Re: traffic ticket, need advice, improper use of headlights
 

I don't have any experience with tickets in NJ. I do have lots of experience with tickets in other states, enough to know that what works in one state has nothing to do with what works in another state. So any advice from anyone other than someone who claims to know NJ traffic laws very well should only hope to point you in the right direction.

One thing that I have noticed that changes very little from state to state is that when people fight their own traffic tickets, they aren't thrown out unless there is clear evidence that the ticket should never have been written in the first place. That's not the case here. Also these judges listen to maybe 100 cases each day, they won't have a lot of patience. Unless it's a lawyer speaking or you're confident that you know courtroom procedures at least as well as the judge, any attempt to put up a defense beyond "I'm sorry, I have no priors, please reduce the fines/points/whatever" will not be effective. Since you're asking OOT for advice, I'm going to assume you don't fall into either one of those categories. I'm 95% sure that if you don't get a lawyer, this ticket will stand. Whether it's worth the cost of that is up to you.

Re: traffic ticket, need advice, improper use of headlights
 

No worries. Goto court. use same story burden of proff on the cop

Re: traffic ticket, need advice, improper use of headlights
 

ahhh Troopers gotta love NJ

Well the fines like 50 bucks if you want to be a dick and tell them you were mistaken and saw a Pig in the road and wanted to warn everyone...

Re: traffic ticket, need advice, improper use of headlights
 

[ QUOTE ]
This is not a First Ammendment issue, at least where I grew up they call it obstruction of justice which is not a protected form of free speech. What you did was really stupid, what do you expect the cop to do when you warn people where he is? Fight it if you want but they are very unlikely to throw it out. This type of violation is not looked kindly upon by magistrates and the like.

NT

[/ QUOTE ]


By your logic, me telling a drug dealer not to deal drugs because the cops will nab him, is obstruction of justice. I would fight this [censored] ticket.

Re: traffic ticket, need advice, improper use of headlights
 

Its certainly a BS ticket, but I think you'll do better by just paying the fine and trying to forget about it. Do you really want to get worked up over trying to contest this? This won't result in any points or insurance surcharge, right?

Re: traffic ticket, need advice, improper use of headlights
 

You're too nice. Next time, just let the other drivers get their asses busted.

Besides, it's fun to watch others get pulled over.

PS- The only reason you should be flashing your brights is if you're on a dark road and REALLY can't see [censored], or if it's night and someone in oncoming traffic doesn't have their lights on, to signal that they need to turn them on.

Re: traffic ticket, need advice, improper use of headlights
 

How do you live in Jersey and not have a PBA/FOP card?

Re: traffic ticket, need advice, improper use of headlights
 

[ QUOTE ]
No worries. Goto court. use same story burden of proff on the cop

[/ QUOTE ]

That's what I would be thinking. Just go to court, say, "I didn't do that". Let the cop give proof that you did. Is there some kind of decree that says a cop's word is better than yours?

EDIT: I think it's important here to make sure you say you didn't even flash your headlights. Don't say, I flashed them because...(other excuse). Just say you didn't flash them. Same as when you're speeding and get pulled over, never ever admit to doing anything over the speed limit.

Re: traffic ticket, need advice, improper use of headlights
 

This pretty much proves that a lot of cops are jerks.

Ask-A-Cop

One cop did have the point that there's not a darn thing they can do about you flashing headlights in the daytime.

Bottom line is, if it's you vs. the cop, the cop will win because traffic court is there to collect fines, especially in small towns. Yes it's crooked, but what are you going to do? If you can get a lawyer who is a friend or relative to fight it for free, then you might have a chance because odds are, the cops violated some procedure and traffic court judges hardly want to be seen as granting leeway to cops on procedure if they have any hopes of moving up to something like criminal court. (But don't count on even that, chances are, if they're in traffic court it's not because they're legal geniuses.)

It's like as $44 fine, is it really worth all the effort to fight it, even if you know it's unjust?

Re: traffic ticket, need advice, improper use of headlights
 

I am a lawyer, and most of the legal advice given in this forum sucks. D10's advice is the best in this thread. Just because you have had a ticket or even if you are a lawyer, advice about how to handle a ticket is going to be jurisdiction-specific. I'm a lawyer in GA, so I can only speculate what might happen in NJ traffic court. Also, traffic courts' handling of tickets may likely vary from court to court, even within a jurisdiction.

Bottom line - When you have a legal problem, your best course of action is going to be to hire a lawyer with a good reputation and with experience handling similar situations. If you can't do that for financial or other reasons, good luck.