Fight traffic ticket or not?

[Anonymous]

I received a ticket for bypassing a stop sign on a school bus. This is unlike either of us, so we watched the video...

Upon reviewing the video, I see that the stop sign flips out at 6 seconds and I pass by 1 second later on a road with a posted speed limit of 35 mph.

Would a judge agree with me that this ticket is a little over the top, or would they say, "You had that 1 second?"

[Anonymous]

I would fight it if it was for points on my license. Some of these automated video tickets don't count for points because they're not issued by a cop (in my state anyway), so you just pay and they function like a parking ticket. If you have any kind of security clearance I'd try to fight it and plea it down.

[Anonymous]

Were there two lanes heading the same direction - you were in one lane and the bus was in another? Or did you actually pass the bus as in you were two tailing it and went around it on a single lane road?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Were there two lanes heading the same direction - you were in one lane and the bus was in another? Or did you actually pass the bus as in you were two tailing it and went around it on a single lane road?

There were three lanes with the bus in the far right lane and my car in the far left lane.

Since I first posted, we have since learned that the ticket website says the ticket happens when the red lights on the outside of the bus come on and not when the stop sign arm swings out. However, there is no proof that these lights went on in the video provided to us.

So, my take is that there's no proof we could have seen the lights and no proof that the lights went on as they should have. Plus, I wonder if the 2-3 other cars that passed by before and after also received tickets.

Can they enforce a ticket when they are not 100% sure the warning lights on the bus functioned properly?

OP

[Anonymous]

I would fight it.

[Anonymous]

Yellow lights flash before the red lights come on and the sign comes out. The yellow lights are your warning to stop. I don’t think your defense will help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Were there two lanes heading the same direction - you were in one lane and the bus was in another? Or did you actually pass the bus as in you were two tailing it and went around it on a single lane road?

There were three lanes with the bus in the far right lane and my car in the far left lane.

Since I first posted, we have since learned that the ticket website says the ticket happens when the red lights on the outside of the bus come on and not when the stop sign arm swings out. However, there is no proof that these lights went on in the video provided to us.

So, my take is that there's no proof we could have seen the lights and no proof that the lights went on as they should have. Plus, I wonder if the 2-3 other cars that passed by before and after also received tickets.

Can they enforce a ticket when they are not 100% sure the warning lights on the bus functioned properly?

OP

I hope you honestly don't believe you may be wrongly ticketed. Did you not see the yellow lights either?

[Anonymous]

If it’s not a financial burden to fight it, as in, you won’t have to burn personal time, pay for childcare, etc., always fight it. What’s the worst that could happen? You end up having to pay? You have to pay now. Always fight, if you can.

[Anonymous]

Are you seriously going to go to court - with video evidence you violated the law - and claim that you should have had one second "grace" or that the bus lights were maybe (you have no idea) malfunctioning? You know the point of the stop sign right? To keep cars from hitting kids approaching the bus? Learn your lesson, pay your fine, and pay more attention to school buses in the future OP. And yes - the state tickets everyone - that's why they have the cameras on the buses.

[Anonymous]

My husband is a LEO. He says he can tell you what the judge is going to say: “Prior to the stop sign being activated, there are yellow lights warning you that you should be preparing to stop. You should have been prepared to stop.”

However, with that being said, if you have an immaculate driving record, you may be able to plea down to something without points.

[Anonymous]

Go. You may be able to do the equivalent of plea bargaining with the municipal attorney office people.

[Anonymous]

The problem is a school starts to flash its lights and slow down well before the bus comes to a stop and the sign pops out. So you were in notice well before the sign popped out that the bus was going to be coming to a stop. Similar to running a yellow and finding yourself in the intersection on red.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband is a LEO. He says he can tell you what the judge is going to say: “Prior to the stop sign being activated, there are yellow lights warning you that you should be preparing to stop. You should have been prepared to stop.”

However, with that being said, if you have an immaculate driving record, you may be able to plea down to something without points.

If your husband is LE he should know there are no points for a camera ticket. The rest of the info above is correct. I would pay it OP. You are at fault and it’s not worth spending a morning in court over

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband is a LEO. He says he can tell you what the judge is going to say: “Prior to the stop sign being activated, there are yellow lights warning you that you should be preparing to stop. You should have been prepared to stop.”

However, with that being said, if you have an immaculate driving record, you may be able to plea down to something without points.

If your husband is LE he should know there are no points for a camera ticket. The rest of the info above is correct. I would pay it OP. You are at fault and it’s not worth spending a morning in court over

Sorry, I misread an we are in another state. Either way, they could plea down to a lesser, more expensive charge.

[Anonymous]

“Should I take personal responsibility for my traffic violation, or frivolously consume taxpayer resources when there is literal video evidence, that I have reviewed, of my wrongdoing?”