How should I respond to my traffic ticket?

[lexusmhagar]

I received a traffic ticket for operating a motor vehicle without liability insurance 550 and expired vehicle license over 2 months 216 I was followed by the officer for some time. He pulled me over at about 900 PMand proceeded to tell me I seemed to have been missing my headlights which in turn was false. He verified that and then told me it seems my tabs were mutilated which I was not aware of. Long story short I had just recently been sold the vehicle for a very short 200 because the owner planned on leaving town and couldnt take it with, and thought I needed it more than he did. I hadnt got the chance to transfer it in my name yet or get insurance before getting pulled over. He informed me that the vehicle had not been registered since October of 2017. Which I was not aware of and didnt know that it applied to me or mattered since it would eventually be registered to me. I also was not aware that I could get in trouble for not having insurance right away. So my question is what should I do? How should I respond to my infraction? I cant afford a 766 ticket. Should I ask for a mitigation hearing or a contested hearing? Or should I ask for a deferral? Any extra information, tips, and advice is welcome

 

[Zigner]

Sorry, this forum is for US law only. I must say, however, that if you don't have insurance and if you don't have valid registration, you shouldn't be driving.

 

[Just Blue]

Sorry, this forum is for US law only. I must say, however, that if you don't have insurance and if you don't have valid registration, you shouldn't be driving.

Apparently some people need to be told to lift the seat before peeing. Sad.

 

[pac72]

guilty as charged, wether you can afford it or not...ask for payment plan on the fines

 

[FlyingRon]

Am I to guess we are talking about South Carolina? Or are we talking Washington State? (I'm guessing based on the fine amounts, the former).

As previous posters alluded to, you are expected to have insurance. You knew you didn't. That's going to be a tough one to beat.
You're also responsible (even if you're borrowing a car) for making sure the registration is up to date.
Also, you're required to title cars you buy in your name. It's a bad idea to confess to yet another crime in an attempt to explain a first.

I would suggest you do the following:

1. Immediately go to the DMV and title/register the car.
2. Obtain insurance/proof.

You need to do these anyhow or else you're just going to keep getting more tickets (OR WORSE).

Understand, that the officer has very low standards for pulling you over. If he ran the plates and found them expired that's more than enough. Even if his reasoning was that he thought your headlights were malfunctioning (or just turned off), that's likely good enough.

If you're in Washington State you can ask for the officer's sworn statement, post it back here and we can see what to do. You'll have to ask for a contested hearing first.

If you're in South Carolina, I suggest just bringing all your paperwork (current registration and insurance) to the mitigated hearing and see if they'll reduce the charge.