Trial by written declaration?

[karmashock]

Turned left going west on Santa Monica Blvd onto Bundy going south.

Here is the google maps coordinates:
<never mind, apparently you don't allow links from low posting newbie scum like myself>

Bundy and santa monica in Los Angeles... look it up.

As you can see, the sign is there. Its just a very stupid sign.

I was driving late at night. After midnight. So the sign was not terribly visible. That said, I've driven by this intersection a million times and watched people take left turns on this intersection CONSTANTLY. No one obeys this stupid sign. For all I know, its a new sign... or it could have been there forever. But no one obeys it because it makes no sense.

Anyway, I suspect I have no legal legs to stand on and I just need to pay the ticket. But I thought I'd talk to you find people first.

What is the sage advice of the interwebs?

 

[gwegan]

You don't want a trial. You need to plead guilty and ask for traffic school.

If you can't do that you need to show up at the first hearing. Politely plead guilty and explain you didn't see the sign, apologize several times, beg and grovel, and ask for a lower fine. Politely.

 

[karmashock]

Alright. Anyone else have input?

 

[army judge]

Traffic school, a sure fire winner, cheapest option available.
Very few, as in less than .5% of those seeking a trial in traffic court are ever acquitted.
100% of traffic school grads get the citation kicked.
Traffic court judges, for the most part in your state aren't judges, they're lawyers with time to spare, special masters, etc...
Even if they were judges, the majority of them are revenue collection schemes for their government.
It's about money, honey, not safety.
If it were about safety, the first three citations received in a twelve month period should involve reeducation, if convicted as well as money, extensive reeducation.

 

[AvianPundit]

There are laws regarding the visibility of posted signs. For example, if there's tree growth obscuring the visibility of a speed limit sign, then you have strong grounds to have the ticket dismissed.

I don't know how visible the sign was in your situation. If you can gather photo evidence of the sign's obscured visibility after dark, then you may have a case.

Aside from that, you should ask for a plea bargain. Show up to court looking neat and professional, shake the hand of the DA/ADA, and ask how his/her day is going. You have 10-20 seconds to make a first impression and you should spend that brief time making pleasant smalltalk and establishing yourself as a pleasant person who made an honest mistake. You'll be shown a lot more leniency that way.

If you go in there with a chip on your shoulder, as justified as you may think it is, then the DA/ADA will think you're an arsehole just trying to weasel out of the citation and will probably want to nail you to a cross over something stupid.

 

[karmashock]

There are laws regarding the visibility of posted signs. For example, if there's tree growth obscuring the visibility of a speed limit sign, then you have strong grounds to have the ticket dismissed.

I don't know how visible the sign was in your situation. If you can gather photo evidence of the sign's obscured visibility after dark, then you may have a case.

Aside from that, you should ask for a plea bargain. Show up to court looking neat and professional, shake the hand of the DA/ADA, and ask how his/her day is going. You have 10-20 seconds to make a first impression and you should spend that brief time making pleasant smalltalk and establishing yourself as a pleasant person who made an honest mistake. You'll be shown a lot more leniency that way.

If you go in there with a chip on your shoulder, as justified as you may think it is, then the DA/ADA will think you're an arsehole just trying to weasel out of the citation and will probably want to nail you to a cross over something stupid.

If this happened to you, what would you do?

Should I just plead guilty, ask for traffic school, etc? Or should I try to argue the case?



You should see from there that you can see there is a no left turn sign. Its totally nonsensical though. If you just sit there and watch traffic at that intersection people turn left all the time. And there isn't really any justification for that rule there especially at 1 am.

The ONLY justification I could make for no left turns on that street would be that it slows traffic down. Okay. But at 1 am there is no traffic. There is no safety violation. I would be slowing down non-existent traffic.

I was genuinely unaware of the sign and I still find it inexplicable that it exists at all. But it is there.


What do you suggest. If you were in my position. What is the informed, rational, best option?


I would of course like to give the city as little money and time as possible. They're in my opinion wasting both flagrantly. But I have no leverage in this situation. I am aware that I am just a little pray animal in their clutches. So you tell me what the best option is at this point?

I am assuming the "ticket buster" type sites are generally scams or not worth the fee. They all look more then a little desperate and sketchy.

 

[karmashock]

Seriously?... the guy I was asking a question of got banned... the odds. Any further input? Should I just ask for traffic school or what?


I also noticed they removed the google maps link from the post even though it was obviously not some spambot link. Whatever. Again, the sign was at Bundy and Santa Monica in Los Angeles going west on Santa monica. Anyone can pull that up if they care. I just thought I'd make it easier for people to see it.