First: small claims court is not the same as regular court.
Second: How many times have you been to court? I worked in a law office for nearly a decade. You know what lawyers call "court costs"? They call it "The Judges' Retirement Fund", mostly due to the fact that they're a revenue source for the district they're located in. Now, does that sound fair?
The fact is, traffic tickets don't have anything to do with public safety, and have everything to do with bringing in money. The last traffic ticket I got was for going 36MPH in a 35MPH zone. My speedometer said I was going 35MPH (a little under, actually), as did my GPS. Did the judge or cop care? Nope, all they cared about was the fact that tax revenue for the city was down 35% that year and that they wanted my money to help make up the difference. The judge even offered me a "deal": pay $300 (the ticket was $50) in "court costs" and they wouldn't put the ticket on my record. I declined the offer, and ended up paying $350 ($300 in court costs + $50 ticket). Does that sound legitimate to you?
My point still stands. It might be a pain in the ass, but a ticket issued under such circumstances is invalid and you can have it dismissed in court. My wording was less verbose than necessary to handle all the edge cases.
<sarcasm>Yeah, and judges don't count the opinion of a police officer higher than that of a defendant. Nope, that NEVER happens. </sarcasm>
I've gone to court over a traffic ticket, fought it and won, and STILL ended up paying court costs and fines that ended up being more than the original fine.
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First: small claims court is not the same as regular court.
Second: How many times have you been to court? I worked in a law office for nearly a decade. You know what lawyers call "court costs"? They call it "The Judges' Retirement Fund", mostly due to the fact that they're a revenue source for the district they're located in. Now, does that sound fair?
The fact is, traffic tickets don't have anything to do with public safety, and have everything to do with bringing in money. The last traffic ticket I got was for going 36MPH in a 35MPH zone. My speedometer said I was going 35MPH (a little under, actually), as did my GPS. Did the judge or cop care? Nope, all they cared about was the fact that tax revenue for the city was down 35% that year and that they wanted my money to help make up the difference. The judge even offered me a "deal": pay $300 (the ticket was $50) in "court costs" and they wouldn't put the ticket on my record. I declined the offer, and ended up paying $350 ($300 in court costs + $50 ticket). Does that sound legitimate to you?
My point still stands. It might be a pain in the ass, but a ticket issued under such circumstances is invalid and you can have it dismissed in court. My wording was less verbose than necessary to handle all the edge cases.
<sarcasm>Yeah, and judges don't count the opinion of a police officer higher than that of a defendant. Nope, that NEVER happens. </sarcasm>
I've gone to court over a traffic ticket, fought it and won, and STILL ended up paying court costs and fines that ended up being more than the original fine.