Pay a Fine or go to Court?

blackoutbill

blackoutbill

Active member
About three weeks ago I got a ticket for unsafe backing. I was in a parking lot and grazed against a car scraping some of my paint off on the car. I got out of my car and checked to see if there was any damage. As far as I could tell, there was no damage. I thought about leaving a note but decided not to and drove away. Next, this lady (she was a witness) calls the police and the police call my house telling me to get back down to the site of the "accident" immediately and I am going to be charged with hit and run. When I got to the parking lot the owner of the car I scraped was standing outside of his car just finding out about what happened. He says something along the lines of "Its ok, everyone does that." The cop tells me that he is going to charge me with unsafe backing instead of hit and run.

That's the story. Now for my question. Should I go to traffic court or just pay the $105 fine. If I go to court that is an extra $45 dollar fee and a possible fine reduction. The guy didn't turn in an insurance claim but I feel like my age (16) will work against me because they are trying to teach me a lesson

sparknotes: I got a traffic ticket and I don't know whether I should pay the fine or go to court and try to get a fine reduction/points off my license because the guy didn't file an insurance claim

I live in Colorado if that matters

That turned out way longer than I thought it would
 
haha just pay the fine, you got let off the hook basically. in the end youd end up paying the same amount if you went to court
 
ask to set up a meeting with the prosecutor and talk to them face to face in their office. I always do this and I would say it has worked 4 out of 5 times, either eliminating the fine or reducing it some.
 
If there was no damage, and even the guy whos car it was said it was fine, then i don't see what the big deal is, and is unsafe backing a real thing even? that sounds like such bullshit

My dads a lawyer, I just asked him (he happened to back into a couple people this weekend trying to parrallel park in LA) and he said no... its not a crime...

but then i looked it up and it might be? either way i would fight it, that just a stupid ticket.

but how was there a witness? i mean if you hardly hit him, how would someone be able to see?
 
BTW,

It's really only unsafe if you did damage or something like that

If there is truly no damage, ask the person you hit to help you out and go to court and tell the judge that you really only tapped him and that there was nothing "unsafe" about it, just a common beginners mistake.

and if you get called out for the whole hit and run thing (why didnt you stay or leave a note?!?! says the judge) tell him you did not see a single bit of damage, but you absolutely would have left information if there was damage
 
I would assume since the other driver said it was fine then the cop really shouldn't have written a ticket. It's kind of like when they ask you if you'd like to press charges. Maybe I watch too much tv. Who knows.
 
It was on the sheet thing that the officer gave me. I had never heard of it nor is there a lot of information about the ticket

The lady that was the witness was in the parking lot in another car. I would have been pissed at her but I didn't leave a note so getting the ticket was my own damn fault

^^I would setup a meeting with the prosecutor but I called too late. The police man told me to call two weeks from the accident but when I called the secretary said I should have called immediatly
 
I always go to court... no matter what it is... because you can apologize your ass off and 75% of the time get the charges lessened.
 
If you go to court you would be playing with fire. The cop did a very nice thing by giving you a little petty ticket. If you go to court and try to fight the ticket, the judge may give you the max so you learn a lesson. As in, you got off easy and you still wanna fight it. Pay the fine.
 
I guess there was a little bit of damage to the plastic over the side break light thing. So it was not damage free but very minimal
 
I don't really care about the fine I guess. I don't mind paying that. It is the 2 point reduction on my license I'm more worried about
 
Next time do something like this and you won't have this problem. Except only use it when you didn't hurt the other person's car. If you don't leave your details when you actually damaged the car you're a dick!

sorry-hit-car.jpg
 
I'm a dick, actually I'm worse than a dick, claim/story time

in college I was going to the rec center in a Dodge Ram that I had only been driving for a week. I pulled in an scraped the shit out of this Lincoln. I got out and saw it and looked around, and just parked and then looked at it and waited again so it looked like I was doing something about it.

I went in to the Rec and came out and had a campus policeman's business card on my windshield telling me to call immediately.

I drove to the grocery store and bought some water and soap, and cleaned all the Lincoln's paint off my bumper. The right side of my bumper is now the only clean spot on my whole truck. I drive back to campus and call him.

I deny everything, but he says someone saw me and he happened to be in the parking lot, so the person just walked up to him and ratted me out. He doesn't give me a ticket or anything, but he takes out another business card and writes "a gold pick up struck your vehicle!" and puts it on the other guys windshield.

He was like, "if the other guy calls and complains, I'm going to have to give him your information" and he let me go. So I drove home, changed clothes, sprinted back to on to campus, walked by the Lincoln and swiped the business card. Such a dick move but I got away with it, and I kept the business card.

also I'm sorry if you read that whole thing and are disappointed, I know it was long

 
yahhh i have a pretty bad one...i was pulling into the parking lot on campus and i had to park between a minivan and a 6 wheel truck so it was like extra long...it was a diagonal parking spot soo i tried to pull in between them but i didnt cut it sharp enough and my right front light hit the back of the trucks bumper...im like shiiit i hit this guy...there was a dude in the truck but he didnt get out or anything...i reverse and park in another spot...soooo i dreadingly walk back over to the spot and he's still in his truck...i rub off the little paint from my car that got smeared on his and there is no mark under it...damage to my car was that my front light was bashed in so it killed the sensor...took out the plastic top paneling and the light wasnt shining in the right spot...got that shit fixed pretty cheap and just said i pulled to far into a snowbank and hit a rock...haha sooo yah i didnt tell the guy cause he never even got out of his car...i kept expecting to be called down or something but nothing happened from it...hansel tell cool story
 
another, happier story:

When I was 19 my was driving a few of us on this country road in the middle of nowhere. We were all fucked up and smoking bowls. My friend manages to rear end this old ass truck at the only traffic light in miles. The guys bumper falls off, so we're all like "oh shit we are so fucked". Then the dude gets out of his truck and we really start getting scared. He just picks up his bumper and throws it in the bed of the truck, gives us a wave and drives away ahahah
 
I'd pay the fine and not waste time in court where u will probably end up paying the same amount, or more. Plus there is no need to make the guy whose car u accidentally hit come in to court.
 
I honestly doubt the person who's car you hit would go to court. The two are a separate matter. One civil one criminal. They'd probably just get a signed affidavit from the person saying yes it is their car and so on. The funny thing is that if you do decide to go to court, your fine will be less than it took to prosecute you. Judges salary, officer's pay, the documents cost money, etc. It almost makes you wonder if it's really worth it?

Boy isn't it cool how much you can learn by watching cop dramas?
 
Here's a fictitious story I wrote:

One time I was driving to skiing, there was one car in front of me, oblivious to the fact that he could turn right. I diped around him in the dirt, just as I went he decided it was ok to go, and I clipped him a little bit. I made a run for it up the canyon, ditched his ass real good. We stopped at a gas station to inspect the damage, there wasn't really any at all; Hop back in the car and head the rest of the way up. So I'm coming down the pass towards the ski area and catch up with him, he looks in his mirror realizes it me and pulls over. So I blow by him, hauling ass down the pass, sliding on gravel around every turn, the dudes trying to keep up. I make a turn into a neighborhood to try and lose him, end up getting trapped at the end of the block. Anyway, the ending isn't very climactic, to sum it up, he bitched about his car a little, but there was no damage really and we all left. One funny part is that I was wearing a CU snowboard team jacket so he made some derogatory snowboard comment, whilst having static and jibij stickers on his car. You're probably on here dude, I regret nothing.
 
Tha cop is a dbag. They can be such dicks sometimes when apperantly there wasnt a problem with you and the other dude.
 
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