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Tips and Tricks for Traffic Court

Scott Scherr • April 21, 2023

Here are some tips and tricks to use in traffic court

Request a trial and not a waiver hearing. The police officer sometimes does not appear and a trial should result in an acquittal if the police officer does not appear. 


If the police officer does not appear, plead not guilty and you will be acquitted. Most judges will encourage you to plead not guilty without the officer. However, some judges will still accept your guilty plea and convict if you do not say "not guilty." In fact, even if the police officer is there, you should plead not guilty if the police officer did not see the accident. There would have to be a witness to the accident for you to be convicted of a charge such as failure to control speed to avoid a collision.


The law says that any citation related to speed must contain the actual speed you were traveling. If your speed is missing from the citation, then move to dismiss it. This applies to not only speeding tickets, but to charges like speed greater than reasonable and failure to control speed to avoid a collision. In addition, if you are charge with exceeding the speed limit, the speed limit must also be on the citation. 


The charge of aggressive driving requires three separate moving violations. Read the aggressive driving statute. If the officer only proves two, you will be acquitted. This is important because aggressive driving is a 5 point ticket.


Reckless driving requires a wanton and willful disregard for the safety of others. Many people commit acts that are negligent, but not reckless. Crossing over the center line may be negligent, but it is not reckless. Reckless driving is 6 points so you want to try this case.



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