Incorrect date of offense

[bustedagain]

New York. I received a summons yesterday for opperating a vehicle without a seatbelt. The date of offense on the summons is 1-21-05. I called a provided phone number on the summons to ask how to enter a plea for an improperly written summons and was told that the error was scribenous (no such word in my dictionary) and that parking tickets were the only ones that must be written perfectly. I have had moving violations thrown out due to impropperly written summonses in the past. Has NewYork traffic law changed?

you will soon be getting a notice from the court with correct date, pay the fine city/state will thank you

[You Are Guilty]

Originally Posted by bustedagain

New York. I received a summons yesterday for opperating a vehicle without a seatbelt. The date of offense on the summons is 1-21-05. I called a provided phone number on the summons to ask how to enter a plea for an improperly written summons and was told that the error was scribenous (no such word in my dictionary) and that parking tickets were the only ones that must be written perfectly. I have had moving violations thrown out due to impropperly written summonses in the past. Has NewYork traffic law changed?

Maybe they said "frivolous"? In any event, they are correct and the law has not changed. Only parking (and sanitation, actually) tickets need to contain the correct information because they are the only evidence used againt you in court. For moving violations (inc. seatbelt) tickets, the officer will be present to testify, obviating the need for the ticket to be correct.

Of course, most officers rely on their notes/ticket to testify, so if they end up testifying incorrectly as to the date and you can prove it incorrect, then you have a decent shot at getting the ticket dismissed. You also have a better than decent shot at screwing it up or pissing off the judge and being found guilty anyway.

You might want to consider wearing your seat belt in the future to avoid this hassle again.