Posted: 8/30/2010 2:24:41 PM EDT
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My girlfriend was ticketed the other day and is wondering if what happened is normal. I thought you guys might be able to give your opinions on the stop.
She is a poor navigator and while driving home the other night in the rain got on the wrong ramp of the Queensboro bridge into Manhattan. Thinking she was on the upper level she took a right at the end of the bridge which put her going the wrong way onto Second Ave (a one way ave). When she realized she had made a mistake she turned around in the nearest intersection and waited for the light. She was pulled over and two officers, one of which did all the talking. The one officer handed her two tickets and according to my girlfriend made fun of her for getting turned around. When she got home she realized that she was given a ticket from each officer –– one for going the wrong way down a one way street and one for making an illegal U turn. My girlfriend thought that is was excessive to ticket her for making the mistake and then trying to rectify her mistake. She is willing to pay for her mistake of going the wrong way up a street but feels that the officers were condescending to her and very aggressive. She said that making a u turn in the next intersection was only choice that brought her out of the path of oncoming traffic and the fastest way of remedying her mistake. She is wondering if it is normal for each partner to write a ticket during a stop and if it is normal to get two tickets in a situation like this. She thinks that because it was a mistake not something intentional like speeding she was dealt with overly sternly. Thoughts? |
| I would say it is normal, although a sad commentary on today's style of policing. In my agency the deputies are hounded by command to write tickets, I assume NYPD is the same. They probably each wrote one UTT so they could each record a ticket in their monthly stats. I doubt it was punitive in any way like your girlfriend thinks, although it does sound like they had a shitty attitude with her. Please understand, I am not trying to justify this, it makes me sick, but it is a reality today in most police departments. Up here she would have a shot at getting one of the tickets thrown out if she pled to the other in court, I am not sure how similar NYC traffic courts are to upstate/western NY. Good luck. |
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My personal rule of thumb is I only issue the most serious ticket and warn on the rest, by dollar value of the voluntary penalty option. The remaining offences go into the stern talking to category.
The main exceptions to my rule: Injury collision (You get everything I can find), Impaired drivers (Traffic ticket forms part of the criminal evidence), and fail to posses or carry documents (Driver's Licence, Registration, Insurance) - in which case I will retract the ticket for no insurance ($2875) and re-issue fail to carry ($172) if proper documentation of coverage is provided in a timely fashion. |
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Don't know about the two ticket deal.
She was driving the WRONG way. One of the most dangerous traffic violations one could make. How do you get to driving the wrong way? By not paying attention. I don't know what happened out there, but maybe her perception of the stop will make her pay more attention to her driving before she kills somebody. |
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When she goes to court she can ask to have them dismissed/reduced based on whatever reason she presents.
Both officers may have written the citations simply to save time instead of just the one officer. This can be a huge time saver depending on how many violations can be written on one citation. |
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She is wondering if it is normal for each partner to write a ticket during a stop and if it is normal to get two tickets in a situation like this. She thinks that because it was a mistake not something intentional like speeding she was dealt with overly sternly.
Thoughts? Were they NYPD? I work for NYPD and that is NOT supposed to be done by officers as per dept. regs. |
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Quoted:
She is wondering if it is normal for each partner to write a ticket during a stop and if it is normal to get two tickets in a situation like this. She thinks that because it was a mistake not something intentional like speeding she was dealt with overly sternly.
Thoughts? Were they NYPD? I work for NYPD and that is NOT supposed to be done by officers as per dept. regs. It was NYPD. What is normally done in this situation and is there anything she should do now? She is planning to plead guilty to the wrong way ticket and pay it since she obviously made that mistake but she would like to take the U turn ticket to court to see if it can be reduced. Both tickets add up to about 300 dollars and 5 points so she would like to reduce that if at all possible. I grew up in Vermont where I was pulled over for doing stupid things and let off with a warning or was written for the less expensive ticket. I know NYPD has to deal with more stress daily than a rural officer but we were both surprised that these officers were so aggressive. Edited to add: Thanks for your thoughts guys. |
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The wrong way cite is clearly good. While it may not have been intentional it is very dangerous. We use citations to alter driving behavior so I see no problem with it.
As for the u-turn, it boils down to how it was done. If she had to do it to correct her error and it was done in a safe, reasonable manner then I wouldn't cite for it. If she did it quickly in a panic when she realized her mistake it likely was also dangerous and I could see why they would write that one too. ETA: You mention several times that the Officers were "aggressive". While making fun of her for her mistake is bad form I wouldn't call it "aggressive", just rude. Can you clarify? |
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She is wondering if it is normal for each partner to write a ticket during a stop and if it is normal to get two tickets in a situation like this. She thinks that because it was a mistake not something intentional like speeding she was dealt with overly sternly.
Thoughts? Were they NYPD? I work for NYPD and that is NOT supposed to be done by officers as per dept. regs. It was NYPD. What is normally done in this situation and is there anything she should do now? She is planning to plead guilty to the wrong way ticket and pay it since she obviously made that mistake but she would like to take the U turn ticket to court to see if it can be reduced. Both tickets add up to about 300 dollars and 5 points so she would like to reduce that if at all possible. I grew up in Vermont where I was pulled over for doing stupid things and let off with a warning or was written for the less expensive ticket. I know NYPD has to deal with more stress daily than a rural officer but we were both surprised that these officers were so aggressive. Edited to add: Thanks for your thoughts guys. Make sure she makes copies of the ticket she is going to pay along with anything DMV sends her about her payment.(receipt or confirmation number or letter) Plead not guilty to the U-Turn ticket and bring in the copy and paperwork from the other ticket to show she was written 2 tickets at the same time by two different officers. If she doesn't have the paperwork by her first court date she can go to court that day and get a re-schedule for a later date. Have her tell the judge she is waiting on some paperwork and if he won't give her an extension for that, she can say she is going to hire a lawyer and they'll give her the later court date. She should have a good chance of beating it. Don't hire any of those traffic court lawyers, they are pretty much useless in NYC traffic court. I used to be in a traffic enforcement unit and have done thousands of cases in NYC traffic court. I've never seen a traffic lawyer who was effective. Also, there is no plea bargaining in NYC traffic court so don't think she can plea to a lesser no points violation. Points are automatic if you get found guilty. The judge cannot reduce points. Good Luck. |
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Quoted:
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She is wondering if it is normal for each partner to write a ticket during a stop and if it is normal to get two tickets in a situation like this. She thinks that because it was a mistake not something intentional like speeding she was dealt with overly sternly.
Thoughts? Were they NYPD? I work for NYPD and that is NOT supposed to be done by officers as per dept. regs. It was NYPD. What is normally done in this situation and is there anything she should do now? She is planning to plead guilty to the wrong way ticket and pay it since she obviously made that mistake but she would like to take the U turn ticket to court to see if it can be reduced. Both tickets add up to about 300 dollars and 5 points so she would like to reduce that if at all possible. I grew up in Vermont where I was pulled over for doing stupid things and let off with a warning or was written for the less expensive ticket. I know NYPD has to deal with more stress daily than a rural officer but we were both surprised that these officers were so aggressive. Edited to add: Thanks for your thoughts guys. Make sure she makes copies of the ticket she is going to pay along with anything DMV sends her about her payment.(receipt or confirmation number or letter) Plead not guilty to the U-Turn ticket and bring in the copy and paperwork from the other ticket to show she was written 2 tickets at the same time by two different officers. If she doesn't have the paperwork by her first court date she can go to court that day and get a re-schedule for a later date. Have her tell the judge she is waiting on some paperwork and if he won't give her an extension for that, she can say she is going to hire a lawyer and they'll give her the later court date. She should have a good chance of beating it. Don't hire any of those traffic court lawyers, they are pretty much useless in NYC traffic court. I used to be in a traffic enforcement unit and have done thousands of cases in NYC traffic court. I've never seen a traffic lawyer who was effective. Also, there is no plea bargaining in NYC traffic court so don't think she can plea to a lesser no points violation. Points are automatic if you get found guilty. The judge cannot reduce points. Good Luck. Thanks for the info. She will appreciate it. |