4 ms·

What state exactly sends you to jail for failure to use a turn signal or running a red light? I want to make sure to avoid that state at all costs.

by joesmo 11y ago

dzdt 11y ago
Missouri, for one, but I think it is common: "...more than half the courts in St. Louis County engage in the "illegal and harmful practices" of charging high court fines and fees on nonviolent offenses like traffic violations — and then arresting people when they don't pay." http://www.npr.org/2014/08/25/343143937/in-ferguson-court-fines-and-fees-fuel-anger http://www.npr.org/2014/08/25/343143937/in-ferguson-court-fi...
ggreer 11y ago
That's not what Alupis is saying. You don't go to jail for running a red light or failing to signal. You get pulled over for those things. You go to jail because the cop ran your info and found that you were guilty of other crimes.
- vkou 11y ago
  You also go to jail for being too poor to pay the fine for failing to signal. Now, you might say that not doing so would just incentivise poor people to not ever obey traffic law... In which case I would have to ask - what incentive does a billionaire have to ever obey traffic law?
  - ggreer 11y ago
    > ...what incentive does a billionaire have to ever obey traffic law? I'm no billionaire, but I used to think along those lines: Just budget a couple grand a year for tickets and insurance hikes, then go wild. Unfortunately for me, there's more to traffic violations than fines. There's traffic school. There's getting your ride towed, leaving you standing on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere (this was pre-uber). There's waiting until Monday to get it back, because the impound lot is closed on Sundays. It's quite a hassle, so I don't speed or drive aggressively anymore. > You also go to jail for being too poor to pay the fine for failing to signal. Well... you don't immediately go to jail for failure to pay fines. For traffic stuff, it takes weeks before you're actually hit with a fine. Most courts also have payment plans or discounts for financial hardship. It's not as cruel of a system as you might think. It's only slightly related, but paying the late fine on the spot was what I found so odd about the Texas bill. Cops never accept money. Asking a cop, "Can I pay the ticket here, right now?" is usually a veiled attempt at bribery. If the cop says yes, you're negotiating price. Then you use more veiled language like, "Is there is discount for paying it now?" Etc.
    - vkou 11y ago
      Yep. It's a huge pain in the ass - one that poor people would want to avoid even more then you do. > It's not as cruel of a system as you might think. Maybe not in nice middle-class suburban neighbourhoods... But it is in places like Ferguson - which has outstanding arrest warrants for 75% of its population... Almost entirely for not paying their tickets. [1] [2] No, you don't immediately go to jail - but if you can't scrape up the money in two weeks, you can get an arrest warrant issued. And once they let you out, you'll still have the same unpaid fine, only now you're also out of a job. [1] http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/06/us/ferguson-missouri-racism-tickets-fines/ http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/06/us/ferguson-missouri-racism-ti... [2] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nathan-robinson/the-shocking-finding-from-the-doj-ferguson_b_6858388.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nathan-robinson/the-shocking-f...
      - Laaw 11y ago
        I'm a little sick of the word "poor" being used in lieu of the word "stupid". There are genuinely poor people, and there are people who are too stupid to follow basic common sense laws. Maybe some of these folks actually should go to jail, if they can't figure out that stopping at a stop sign is important. It doesn't really matter how wealthy/smart you are if you run full speed into another car.

What state exactly sends you to jail for failure to use a turn signal or running a red light? I want to make sure to avoid that state at all costs.

by joesmo 11y ago

What state exactly sends you to jail for failure to use a turn signal or running a red light? I want to make sure to avoid that state at all costs.

dzdt 11y ago

Missouri, for one, but I think it is common: "...more than half the courts in St. Louis County engage in the "illegal and harmful practices" of charging high court fines and fees on nonviolent offenses like traffic violations — and then arresting people when they don't pay." http://www.npr.org/2014/08/25/343143937/in-ferguson-court-fines-and-fees-fuel-anger http://www.npr.org/2014/08/25/343143937/in-ferguson-court-fi...

ggreer 11y ago

That's not what Alupis is saying. You don't go to jail for running a red light or failing to signal. You get pulled over for those things. You go to jail because the cop ran your info and found that you were guilty of other crimes.

vkou 11y ago
You also go to jail for being too poor to pay the fine for failing to signal. Now, you might say that not doing so would just incentivise poor people to not ever obey traffic law... In which case I would have to ask - what incentive does a billionaire have to ever obey traffic law?
- ggreer 11y ago
  > ...what incentive does a billionaire have to ever obey traffic law? I'm no billionaire, but I used to think along those lines: Just budget a couple grand a year for tickets and insurance hikes, then go wild. Unfortunately for me, there's more to traffic violations than fines. There's traffic school. There's getting your ride towed, leaving you standing on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere (this was pre-uber). There's waiting until Monday to get it back, because the impound lot is closed on Sundays. It's quite a hassle, so I don't speed or drive aggressively anymore. > You also go to jail for being too poor to pay the fine for failing to signal. Well... you don't immediately go to jail for failure to pay fines. For traffic stuff, it takes weeks before you're actually hit with a fine. Most courts also have payment plans or discounts for financial hardship. It's not as cruel of a system as you might think. It's only slightly related, but paying the late fine on the spot was what I found so odd about the Texas bill. Cops never accept money. Asking a cop, "Can I pay the ticket here, right now?" is usually a veiled attempt at bribery. If the cop says yes, you're negotiating price. Then you use more veiled language like, "Is there is discount for paying it now?" Etc.
  - vkou 11y ago
    Yep. It's a huge pain in the ass - one that poor people would want to avoid even more then you do. > It's not as cruel of a system as you might think. Maybe not in nice middle-class suburban neighbourhoods... But it is in places like Ferguson - which has outstanding arrest warrants for 75% of its population... Almost entirely for not paying their tickets. [1] [2] No, you don't immediately go to jail - but if you can't scrape up the money in two weeks, you can get an arrest warrant issued. And once they let you out, you'll still have the same unpaid fine, only now you're also out of a job. [1] http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/06/us/ferguson-missouri-racism-tickets-fines/ http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/06/us/ferguson-missouri-racism-ti... [2] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nathan-robinson/the-shocking-finding-from-the-doj-ferguson_b_6858388.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nathan-robinson/the-shocking-f...
    - Laaw 11y ago
      I'm a little sick of the word "poor" being used in lieu of the word "stupid". There are genuinely poor people, and there are people who are too stupid to follow basic common sense laws. Maybe some of these folks actually should go to jail, if they can't figure out that stopping at a stop sign is important. It doesn't really matter how wealthy/smart you are if you run full speed into another car.