3 Tips To Prepare You For Traffic Court After Running A Stop Sign

Posted on: 3 June 2017

If you have recently gotten a ticket for running a stop sign and already have too many points against your license, you may wonder if there is anything you can do to help prove your innocence. You can use the following three tips to help you prepare your case before traffic court.

Write Down Details Of The Incident

As soon as possible after you receive the violation, sit down and write out everything that you remember about the incident. This includes anyone standing nearby, the weather, and the road conditions. Even small details might help you win your case. For example, if it was a rainy day, visibility may have been so low that you could not see the stop sign. 

Find A Witness To The Incident

When you go to traffic court, most likely the judge will only be hearing the stories of you and the police officer who gave you the traffic violation. In this case, it becomes a battle of who is telling the truth between the two of you, unless you can find a third party to testify.

If possible, ask a person who lives next to the stop sign if they saw what happened. If they saw that you did not run the stop sign, ask if they would be willing to testify on your behalf. If they cannot attend, see if they would mind sending a written statement to the judge.

Take Pictures Of The Stop Sign And Surrounding Area

Another thing you should do to prepare your case before traffic court is to take pictures of the stop sign and surrounding area. This is especially important if the sign is faded or has become blocked by shrubs or bushes.

If you can show that the stop sign was difficult to see, you may be able to prove that the violation was a mistake of fact. This means that you did not intentionally refuse to stop, as you could not see it clearly. This usually results in the ticket being dismissed.

Using the above tips could help you get your ticket thrown out. However, if you are still worried about the points on your license and are afraid of having it suspended, you may want to contact and make an appointment with a traffic violation attorney. They can review all of the evidence you collected (as described above) and discuss strategies for representing you in court.

For more information, talk to businesses like R. Patrick McPherson Attorney At Law.

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