What is the name of your state? California
I was driving in San Francisco. I was making a legal left hand turn on a green light. There was 1 car in front of me, and we were both waiting for the oncoming traffic to clear before turning. The light turned yellow, and the car in front of me quickly made his turn. However, the car to my right, seeing the light is going to turn green for him, jumped the gun, and completely cut me off before I could even turn. And everyone behind him just kept flying past me, making it impossible for me to move out of the intersection. A Motorcycle Cop approaches from my left side, and hits me with his flashing lights. I still had to wait until the traffic cleared before I could make the turn. I tried to explain to him what had happened, and he told me that if he was an actual traffic cop, then I would probably be able to talk my way out of it. But, his job was just to issue citations. (What sense does that make?!?) So, I asked him what it was that I should have done differently. He said that I should have backed up through the intersection, back to where I was before I started making the turn. Of course, this would have been totally impossible, because the traffic going from my left side was going around me from behind. Anyway, I went online to the traffic court website. And it said that if I want to plead guilty, I have to pay $195 first. If I want to plead not-guilty, I have to pay $195 first. If I want to have a jury trial, I have to pay $195 first. If I want to have my case heard by a judge, I have to pay $195 first. If I want to go to driving school, I have to pay $195 first. If I want to just submit my statement by mail, and have the Commissioner look it over, I have to pay $195 first!!!!!!!!! I don't have $195!!!!! I know that this ticket isn't fair. The cop even admitted to me that he didn't see what started the entire incident, but he said for me to just work it out in court. Don't I have any rights as a tax-paying citizen? How can the courts take away my license because I don't have $195 to give them for something I didn't even do?!? They said that not only will my license be suspended, but they'll add an additional $300 to the fine if I don't pay it before the due date. What can I do?!?
I was driving in San Francisco. I was making a legal left hand turn on a green light. There was 1 car in front of me, and we were both waiting for the oncoming traffic to clear before turning. The light turned yellow, and the car in front of me quickly made his turn. However, the car to my right, seeing the light is going to turn green for him, jumped the gun, and completely cut me off before I could even turn. And everyone behind him just kept flying past me, making it impossible for me to move out of the intersection. A Motorcycle Cop approaches from my left side, and hits me with his flashing lights. I still had to wait until the traffic cleared before I could make the turn. I tried to explain to him what had happened, and he told me that if he was an actual traffic cop, then I would probably be able to talk my way out of it. But, his job was just to issue citations. (What sense does that make?!?) So, I asked him what it was that I should have done differently. He said that I should have backed up through the intersection, back to where I was before I started making the turn. Of course, this would have been totally impossible, because the traffic going from my left side was going around me from behind. Anyway, I went online to the traffic court website. And it said that if I want to plead guilty, I have to pay $195 first. If I want to plead not-guilty, I have to pay $195 first. If I want to have a jury trial, I have to pay $195 first. If I want to have my case heard by a judge, I have to pay $195 first. If I want to go to driving school, I have to pay $195 first. If I want to just submit my statement by mail, and have the Commissioner look it over, I have to pay $195 first!!!!!!!!! I don't have $195!!!!! I know that this ticket isn't fair. The cop even admitted to me that he didn't see what started the entire incident, but he said for me to just work it out in court. Don't I have any rights as a tax-paying citizen? How can the courts take away my license because I don't have $195 to give them for something I didn't even do?!? They said that not only will my license be suspended, but they'll add an additional $300 to the fine if I don't pay it before the due date. What can I do?!?