legionman6
Junior Member
I am a Pennsylvanian who, while recently traveling through New York, was pulled over and ticked for sending a text message on my cell phone. Being from Pennsylvania (which has no state-wide laws on cellular usage) and not being aware of New York state legislation on the topic is not a defense against the ticket, however some reading on New York state law reveals that I believe I was ticked in error. While New York's hands free cell phone usage legislation is aggressive, it only covers calls, so that statute does not apply to my situation. The ban on texting appears, from everything I can find, to be relatively new and (this is the important bit) only defines texting while driving as a secondary violation. My ticket lists no primary violation, and the only indication the officer that stopped me could give me for pulling me over was that I strayed across the white line (not even onto the rumble strip). As I am fairly sure that crossing a white line is not a primary violation (and I was not speeding or driving recklessly) do I have grounds to get my ticket dismissed? I have never been convicted of (or ticked for) any violation previously. As a full time college student it would be a pain (but not impossible) to visit the location described on my ticket to plea before a court (either on the listed date or if possible on a more convenient one), and since money seems to be a little hard in these times, I'd prefer not to pay a ticket that is in error (or pay for legal council). This ticket was received last night, and states that any not guilty plea must be mailed within 48 hours. Any advice here would be greatly appreciated.
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