Advice Needed About a Traffic Ticket

[georgiadawgs44]

My wife was involved in a minor traffic accident last month. She rear ended someone in the city of Atlanta. There was very little damage to either vehicle. She was cited for following to close.
So, the city of Atlanta has a program called PTIT. That is a pre trial program that you can take advantage of once every 12 months. It’s basically where you agree to pay whatever fine the ask and they don’t report the violation to the state DMV. I got a ticket last year for speeding and took advantage of this program. My fine was $160 for 80 in a 65. That was fine and I thought it was reasonable. I paid it and it went away.
So I told her to enroll in the PTIT program. They accepted her and the amount she had to pay was $390. I thought that was ridiculous.
Years and years ago I was involved in a minor accident that was my fault in Atlanta and the officer told me to come to court and if the other party wasn’t there to plead not guilty and the judge would throw the case out. He said as long as my insurance took care of him he wouldn’t be in court. Sure enough, I went to court and he wasn’t there. I plead not guilty and the judge threw the case out.
So I told her to do the same thing. Her court date was today. She showed up and the other party nor the officer who cited her were there. The judge basically asked how she plead. My wife said not guilty and the judge then set a date for a bench trial next month.
I feel like I should have just paid the $400, even though we don’t have it and forgot about it. I mean our insurance company already knows because the other party filed a claim. I probably wouldn’t be in any worse shape if she’d just paid the ticket and let them report it since there was a claim filed. I’m not sure what to do now. I’m worried the fine will be more now and then court cost may be piled on top of it.
If the other party doesn’t show up for the bench trial, will the judge throw it out? I know when I did it, the judge asked for witnesses and when no one stepped up he said no witnesses against you, case dismissed.

 

[Big7]

Sounds much like something I posted about a "disorderly conduct" charge in Conyers before I moved to Monroe. Waiting to plea, I did not see one single person found innocent
out of at least a hundred cases. I told the solicitor I wanted a jury trial. She said this court only does bench trials. I gave her a little civics lesson. After she confered with several other "court officals" she came back and told me my case was bound over to state court and said I was free to go. The State will be in touch via postal mail. I never went before the "kangaroo court" judge to even ask for a reduction of sentance or to change my case to a lesser charge.

What I'm getting at is, you need to file discovery to see if there is any video evidence against your wife. If there is and it's in her favor, you can win in court. If not, you MIGHT have a case based on if skid marks or something of that nature are not available.

If the moon, stars, Mars and a comet don't align perfectly, you are screwed.

All that "not going on your record" and non-reporting probation crap is a scam. If I make it to State Court on mine, I'm going to expose the scam/sham that is City of Conyers Municipal Court and I could care less who knows it. If I were a little darker complected, one call to Morris Diggs and this would vanish real quick.

If she's not looking at jail time, at least make them work for your "seceret" donation to the scam. Sorry. Rant over. Good luck.
?

 

[shdw633]

I am not a lawyer but can't you just have your wife change her plea, pay the fine and move on? Just asking as again, I am not a lawyer but I have seen people change their pleas before and just took their lumps and moved on.

 

[tad1]

It may depend on the judge in court but I wonder how it would've worked out to respectfully asked the judge if there's a way to reduce the fine or prevent the ticket from being placed on your driving record. Like by taking a defensive driving course for instance.
I have appeared and pled guilty for a speeding violation and the judge did not put the points on my record

 

[tad1]

It was somewhat of an eye-opener going to traffic court. This judge in particular was very reasonable and was reducing fines and tossing out tickets. It made me realize it's mainly just a revenue stream. But the take-home point is to always appear in court if you can, otherwise the tickets and points go straight on your state driving record and that generally will translate into higher insurance premiums

 

[georgiadawgs44]

Thanks for the responses so far.

 

[GoldDot40]

It was somewhat of an eye-opener going to traffic court. This judge in particular was very reasonable and was reducing fines and tossing out tickets. It made me realize it's mainly just a revenue stream. But the take-home point is to always appear in court if you can, otherwise the tickets and points go straight on your state driving record and that generally will translate into higher insurance premiums

Very sound advice right here. While I haven't had a traffic citation in 15 years, I used to get them fairly often when I was young and stupid. Taking the time to go to court in person can be a positive game changer...it always was for me.

 

[Rebel 3]

Generally when a citation is written in most courts the officer does not have to show up for the first court date. If the suspect appears and pleas not guilty then the officer will be subpoenaed to the trial date. If he doesn’t show up for that then the judge may dismiss it. Keep in mind that now that she has been assigned a trial date she will likely have to pay for court cost in addition to the fine.

 

[greg_n_clayton]

A little town over in SC was investigated by the state for such. What they did was created a city ordinance against speeding ! Write you a high dollar ticket, and didn't turn it in ! State investigated cause they weren't getting their cut of the fine !

 

[GoldDot40]

Generally when a citation is written in most courts the officer does not have to show up for the first court date. If the suspect appears and pleas not guilty then the officer will be subpoenaed to the trial date. If he doesn’t show up for that then the judge may dismiss it. Keep in mind that now that she has been assigned a trial date she will likely have to pay for court cost in addition to the fine.

What I always did was #1....don't plead "not guilty" unless you truly are not guilty. Why? Because any time you plead not guilty...and lose the case, you usually get the maximum penalties/fines. Don't waste time with a Nolo plea either. While a Nolo will keep the points off your license, the violation sticks. All insurance companies use actual violations...not points to determine your rates.

#2....I'd always go in and talk to the solicitor before entering my plea. I'd explain that my record is currently clean, and I'd like to keep it that way for insurance purposes. It worked every single time in different municipalities.

They would allow me to enter a guilty plea, on a lesser speed. Any speed less than 14 mph over the posted speed limit acquires 0 points. So if you get a citation for 76 in a 55, the judge can accept a guilty plea for 72 in a 55. You still pay a fine, but they don't process the violation to the state, so your record stays clean. Keep in mind, the above ONLY works if your 3 year MVR is currently clean.

 

[Buck111]

That's a steep fine for Following Too Closely, but if in the long run it would save on insurance premiums, I'd just do the program.

 

[oops1]

I was always under the impression that if you rear ended someone..it was your fault no matter what. And no..I’m not a lawyer.

 

[georgiadawgs44]

Thanks for all the input everyone.

 

[LTZ25]

I don't matter what the ticket costs you better hope she's not getting sued for hitting someone in the rear in Atlanta , I had a friend that had a car roll back into him at stoplight and they sued his insurance company with zero damage to either car , cop told him it happens every day in the big A .

 

[Throwback]

In many courts today the initial appearance isn’t the “trial date” its basically the Preliminary date to weed out the people that want to plead guilty. Those who want a trial get set on trial date. In my local state court the state court judge STRESSES this on initial “traffic court” date
This is generally because hundreds of tickets have been set for this day there is no way they can have the trials on this day, so they set them for the trial calendar at a later date.

Also, in many jurisdictions the fine for a ticket involving an accident is usually considerably more than just one a cop wrote because he saw the violation.

 

[oldfella1962]

That's a steep fine for Following Too Closely, but if in the long run it would save on insurance premiums, I'd just do the program.

exactly! Not only do your premiums go up, but if you are in too many future wrecks (even if they are not your fault) your insurance company can dump you for being a "risky driver" and if you get insurance from another company it will cost you an arm and a leg. My point being a big fine (even a huge fine) is worth it to keep the insurance companies out of the loop.

 

[georgiadawgs44]

Thanks everyone! She goes to court Thursday.

 

[georgiadawgs44]

Update:

My wife had her trial this afternoon. She stuck with her plea of not guilty. The person she rear ended did not show up to court. The judge dismissed the case because there were no witnesses there against her. Very pleased with how it turned out.

 

[LTZ25]

She is very lucky !!!!!

 

[Throwback]

Glad it worked out.
Niece had the same thing happen to her in almost the same exact situation