Two citations on one ticket -- Help please

[Redemptionman1]

What is the name of your state? MS

So, I was traveling with my wife to look at a house in a neighboring small town. When I picked her up at a gas station express, and the weather was clear. I was in my 7000 lb pick up truck, and unknowingly to me there happened to be an officer in a near by something.


It was a busy Friday, and the gas station I was at had a row of cars and trees close to a two line highway with a turn signal lane. My girl said you are clear, but neither of us could see around the shrubs and row of vehicles by the highway. When I pulled up a speeding turn lane car was approaching fast so I yielded, the other car slowed and then I gunned it to get into the other lane. Of course, the cop then (do not know where he actually came from) ran me down passing a few cars and truck to do it.

Comes up to me and I get two tickets --1. a failure to yield to oncoming vehicle (which my POV was blocked) and 2. Cares / Prohibitive driving --- I asked for one citation and he laughed and said no way. I have no tickets on my driving record, and feel like he could have made it one citation instead of two on one ticket. Now I am thinking I will not be able to get probation on my own because of these two citations on one ticket. I am thinking this will be around 250-300 dollars, and that is a lot of money for avoiding an accident and trying to get out of the way. I am going to plead guilty to the Careless but feel like I should be able to fight the failure to yield ticket on my own.

I have not hired an attorney, and would like to know what options you all think are best. I realize the environment we live in and this has me worried as to the best way to handle it. I am thinking an attorney and getting the failure merged into the careless is the only way to go. It has been years since I last had a ticket and do not want 6 points going on my driving record.
What is the name of your state?

 

[Redemptionman1]

test reply

 

[not2cleverRed]

I'm thinking that you should focus less on the color of the cop.

Perhaps you should inform the business that they need to get their shrubs trimmed, so that customers can safely exit.

I suggest you get an initial consult with at least one lawyer in your area before going to court, even if you choose to represent yourself.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state? MS

So, I was traveling with my wife to look at a house in a neighboring small town. When I picked her up at a gas station express, and the weather was clear. I was in my 7000 lb pick up truck, and unknowingly to me there happened to be an officer in a near by something.


It was a busy Friday, and the gas station I was at had a row of cars and trees close to a two line highway with a turn signal lane. My girl said you are clear, but neither of us could see around the shrubs and row of vehicles by the highway. When I pulled up a speeding turn lane car was approaching fast so I yielded, the other car slowed and then I gunned it to get into the other lane. Of course, the cop then (do not know where he actually came from) ran me down passing a few cars and truck to do it. Of course this is an all white town with a black officer. This same officer falsely arrested a person last fall and is currently being sued for a million plus bucks in civil court.

Comes up to me and I get two tickets --1. a failure to yield to oncoming vehicle (which my POV was blocked) and 2. Cares / Prohibitive driving --- I asked for one citation and he laughed and said no way. I have no tickets on my driving record, and feel like he could have made it one citation instead of two on one ticket. Now I am thinking I will not be able to get probation on my own because of these two citations on one ticket. I am thinking this will be around 250-300 dollars, and that is a lot of money for avoiding an accident and trying to get out of the way. I am going to plead guilty to the Careless but feel like I should be able to fight the failure to yield ticket on my own.

I have not hired an attorney, and would like to know what options you all think are best. I realize the environment we live in and this has me worried as to the best way to handle it. I am thinking an attorney and getting the failure merged into the careless is the only way to go. It has been years since I last had a ticket and do not want 6 points going on my driving record.
What is the name of your state?

Talk to an attorney before you decide what to do. I have always heard that the careless driving ticket is the bad one.

 

[Redemptionman1]

careless is 3 pts and so is failure to yield, just when you combine them together to they equal something large. That is 6 points and probably around 300 dollars in fines for a non accident moving violation. It is ridiculous, I did not mind being ticketed but two tickets for basically the same offense is stupid. In his mind he separated the two from squelling tires for the careless which I agreed with, to failure to yield by pulling out without being able to visually see if a car was coming. I have a call into a lawyer, I do not mind paying the 300 dollars as long as it doesn't go on my record. My wife was in the car and pleaded with the guy but there was no talking to him. I have been stopped a lot of times but never have seen an officer so cold as this man was, there was no give which I am just glad I did not go to jail cause he was a butt.

 

[HighwayMan]

...probably around 300 dollars in fines for a non accident moving violation.

"Probably"? Where are you getting that number from?

It is ridiculous, I did not mind being ticketed but two tickets for basically the same offense is stupid.

It's only stupid because you disagree with it after having been caught. You can easily commit two violations with one movement of your vehicle.

I have been stopped a lot of times but never have seen an officer so cold as this man was...

If you've been stopped "a lot of times" then it's about time you got ticketed appropriately.

There is no requirement that you get any kind of a break. There is no requirement that a police officer should do anything other than cite you for the violations you committed.

I can imagine that between your whining and your wife's "pleading" the officer probably had enough and just wrote you what you deserved. Sometimes people talk themselves into getting written.

 

[Redemptionman1]

"Probably"? Where are you getting that number from?

figure 170 for careless and 140 for failure to yield would be less if they were combined.

If you've been stopped "a lot of times" then it's about time you got ticketed appropriately.

gee thanks I guess, but I am old now and now a bunch of times would be a handful over 30 years of driving.

There is no requirement that you get any kind of a break. There is no requirement that a police officer should do anything other than cite you for the violations you committed.

True but most officers have been a little different than this guy, an attitude adjustment would go a long ways instead of coming up to my truck saying you did this and this and just asking for my registration and DL... most have some sort of training --- none was evident by this guy at all.


I understand that is how a small town can make the majority of their revenue, but some towns around the same area have been busted or operations suspended because they get more than a certain percentage of their town revenue from traffic citations.

 

[HighwayMan]

an attitude adjustment would go a long ways instead of coming up to my truck saying you did this and this and just asking for my registration and DL... most have some sort of training --- none was evident by this guy at all.

Training? How do you consider that to be a lack of training? Sounds pretty on-point and professional to me.

Did you expect him to engage in small talk with you? Did you expect him to invite you to lunch? Or did you expect him to negotiate with you?

 

[Redemptionman1]

Training? How do you consider that to be a lack of training? Sounds pretty on-point and professional to me.

Did you expect him to engage in small talk with you? Did you expect him to invite you to lunch? Or did you expect him to negotiate with you?

Do you have anything to add other than dribble? I said that I squeeled my tires (accidently) but accidently does not matter. I agreed with the Careless Driving ticket as that is broad and a catch all. I do not agree to the failure to yield ticket, what did I fail to yield to? A stop sign, NO a traffic light, NO a car that was hidden behind a bunch of bushes and other cars parked along a highway then YES.

Nothing I could do I had to get out there some way since there is no traffic light for that intersection. I also do not believe he just happened to be there at that time, I believe that area to be a hot spot and active. He in other wards was waiting for another customer. It is a bad situation which I found myself in, I am not claiming to be a victim of some sort since I am sure that is what ever one that comes before them claims. However, I have a clean driving record and no tickets on my record. From my experience the officers usually take that into account. This guy did not care, if he could have gotten me for some serious stuff then he would have tried even harder. It could be worse for me and I knew the limit so I did not cross. I will try and sort it out on my own but if not will have an attorney handle it as I am not sure I could present the manner like it needs to be presented.

 

[Just Blue]

Do you have anything to add other than dribble? I said that I squeeled my tires (accidently) but accidently does not matter. I agreed with the Careless Driving ticket as that is broad and a catch all. I do not agree to the failure to yield ticket, what did I fail to yield to? A stop sign, NO a traffic light, NO a car that was hidden behind a bunch of bushes and other cars parked along a highway then YES.

Nothing I could do I had to get out there some way since there is no traffic light for that intersection. I also do not believe he just happened to be there at that time, I believe that area to be a hot spot and active. He in other wards was waiting for another customer. It is a bad situation which I found myself in, I am not claiming to be a victim of some sort since I am sure that is what ever one that comes before them claims. However, I have a clean driving record and no tickets on my record. From my experience the officers usually take that into account. This guy did not care, if he could have gotten me for some serious stuff then he would have tried even harder. It could be worse for me and I knew the limit so I did not cross. I will try and sort it out on my own but if not will have an attorney handle it as I am not sure I could present the manner like it needs to be presented.

You can take your questions to an attorney. Rudeness gets you nowhere on this site.

 

[HighwayMan]

Do you have anything to add other than dribble?

Apparently more than you and your whining about being treated unfairly.

I do not agree to the failure to yield ticket, what did I fail to yield to? A stop sign, NO a traffic light, NO a car that was hidden behind a bunch of bushes and other cars parked along a highway then YES.

Sounds like you didn't yield to a car since you "gunned it" to get in front of him. You really didn't describe your situation very well at all. If there are trees and bushes in the way do you think that's an excuse to just drive out into traffic? If anything you have to be even more careful, not less.

From my experience the officers usually take that into account.

That's right, because you've been stopped "a lot". Well, the free ride is over. I suggest you learn a lesson from this and drive more carefully. Your days of getting big breaks just might be over.

 

[Redemptionman1]

First off I could not see any car coming or otherwise when I got the middle lane another car was approaching very fast. I slowed down and then took off breaking loose my rear tires on a 7 thousand pound truck cause I was at a 30 plus degree grade. I expect to pay a fine and expect to not get off free but when you lie to someone and then claim something that did not happen. So, I am guessing by your logic if I would not have squealed my tires when I took off then I would probably not have been stopped at all as it would have only been failure to yield and probably not worth his time. Only when he added it together did it make sense for the stop.

So, I guess he was qualifying his customer.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

a car that was hidden behind a bunch of bushes and other cars parked along a highway then YES.

That is all you needed to fail to yield to to be charged with the violation. You are free to take some photos of the area and plead your case to the judge.

 

[Redemptionman1]

That is all you needed to fail to yield to to be charged with the violation. You are free to take some photos of the area and plead your case to the judge.

That is all you needed to fail to yield to to be charged with the violation. You are free to take some photos of the area and plead your case to the judge.

and that is what I have done, and will do. Wish me the best --- thanks

 

[not2cleverRed]

True but most officers have been a little different than this guy, an attitude adjustment would go a long ways instead of coming up to my truck saying you did this and this and just asking for my registration and DL... most have some sort of training --- none was evident by this guy at all.


I understand that is how a small town can make the majority of their revenue, but some towns around the same area have been busted or operations suspended because they get more than a certain percentage of their town revenue from traffic citations.

Oh, you mean that you think he's too uppity.

Sorry, that sounds like he was just being professional.