Ask a New York Traffic Lawyer

Posted by askanewyorker 
Re: Ask a New York Traffic Lawyer
February 12, 2014 09:42PM
Edna,

You most certainly can ask for a supporting deposition. The only way to avoid a fine is to beat this ticket at trial. You'll need to prove (documentation really helps here) that you were engaged in a true emergency call. Otherwise, you can try and see if you can negotiate this down to a less serious charge.

Good luck!

Matthew Weiss


Edna Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hello,
>
> I received a a cell-phonewhile driving ticket.
> When pulled over I informed the officer I was on
> an emergency call with my son (whom is 6 yrs old)
> school regarding an incident that involved him at
> school. The officer;s responded if it wasn't 911
> I was calling it didn't matter. I wasn't given a
> supporting deposition with my ticket. I have proof
> (screenshot of the call and to whom it was with),
> should I plead not guilty and request a supporting
> deposition? Reallistically what are my chances of
> having this resolved without being fined? Will I
> have to pay a fine to appear in court as well when
> a date is set?
Re: Ask a New York Traffic Lawyer
March 02, 2014 02:48PM
I just received a uniform traffic ticket of (law/section/subsection) 18231c on the southern state parkway, I was driving a white Chevy express, no commercial plates, I was not aware that my company vehicle was not authorized to be on a parkway, however I was on the right lane about to get off on the exit about roughly 50 feet away when the officer had pulled me over. The officer told me I was only going to be given one ticket and not two because I am not the owner of the vehicle. Is there a way I can go about fighting this ticket?


Thanks,
Isaiha
Re: Ask a New York Traffic Lawyer
March 02, 2014 09:55PM
Isaiha,

Yes, you can plead not guilty. The court will schedule you for a date where you can contest the ticket. By the way, if this was written up as a VTL 1110a violation, then it carries 2 points Otherwise, it does not carry points.

Good luck fighting it!

Matthew Weiss
tru
Re: Ask a New York Traffic Lawyer
April 03, 2014 08:04PM
Hi so I was visiting my sister in the Bronx ny and I ran out to the store and left my wallet ...on my way back an officer pulled my over just because that's what the Bronx officers like to do ...so I informed him that I had just ran out and my sister lives just a block away and I had my 11 year old niece bring my license. So when my niece arrived she ended up bring the wrong license which was my old expired on by accident but I do have a valid license ....The officer gave me a unlicensed GT 60 days violation. ...what should be my next steps
Re: Ask a New York Traffic Lawyer
April 04, 2014 08:44AM
Tru,

Just present your valid license to the judge and he or she will dismiss this ticket.

Matthew Weiss
Hello Matt,

I received a ticket in Suffolk County for going over 55 mph. I know that I can plead not guilty, go into their court and get the points knocked off after speaking with the prosecutor. However, after looking at the ticket they got my first name right, but my last name completely wrong. In fact, my last name has 5 letters in it and the last name they put has 2 letters. I looked up this persons name and there is an actual person with that name who lives on Long Island.

Should I just negotiate with the prosecutor and get the points knocked off or should I go for it and try to get the entire thing thrown out in court? I did this before at New York TVB where the NYPD got the numbers wrong when writing down the law, but could I be successful in the Suffolk County Courts with a defective ticket defense?
Hey Matt,

Thanks for your advice! So my question is, I received a traffic ticket for improper left turn in the Bronx (in violation of 1163-A). I was making a left turn onto the Bronx River Pkwy South on the E Gun Hill Rd. entrance ramp. If you take a look at this entrance, the ramp is a decline from the main road onto the highway. Now, the cop (NYPD) who issued me the ticket said that I made an improper turn from the middle lane rather than the left most lane. However, he I believe that from where he was standing he didn't have a clear enough view to see the entire situation. From where I first entered onto Gun Hill Rd, I started on the rightmost entrance of the street, and the time of day was rush hour time, so there was extremely heavy traffic. In order for me to cross from where I was to the left most lane, which was packed with cars bumper to bumper, I would have had to drive a bit recklessly to cut people off just so that I could squeeze in before the light turns green. When I finally made it into the middle lane from the rightmost lane, the green light signaling to make left turn as well as the light to go straight turned on. So because of the traffic behind me, I needed to continue driving in order to not cause an accident and hold up traffic. So as I continued to move forward, I was already halfway in the leftmost lane, but they didn't want to let me in either. Since the left turn light was still green, I decided to continue onto the ramp in order to not cause an accident. As I was coming down the ramp, an officer standing outside of his vehicle halfway down the ramp signaled for me to pull over. I tried to explain the situation, and told the officer that there is too much traffic for everyone to get into the left lane, he said, "Yea I know the traffic is crazy during rush hour." However, he still asked for me license and registration even though I was polite and tried to explain the situation. Mind you, while I was trying to talk to hit, he was still standing there waiting for more cars to do the same as me and he managed to pull over another car while he was asking for my information as well. I believe that this was a clear set up, and that this cop was looking for an easy way to give out tickets during the last week of the month (it was 2/24/14).

I've taken 2 cases to court before and was able to reduce both cases to mere parking infractions with no points and so I have a "clean" record. However, since this happened in the bronx, I believe that they don't do plea deals. I honestly don't believe that I deserve to be charged 2pts and a fine of $138 for this turn, being that it was the safest option I had, and that the officer, in my opinion, didn't have a clear enough view of the situation from where he was standing.

Matt, is there any way I can win this case on my own with the evidence I've provided? If I brought pictures of the intersection, an overhead diagram explaining the officer's location, and even took a video of the crazy rush hour that exists during this time of day, do you think I'd have a shot of winning this case? And if I work this hard to win, but still lose, do you think the judge might increase my initial fine or just let me walk away with the same fine as before? I know there are also other options such as delaying the case in hopes that the officer doesn't show up as well.

I'd love to have a clean slate, even if I have to pay a bit of a fine. What do you think matt? smiling smiley
tom
Re: Ask a New York Traffic Lawyer
April 09, 2014 05:01PM
I recently received a ticket while parked in a commuter parking zone in Queens. My pick up parked within the lines with the municipal parking receipt on dashboard, was I thought legally parked.
I returned later in the day to find a hand written ticket. The violation was written in and reads as Code 61, the Fine circle is blackened and written in : $45, in Subsection written in is (M1) Parked wrong way.
Please explain this code with subsection. What exactly is the violation?

Also, the person issuing the ticket choose to write in Body Type Other: "PICK" instead blacking in the circle "P/U", and in Make instead of blacking in the circle for GMC , in Other wrote what looks like "GNC" . Is that valid?
Matthew Weiss
Re: Ask a New York Traffic Lawyer
April 10, 2014 07:10AM
Suffolkcountyspeeder,

The butchered spelling of your last name likely won't render this speeding ticket fatally defective. In fact, the DMV will associate it with your license number if and when a conviction is entered. Therefore, I suggest that you seriously explore a possible plea bargain.

Good luck.

Matthew Weiss



Suffolkcountyspeeder Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hello Matt,
>
> I received a ticket in Suffolk County for going
> over 55 mph. I know that I can plead not guilty,
> go into their court and get the points knocked off
> after speaking with the prosecutor. However,
> after looking at the ticket they got my first name
> right, but my last name completely wrong. In
> fact, my last name has 5 letters in it and the
> last name they put has 2 letters. I looked up
> this persons name and there is an actual person
> with that name who lives on Long Island.
>
> Should I just negotiate with the prosecutor and
> get the points knocked off or should I go for it
> and try to get the entire thing thrown out in
> court? I did this before at New York TVB where
> the NYPD got the numbers wrong when writing down
> the law, but could I be successful in the Suffolk
> County Courts with a defective ticket defense?
Matthew Weiss
Re: Ask a New York Traffic Lawyer
April 10, 2014 07:13AM
Frank Needs a Break,

You may beat this traffic ticket based on your evidence but, of course, it is impossible to predict. Further, you sound well prepared and organized. Because you have nothing to lose by fighting it, my advice would be to plead not guilty and present your defense. BTW, it is unlikely that your fine will be raised beyond the minimum if you fight this case.

Good luck!

Matthew Weiss



Frank Needs a Break Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey Matt,
>
> Thanks for your advice! So my question is, I
> received a traffic ticket for improper left turn
> in the Bronx (in violation of 1163-A). I was
> making a left turn onto the Bronx River Pkwy South
> on the E Gun Hill Rd. entrance ramp. If you take a
> look at this entrance, the ramp is a decline from
> the main road onto the highway. Now, the cop
> (NYPD) who issued me the ticket said that I made
> an improper turn from the middle lane rather than
> the left most lane. However, he I believe that
> from where he was standing he didn't have a clear
> enough view to see the entire situation. From
> where I first entered onto Gun Hill Rd, I started
> on the rightmost entrance of the street, and the
> time of day was rush hour time, so there was
> extremely heavy traffic. In order for me to cross
> from where I was to the left most lane, which was
> packed with cars bumper to bumper, I would have
> had to drive a bit recklessly to cut people off
> just so that I could squeeze in before the light
> turns green. When I finally made it into the
> middle lane from the rightmost lane, the green
> light signaling to make left turn as well as the
> light to go straight turned on. So because of the
> traffic behind me, I needed to continue driving in
> order to not cause an accident and hold up
> traffic. So as I continued to move forward, I was
> already halfway in the leftmost lane, but they
> didn't want to let me in either. Since the left
> turn light was still green, I decided to continue
> onto the ramp in order to not cause an accident.
> As I was coming down the ramp, an officer standing
> outside of his vehicle halfway down the ramp
> signaled for me to pull over. I tried to explain
> the situation, and told the officer that there is
> too much traffic for everyone to get into the left
> lane, he said, "Yea I know the traffic is crazy
> during rush hour." However, he still asked for me
> license and registration even though I was polite
> and tried to explain the situation. Mind you,
> while I was trying to talk to hit, he was still
> standing there waiting for more cars to do the
> same as me and he managed to pull over another car
> while he was asking for my information as well. I
> believe that this was a clear set up, and that
> this cop was looking for an easy way to give out
> tickets during the last week of the month (it was
> 2/24/14).
>
> I've taken 2 cases to court before and was able to
> reduce both cases to mere parking infractions with
> no points and so I have a "clean" record. However,
> since this happened in the bronx, I believe that
> they don't do plea deals. I honestly don't believe
> that I deserve to be charged 2pts and a fine of
> $138 for this turn, being that it was the safest
> option I had, and that the officer, in my opinion,
> didn't have a clear enough view of the situation
> from where he was standing.
>
> Matt, is there any way I can win this case on my
> own with the evidence I've provided? If I brought
> pictures of the intersection, an overhead diagram
> explaining the officer's location, and even took a
> video of the crazy rush hour that exists during
> this time of day, do you think I'd have a shot of
> winning this case? And if I work this hard to win,
> but still lose, do you think the judge might
> increase my initial fine or just let me walk away
> with the same fine as before? I know there are
> also other options such as delaying the case in
> hopes that the officer doesn't show up as well.
>
> I'd love to have a clean slate, even if I have to
> pay a bit of a fine. What do you think matt? smiling smiley
Matthew Weiss
Re: Ask a New York Traffic Lawyer
April 10, 2014 07:19AM
Tom,

I don't handle parking tickets but I refer you to a page on my website that contains helpful information.

Further, I looked up Code 61 and paste below the text of this regulation:

"Except where angle parking is allowed, stopping, standing or parking other than parallel to curb or edge of roadway. Or, parking opposite the direction of traffic."

I hope this helps.

Matthew Weiss


tom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I recently received a ticket while parked in a
> commuter parking zone in Queens. My pick up
> parked within the lines with the municipal parking
> receipt on dashboard, was I thought legally
> parked.
> I returned later in the day to find a hand written
> ticket. The violation was written in and reads as
> Code 61, the Fine circle is blackened and written
> in : $45, in Subsection written in is (M1) Parked
> wrong way.
> Please explain this code with subsection. What
> exactly is the violation?
>
> Also, the person issuing the ticket choose to
> write in Body Type Other: "PICK" instead blacking
> in the circle "P/U", and in Make instead of
> blacking in the circle for GMC , in Other wrote
> what looks like "GNC" . Is that valid?
Hello Matthew, and thanks for the wealth of knowledge that you bestow upon us here.

I'm currently facing a situation where I was pulled over by an MTA/PA police vehicle and ticketed for 77/40 going east bound into queens on the RFK bridge at night time in a rental car that I was new to.

It was 11pm at night and while I was traveling close to about 2-3 other vehicles in the adjacent lanes, traffic was slight.

I'm an NYC resident so unfortunately I'm aware it is a 8 point offense for me. I do have other moving violations on my record. I pleaded not guilty to the charge and have a trial date set.

Doing some research, I found your name and found this thread. I've read about absolute and relative speed limits, and being that I was traveling at the same rate of speed as the cars around me, I didn't think that I would be pulled over for speeding or going too fast for the conditions. I'm not sure if the officer used radar or laser to tag my speed, as I approached him coming over the hill, he flipped his lights on right as I was about to pass him.

I wasn't able to provide him w/registration papers since it was a new rental, so I provided him with my rental agreement paperwork, and explained to him that it was a rental and that I wasn't aware that I was speeding as I was following the flow of traffic in an unfamiliar vehicle. I do not believe that I was traveling that fast, nor was I aware that the speed limit for the road was so low.

What defense do I have? Radar/laser gun calibration? If radar, tracking of the wrong vehicle? Mistracking due to elevation differences (I was driving downhill towards him)? Unfamiliarity with rental vehicle? I need my license to drive around the tri-state and long island for work, and can't afford any more trouble with my license nor any further insurance increases. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

-Brandon
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