Iowa speeding violation, vehicle description on the ticket is incorrect

[Tenshu]

Also just wondering...

I agree that I am responsible for providing my own personal information to the officer, but shouldn't the officer be responsible for making sure that everything that pertains to the violation he witnessed is correct on the ticket? ie location, what car he saw, the violation that occured, ect. I mean it states directly on the ticket "The undersigned states that on or about (the given date) he saw my car (which is listed incorrectly) committing this violation." I feel as if he should be responsible to make sure what he is citing me for is accurate because he signed off on it.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Also just wondering...

I agree that I am responsible for providing my own personal information to the officer, but shouldn't the officer be responsible for making sure that everything that pertains to the violation he witnessed is correct on the ticket? ie location, what car he saw, the violation that occured, ect. I mean it states directly on the ticket "The undersigned states that on or about (the given date) he saw my car (which is listed incorrectly) committing this violation." I feel as if he should be responsible to make sure what he is citing me for is accurate because he signed off on it.

I have never seen a law stating that.

 

[Tenshu]

I have never seen a law stating that.

Yeah I was just wondering. What does the officers signature on the ticket actually legally mean then?

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Yeah I was just wondering. What does the officers signature on the ticket actually legally mean then?

Apparently, it means his belief was he saw the car matching the registration you gave him, committing the violation.

 

[proud_parent]

"The undersigned states that on or about (the given date) he saw my car (which is listed incorrectly) committing this violation." I feel as if he should be responsible to make sure what he is citing me for is accurate because he signed off on it.

Um, not quite. Your car is not being cited for the violation, you are.


Any version of the Iowa Uniform Citation and Complaint that I have ever seen is written this way:

The undersigned states that on or about [mm/dd/yyyy] at [time AM/PM] the defendant did unlawfully:

Operate Motor Vehicle/Boat (describe): ____________________________
Reg # _________ State __________ Year _______ US DOT # _________


So he filled out this section based on the information you handed to him. I don't see you beating the ticket based on this.

When you appear in court, you can certainly attempt to call the officer's attentiveness into question for failing to notice that the information he copied did not match the vehicle you were driving. However, I predict that your inattention (not even realizing that you were speeding, hence your surprise at being stopped) will be given greater weight by the judge.

 

[proud_parent]

Yeah I was just wondering. What does the officers signature on the ticket actually legally mean then?

It merely identifies the officer as the person making the citation/complaint.

 

[Just Blue]

I already stated that the passenger in the front seat grabbed a registration and my insurance. He happened to grabbed the wrong one. The registration he grabbed was my old vehicle. That registration is valid until my new one comes in the mail. So if anything I UNKNOWINGLY gave the officer an expired registration and did not notice until later that night. He obviously did not notice at all because he would have said something and then I could have given him the correct one.

Why would you even have an old reg to a car you no longer have?

 

[Ladyback1]

OP keeps harping on the officer's responsibility to recognize the registration was the incorrect one....where's the OP's responsibility for making sure HE handed the officer the correct registration??

Has it become the society norm to blame someone/anyone for your own mistakes?

 

[Just Blue]

OP keeps harping on the officer's responsibility to recognize the registration was the incorrect one....where's the OP's responsibility for making sure HE handed the officer the correct registration??

Has it become the society norm to blame someone/anyone for your own mistakes?

Yes. It sadly has.

 

[Zigner]

Has it become the society norm to blame someone/anyone for your own mistakes?

Of course it has. But don't feel bad...they never told you, so how could you have known?

 

[Mnemosyne]

I know this isnt the best analagy but think of it as a teacher grading a test. I may have missed an answer but it was counted correct. Now yes I shouldnt have missed that question but the teacher could have caught the mistake as well and counted it wrong. Who's credibility is hurt in that situation?

If this hypothetical test were an English test, both you and your teacher would get low marks in my book.

 

[Proserpina]

Of course it has. But don't feel bad...they never told you, so how could you have known?

I see what you did there

 

[ecmst12]

If you knew you had multiple registrations in your glove box, perhaps it should have occurred to you to LOOK at the one you were holding before giving it to the officer, to make sure it was the right one.

 

[proud_parent]

Has it become the society norm to blame someone/anyone for your own mistakes?

I ran out of gas.

I... I had a flat tire.

I didn't have enough money for cab fare.

My tux didn't come back from the cleaners.

An old friend came in from out of town.

Someone stole my car.

There was an earthquake.

A terrible flood.

Locusts!

IT WASN'T MY FAULT, I SWEAR TO GOD!

 

[homebuyer1983]

Like I told someone else before. If you live in a small town, go see your county attorney if he's the one who handles prosecuting tickets. If you are well known or if you have a decent record he may just forgive it. They will make you sign a paper and "poof" it's gone.

You can get a lawyer and get your ticket amount reduced in court. And sometimes you don't even have to be in court because trust me, you don't want to sit there for an hour or so while they hand down sentencing to people for DUI's, Pot, speeding, etc. It's boring and your lawyer can appear for you and speak on your behalf. Or you can pay it. I've had my make and model wrong on tickets before. My name was spelled wrong one time. It doesn't matter.

If you pay it, ask for traffic school, in my state it will keep points off of your license. And in my state you can use it once per year so don't get any more tickets for a year if your state has a limit to how many times you can take traffic school.