Reasons for Traffic Ticket Dismissal

by Louise Balle

You don't want to have a traffic ticket on your record. Not only are the fines expensive, it can cost you points on your license and increase your car insurance premiums.Though not common, there are a cases when you may get a traffic ticket dismissed. The key is to come to court prepared to fight the ticket with solid information.

Incorrect Information

If any of the information on the ticket was written or typed in incorrectly by the officer, this may mean an automatic dismissal. For example, if the license plate number or your driver's license number was taken down wrong, the judge may rule that the ticket is invalid.

Faulty Equipment

If you can prove that the equipment used to make the decision regarding your traffic ticket is faulty, such as a radar detector, or a red light camera that flashes incorrectly, there is a good chance that the ticket will be dismissed. You have to do your own research on the equipment to use this defense.

First Timer or Defensive Driving

In many cases, judges are sympathetic to first time offenders, especially when it comes to traffic tickets. If this is your first traffic ticket and you have a clean record otherwise, there is a good chance that the judge will dismiss the ticket.

If this is your first offense, you should plead not guilty to the offense and bring information to court to show your upstanding character, such as good grades in school and your clean driving record.

Take a defensive driving class and bring proof of your attendance to court to increase the chance of ticket dismissal.

Police Officer is a No Show

If you come to court prepared with a solid defense of why you should not have received a traffic ticket, and the police officer who issued the ticket does not show up to testify in court, you have a better chance of having your ticket dismissed. In many cases, the officer is the only witness to the infraction, and if he or she cannot testify, the issuing entity (town or state) will not have much to fall back on.

Proof Provided in Court

If you were nowhere near the scene where the traffic ticket was issued, there is a high likelihood that it will be dismissed if you can provide clear proof to the judge of your whereabouts. For instance, if you receive a traffic ticket in the mail for running a red light that is generated by a red light camera, and you can prove that you were on the other end of town, this will be helpful to your case.

In some cases, when you get a ticket for minor infractions, such as driving without a valid registration or inspection, you can have your traffic ticket dismissed by the judge if you provide paperwork proving that you renewed your registration before the court date.

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