4 ms·
When I was a kid and we were living in Vancouver, my mum told me how she did a 'rolling stop' through a stop sign at 4am in the morning with empty streets, and
by enlyth 5y ago
When I was a kid and we were living in Vancouver, my mum told me how she did a 'rolling stop' through a stop sign at 4am in the morning with empty streets, and a cop car noticed it and gave her a massive fine. She was in tears because my family wasn't earning much money at the time.
For some reason I still remember this story decades later and always come to a full stop at stop signs, that's how I was taught in driving school and that's how I will always do it. I'm a calm driver and I don't care if people are annoyed by me, I will drive the speed limit and I will not rush anywhere, it's not my problem that someone else needs to speed because they woke up late, safety should be the number one priority when you're operating a vehicle.
- ipaddr 5y agoSounds like a ticket to fight as the cop working at 4am would have a hard time showing up to court.
- ceejayoz 5y agoIn my area, cops have specific court dates; all their tickets are set to be handled on the same day that's already part of the cop's schedule.
- ipaddr 5y agoThose are traffic cops working daylight hours who pull over many cars and it makes sense to stack those cases. We have a 4am case with a very high bill. If the officer keeps that shift chances are they are not going to want to show up 9am one day before going back to nights the next.
- ceejayoz 5y agoThe cop working at 4am might be working a schedule like 12am-12pm and have their cases handled at 9am one day a month. Or they switch between night and day shifts, like lots of nurses do. They’ll make it work.
- cgriswald 5y agoOvertime is used in some jurisdictions as an incentive to show up in court.
- sandworm101 5y agoA) Cops don't work such shifts for the weeks/months it takes to get a court date. B) Cops don't normally "show up" in traffic courts. They can often appear via electronic means. C) Cops have great respect for courts. If called, they show up. D) If your only defense is the faint hope that the cop doesn't show, the judge is going to rain hellfire on you for wasting everyone's time. Court costs. Amended tickets. Contempt. Unless you are about to lose your license, you don't want to roll that dice. If you go to court to fight a traffic ticket you better have an actual defense.
- sokoloff 5y agoI’ve shown up to contest all but one traffic ticket I’ve ever received*. It’s up to the state to prove what I’m being accused of; I am not required to admit to it or passively pay the fine without appearing if I choose. I’ve won many (outright or gotten reductions to non-moving violations) and lost some, but I’ve never had a judge “rain hellfire on [me]” or anything even remotely similar to that, even in cases where I pled “not guilty”, listened to the state’s case, and presented no argument in my defense. * I got a camera ticket in Switzerland on a business trip that I did just pay rather than traveling back to appear and undoubtedly lose.
- ipaddr 5y agoIn this case you should go and ask the judge for a smaller ticket regardless. Getting a ticket so large that we are talking about it on hn 40 years later? Go to court.
- Grustaf 5y agoThat's a very odd reason to contest a fine. Clearly it was justified.
- ipaddr 5y agoIt may not have been. Can the case be made, is there proof, will anyone show up? Contesting a fine takes time but the judge can reduce the amount if it was unusually high.
- Grustaf 5y agoenlyth's mother did say she rolled the stop sign, so unless she's lying, it's clearly a justified fine. I wouldn't hesitate to break traffic rules at 4 o'clock in the morning if there was zero risk of harm - especially while bicycling I'm very flexible, but I also wouldn't complain if I got fined breaking the law. The law must be upheld even at night.