Many states treat a traffic law violation as a crime. When you get a traffic ticket for violating traffic laws, you will probably be required to pay a fine, and your driver's license may be suspended for a while. If you have been cited for a traffic violation, read on to learn three ways of disputing the ticket.
Justify Your Driving Behaviour
A good strategy for fighting a traffic ticket is admitting that you breached the traffic laws and presenting a fact that justifies your illegal driving. Instead of disputing the police officer's statement, you will be showing the circumstances that caused you to break the traffic laws. For example, if you are cited for exceeding the required speed limit for a particular road, you can excuse your behaviour by presenting evidence that shows that you were overtaking a drunk driver. In such circumstances, your speeding can be pardoned because you were preventing an accident.
Dispute the Evidence Presented by the Police Officer
There are some tickets where an officer's discretion cannot be questioned. These are clear cut tickets like an illegal U-turn or running a stop sign. When challenging this ticket, you should prove that the officer did not see you perform the action indicated on the traffic ticket. There is evidence you can present to help question the observations of the police officer. Some of the arguments and proof you can present are the following:
Dispute the Violation Based on "Mistake of Fact."
In many states, the judge will toss away tickets such as running a red light based on the argument that you committed a "mistake of fact". A "mistake of fact" refers to a scenario where a driver makes an error of judgment. For example, if you are driving on two lanes because you cannot see the lane markers (they are totally worn down) this qualifies as a "mistake of fact". Another example is a situation where you fail to stop because the stop sign is missing- it has been blown away or wrecked. For more information, contact a firm such as Russo Lawyers.
Share16 December 2015
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