8 top traffic ticket myths

Posted by Csavage Published in Law Enforcement, Safety

Drivers of red cars get more tickets. Don’t sign a ticket and the case will be dropped.

If the officer gets your hair color wrong on the ticket, you’ll win.

Urban myths relating to traffic tickets abound, but drivers and defendants will find that few of them are true.

The best advice is to simply obey the law, know that rules and procedures vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and don’t count on these myths when you’re hoping to escape a ticket — or the consequences.

Myth No. 1: If the officer makes a single mistake on your ticket, the case will be dropped.
A ticket should be seen as an accusatory instrument and a basis for prosecution that must be factually valid, says Matisyahu Wolfberg, an attorney from Spring Valley, N.Y., who represents defendants in traffic cases and lists tips on his Web site http://www.notspeeding.com/.

Clerical mistakes, such as a wrong number or wrong order of a person’s name, are usually overlooked. Material mistakes, like the identity of the driver, the direction of travel, the street where the citation occurred or the description of the vehicle, can usually help a driver win the case.