Help me NS to get out of running a red light ticket...

T

Theskiingguy

Member
Hey NS! I need some help and you guys have helped me a lot out in the past with advice.

I just got pulled over tonight for running a red light. I was driving, looked over, said something to someone, and looked back and the light was yellow. I was hesitant to slam on the breaks because I had my soon to be girl friend next to me (asked her out tonight and she said yes) because I didn't want her to fly forward, so I decided to coast through it while it was yellow.

According to the cop, it turned red when I was half way through the intersection (I never saw it turn red), so he pulled me over and gave me a ticket.

I'm 17 and have been driving for about 9 months now, and I'm definitely going to try to take this to court. But what should I say? What should I expect? I'm super frustrated and angry about the whole thing...

Thanks NS! You guys are the best, hopefully someone can help me out.
 
Tell the judge that you thought it seemed safer to go through the yellow than to slam on your brakes. Say you fully analyzed the situatiom and made what you thought was the safest decision in a split second. Say that there was no way to know how long the light would remain yellow. Own it, apologize, admit your error, be sincere, express that you have since learned why you were in the wrong and how you will use this experience to become a better and safer driver in the future.
 
Just tell them you were drunk

If you were intoxicated then it doesn't count and will be null and void! Hope this helps.
 
you fucked up. suck it up and pay the ticket.

oh and get better at talking to cops during a traffic stop... or just act as white as possible!
 
I was prepared to frag you because this is one of the things that pisses me off the most. Denver has gotten pretty terrifying over the last ten years or so. No one stops at red lights and the cops don't do shit about it. Seriously, if you are on a bike or walking and the light turns green; if you go out into the intersection without waiting few seconds, you will die.

In you case, it sounds like you weren't trying to beat the light. I would go to traffic court and tell that story to the judge. If you are polite and just tell him that you were not trying to beat the light, but didn't feel like you could stop at that point without being in the intersection; you will probably get the ticket reduced. Being polite and showing remorse always helps. Good luck.

PS- I was surprised to learn that Colorado now has something where you log onto a site and the ticket is automatically plead down. They have basically done away with traffic court, and allow you to accept a reduced deal online. I drove all the way up to Eagle to fight a ticket only to learn I could have gotten the same deal just sitting in front of my computer :-/
 
13228859:El_Barto. said:
Tell the judge that you thought it seemed safer to go through the yellow than to slam on your brakes. Say you fully analyzed the situatiom and made what you thought was the safest decision in a split second. Say that there was no way to know how long the light would remain yellow. Own it, apologize, admit your error, be sincere, express that you have since learned why you were in the wrong and how you will use this experience to become a better and safer driver in the future.
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Thank you so much man, I really do appreciate it. I was thinking of saying something that I was coming down the bridge to the intersection (slopes down till the intersection) and I'm tall (6'5") in a short car (early 2000 volvo v70) so it made it very hard for me to see the light, and when I saw it turned yellow it was too late and I didn't feel safe slamming on the break (which is all true actually). Think something like that would work? Or should I go with what you said.

Thanks again!!

Anyone else have some experience of this?
 
13228868:Mr.Huck said:
I was prepared to frag you because this is one of the things that pisses me off the most. Denver has gotten pretty terrifying over the last ten years or so. No one stops at red lights and the cops don't do shit about it. Seriously, if you are on a bike or walking and the light turns green; if you go out into the intersection without waiting few seconds, you will die.

In you case, it sounds like you weren't trying to beat the light. I would go to traffic court and tell that story to the judge. If you are polite and just tell him that you were not trying to beat the light, but didn't feel like you could stop at that point without being in the intersection; you will probably get the ticket reduced. Being polite and showing remorse always helps. Good luck.

PS- I was surprised to learn that Colorado now has something where you log onto a site and the ticket is automatically plead down. They have basically done away with traffic court, and allow you to accept a reduced deal online. I drove all the way up to Eagle to fight a ticket only to learn I could have gotten the same deal just sitting in front of my computer :-/
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for your response. Trust me I HATE the fact that it says I ran a red light, because I know how dangerous that is and I don't want to be labeled as I ran through a red light (even though technically true). Hmm I will look into that! Thanks for bringing that up. It sucks because I pay for insurance and now that's going to go up, being a high school student I'm barely making enough to pay for it already. Hopefully I can get it reduced or get something worked out. Thanks again for your help, I really appreciate it!
 
13228870:Theskiingguy said:
Thank you so much man, I really do appreciate it. I was thinking of saying something that I was coming down the bridge to the intersection (slopes down till the intersection) and I'm tall (6'5") in a short car (early 2000 volvo v70) so it made it very hard for me to see the light, and when I saw it turned yellow it was too late and I didn't feel safe slamming on the break (which is all true actually). Think something like that would work? Or should I go with what you said.

Thanks again!!

Anyone else have some experience of this?
Click to expand...

Say exactly what i told you to. I pretty much got out of all the consequences of a 123 mph ticket because i did exactly what i just told you. I didnt get arrested and i got to keep my car and my ticket was peanuts compared to what it should have been. I worked the cop then i worked the judge because i understand what people want to hear and how they want to hear it. Pretty much im a great liar in person.

They will know if youre not sincere unless you are a phenomonal liar. The judge isnt stupid.
 
13228883:El_Barto. said:
Say exactly what i told you to. I pretty much got out of all the consequences of a 123 mph ticket because i did exactly what i just told you. I didnt get arrested and i got to keep my car and my ticket was peanuts compared to what it should have been. I worked the cop then i worked the judge because i understand what people want to hear and how they want to hear it. Pretty much im a great liar in person.

They will know if youre not sincere unless you are a phenomonal liar. The judge isnt stupid.
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Ahh alright, geez that's insane! Kudos to you though. I was in shock so I didn't even think of anything. When I asked him how he was doing and he asked back I should have said "Good just got finished collecting cans for a can food drive" because we literally just finished and I had all the cans in the back of my car, easily could have made him just give me a warning. Thanks a ton, I might PM you later next month if you don't mind once I get towards the actual court date.

Anyone have ideas on what my insurance will do? Being a 17 y/o, had license for 8/9 months, no accidents, but this ticket. Sitting around $125 a month right now...
 
if you've crossed into the intersection before the light turns red then they have no grounds for issuing a ticket since a running a red light ticket is specific to "(paraphrasing) crossing into the intersection when the light is red", so crossing into when yellow then having it turn red once you;re already in is perfectly legal. but this would be impossible to prove and it would be your word against the cops.
 
13228859:El_Barto. said:
Tell the judge that you thought it seemed safer to go through the yellow than to slam on your brakes. Say you fully analyzed the situatiom and made what you thought was the safest decision in a split second. Say that there was no way to know how long the light would remain yellow. Own it, apologize, admit your error, be sincere, express that you have since learned why you were in the wrong and how you will use this experience to become a better and safer driver in the future.
Click to expand...

This; you made a judgement call. Driving is all about judgement, and when it's 50-50, you gotta make a choice. You made a choice and as far as you could tell, the light was yellow when you went through it. Your judgement was not impaired.

I'm pretty sure the only way this strategy will result in no mitigation of the punishment is if a) you fuck it up (by insulting the judge, bringing a weapon to court, etc), or b) they have stoplight camera footage of you that proves the light was red when you entered the intersection...and I'd bet based on your story that they don't have that.

Good luck homie.
 
tell the judge that your decision making was impaired because you were drunk and that's why you ran the light
 
Of you did not accelerate during the yellow light, a ticket should not be issued. In fact if you didn't accelerate to make the light, then that cop is a pig probably trying to reach their ticket quota
 
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