I was driving on the freeway yesterday on the far left lane and car started jerking/hesitating. I safely merged towards the right side and saw a Shell gas station, I exited and there was a stop sign on the end of the uphill road. With the car still hesitating only slowing down to about 10mph; I scanned the area and it was clear of traffic so I decided not to stop in order to get to the gas station about 50 yards ahead ASAP before the engine dies. Crap! there was popo going the opposite way and busted a quick U-turn. Pulled over on the Shell station and the car was running fine. How do I explain this one? Well, didn't really matter. Cop took what he needed and gave me a ticket without giving me a chance to explain. Got back on the road and check engine light turned on. Hooked up my scanner last night and got P2413 EGR.........! My court date is Dec. 27, 2007. How much is this ticket? I searched and found different amount fines, some $120 to $350. And yah, I live CA. I will attempt to fight it at least. What you think my chances are?

 

I have no faith in the legal system... Atleast when it come to me getting a ticket...

If you didn't clear the error, them it might be helpful to prove that your car was malfunctioning. And you felt it would be better to not stop, rather than stalling at the stop sign...

Worst case they might give you defensive driving...

 

he gave you a ticket for what?

 

"Running" a stop sign. He didn't make a complete stop.

I completely agree with Kracker. See if you can somehow get that error code and bring it to court.

 

In Ca, you can do driver school to keep it off your record if 3 years since last school and not a really serious driving offense- inthe eyes of the court.
Speeding in a construction zone or special driving area- 72 in a 55 say= 451$$$$
double points and no traffic school if they decidse it was reckless drivign as well- the very people who NEED school

for traffic school- it cost the fine to the court- say 150 for no stop- be glad it wasnt a red arrow!
plus 35 to the court fee and 25-50-100 for school- you can do online even!!

To fight it- take it to a real shop and have an invoice with description-
car stalls approaching stops. Found code xyz123xxx
Needs egr valve- replaced egr valve part # labor tax total- a normal invoice

then go in and wait in line to tell the judge-not guilty mechanical defect since repaired- I have an invoice,

or pay the "bail" /fine and get a set court date
and tell the judge same story-the car was acting crazy all of a sudden and you felt it safer to get into the gas station rather than potentially block an intersection and cause a problem.
You show up in court clean and well dressed, preferably in a suit like a biznessman who wasnt being a bad driver. I hope you have a clean record- since you dont know the system I am guessing it is- that helps you

You will get a real ticket in the mail from the courthouse. Some depts have handheld printers the officers use- but you get a real copy in the mail with all the real info.

Thats probably a fave hangout of the cops for the rolling stop too.

 

I would take it to acura and have them pull a code and get a an invoice with the code listed and a discription of it. I would also get a letter from them explaing what happens when this code is thrown and what effects it has on the car. Using this you can explain that you ran it because the motor was about to die and you did not want to be stranded in the street blocking traffic.

 

IF you have an invoice saying you had this dangerous condition repaired immediatly, thats one thing- to just have the cide and its effects- then you are blowing smoke up the judges robe and they know it

You need what I said you need- how do I know??- I worked in a shop and the techs often got tickets for driving with park lights only or other bad things
~Amazing~ how many careful drivers THOUGHT they had the headlights on in daytime-
but needed a new switch becasue only the park lights were working
Case dismissed

 

Thanks for the input. I will surely get some documentations about the EGR problem and hopefully have a reasonable judge. Oh yah, forgot to mention, cop didn't know what type of car to write on the ticket and had to ask me. I told him TL and he asked me how do you spell that. I repeated myself 4 times "TL" and he realized I was already spelling it for him/that's the name of the car. LMAO. Car was debadged, WDP with 15% tint all around rolling on 20's, 3 inch drop. Cop magnet.

 

You weren't speaking his language: "Tango Lima"

 

I feel your pain and don't want to be the jerk here; but you did run a stop sign. The law doesn't say "Stop, unless your having car trouble and the road is clear."

I don't think you will find a sympathetic judge. Depending on how much free time you have I would just call the court and plead guilty and see if they will give you the fine over the phone then pay with credit card or mail it in. If your record is clear then going to court the judge might allow you to not retain points by doing some kind of school or service.

 

I know what you mean too but there is always an exception to the rule and I hope that is why we have a justice court system. CA drivers license clear for 10 years. I Won couple traffic ticket in FL but not too sure about CA. I'll keep you updated but not for a while. Thanks for your pos/neg inputs.

 

Take 01tl4tl advice. Go to court, even you win or lose. your penalty cost will deduct no matter what.

 

trial by written declaration is what you should do first. i won 2wice lost twice with that . if you lose that you can ask for a trial de neuvo and go to court still so double the atttempt to win. by the way california in my opinion has no compassion for drivers their astronomical fines for tickets are just excuses to make more money. cops badges in cali should say instead of to protect and to serve, say to ambush and fine

 

FYI.. In Cali you can attend traffic school if you have not been in it in the last 18 months. The tickets generally stay on your record for 2 - 3 years (DUIs, etc. will stick longer), depending on your existing point record the judge may or may not allow you to attend traffic school

jackasswhy - CHP does not generate revenue based on speeding tickets; the money from that goes to the county in which the violation was commited. They do however generate funds on expired registration, which is why they are pretty hard about that and other things.