should have caught the problem while I was in violation of CA 24250 CVC, and not long after, especially after I had fixed the problem. However, that is just my opinion, which is why I'm here, to get the opinions of those who know best about these situations. Please help with as little bashing as possible, I just want to understand what is going on here