4-way stop

[trafficticket]

I was issued a ticket by a sheriff (Brevard County, FL) for failing to stop at a 4-way stop. I claim I did stop... In fact I saw the sheriff's car parked near the stop. He said I was looking both ways before getting to the intesection (which I did, but I see no wrong in that). The fine is over $200. If I request a hearing, will the traffic judge simply side with the sheriff, get annoyed, and hit me with court fees, and possibly even a larger fine? Or, is there a reasonable chance of beating this ticket?

 

[jharris352]

If it is simply your word against the cop you are going to lose. The judge isn't going to be "annoyed" because he has to be there whether you are fighting a ticket or not. Bigger fine? Who knows, but possible. Court costs? Definitely. I would try to continue the ticket. Then go plead not guilty. Then talk to the prosecutor about the idea of you being not guilty and see if they will change the ticket to not obeying a traffic device or something with much less or no points. Change your plea to guilty and pay the fine for that.

 

[mightymoose]

Of all the people I have stopped for rolling a stop sign, very few have ever actually admitted that they did it... I think mostly because rolling stops is such routine that it doesn't seem as if you have done anything different or wrong.
Chances are that you did not make a complete stop, and it is incredibly obvious to a person outside the vehicle that is watching your wheels turn.

 

[trafficticket]

jharris352 mentions "Then talk to the prosecutor about the idea of you being not guilty and see if they will change the ticket to not obeying a traffic device or something with much less or no points"... There is is some ambiguity when I reserach points in FL for this infraction. On the ticket, the box " Violation of Traffic Contol Device" is checked, but at one website I visited "Ignoring traffic contorl signals or devices" was listed as 4 points. At another site, this specific infraction was not mentioned, so it would then default to "All other moving violations (including parking on highway outside the limits of municipalities)", which is 3 points?

At another website - I saw the following "If you attended traffic school to erase a traffic ticket from your driving record, that ticket will not show up on your record. But don't worry about an error; the driving record only reflects infractions that actually went to court. When you take care of a ticket through driving school, that case is considered "adjudication withheld" (or not judged in court) and will therefore not show up on a three- or seven-year record. So, does this mean my record will be tarnished if i go to court and am not succesful in getting the ticket set aside? And if i do not go to court, and take the driving course, the ticket is not visible at all on my record?

 

[trafficticket]

Understand this position... But in this case I can picture in my mind (remember) stopping (even if only briefly) to look at the sherrif's car parked in someone's driveway. When pulled over the Sheriff mentioned he saw me looking both ways at the intersection (implying I suppose, that I was looking beforehand to see if I could go through). I think he was pre-biased that I was not going to stop by my review of the intersection. With so much focus on my head turns, I am not sure the focus was keen on the tire rotation (or lack thereof).