Ran stop sign, Fight or Plead Guilty?

[sp3GT]

A buddy of mine in London ran a stop sign, he's going to court this saturday. But he's having trouble deciding if he should fight the ticket or plead guilty.

Here's the story, he was out very late in north london (2:30 am) and it's just all farms and stuff. So he was driving home, heading south then he saw a stop sign he slowed down to maybee 15 - 20 km/h looked both ways saw nothing except headlights in a far away distance.

It turns out the headlights was a cop. The thing is after he passed the cop he didn't pull him over untill 20 - 30 seconds later and gave him a rolling stop sign ticket.

He told me he didn't speed nor drink that night, the cop even gave him a breathalizer and it showed 0.00.

So should he fight it or plead guilty?

Thanks,

[S.F.W.]

fight it. He has nothing to gain by pleading guilty.

[x_o_k_x]

I would plead guilty.. it doesnt matter where you are, stop sign is a stop sign and he failed to stop. Its just a bad luck for your friend, that happens to be a cop and that time and that place. If he would fight what would he say in his defence?? Its pretty much the same thing running a red light 3 in the morning.. Sorry just bad luck for him

[Fuman]

fight it. if he doesn't get off, he might be found guilty on a lesser charge

[tweak_s]

Fight it. He has nothing to lose by fighting it. if he pleaded guilty, its a guaranteed conviction.

[sp3GT]

He's leaning towards fighting it, thanks for the input guys.

[Skarbro]

I didn't even read any of the posts, but this is the right answer:

ALWAYS FIGHT IT.

It will f up insurance rates and give you demerit pts if you plead guilty.

[x_o_k_x]

haha lol dont listen to me, i would probably ask for an advice same as him

[Dave_The_BMXER]

I fought mine cop didn't show up got off.

[WildEmu]

Always fight every ticket. Always.

[sp3GT]

I didn't even read any of the posts, but this is the right answer:

ALWAYS FIGHT IT.

It will f up insurance rates and give you demerit pts if you plead guilty.


It's quite pricey, $140 and 2 demerit points!

[tweak_s]

^ reinforcing skarbro's point! :chuckle good luck to your friend.

[Dragazn]

Obviously fight it. Whoever says just plead guilty is a fool.:loco

If you have no experience in going to court by yourself, get a ticket fighter. Most of the time, they can get no demerit points. You end up paying a bit more but higher chance of getting no demerit points taken off. Its all about the demerit points.

[SP33D 3]

yea skarbro was the first to say it, red tape is your friend when it comes to traffic violations... and do not go to points or x coppers... they rip you off! if you dont go to court with them they plead guilty for you and you paid them 100 bucks mroe than the fine of hte ticket which they pay for you, its a scam

[Dragazn]

I hope you mean those specific paralegals. I went to Hwy Law recommended by a member from the 6club. It was 60 on top of the ticket amount for my case. If they lose they pay your ticket, if they win they keep the rest of the money. I was speeding 32km/h over the speed limit. I ended up with no demerit points taken off. Didn't have to go to court. They handled everything for me.


yea skarbro was the first to say it, red tape is your friend when it comes to traffic violations... and do not go to points or x coppers... they rip you off! if you dont go to court with them they plead guilty for you and you paid them 100 bucks mroe than the fine of hte ticket which they pay for you, its a scam

[Wild Weasel]

And next time, stop for the damned sign. :chuckle

[nicker]

I agree, to fight it just becuase you never know if the cop will show or not. How ever if he does....whats to fight really. He rolled a stop. When the judge asks if he rolled the stop whats he say yes I rolled it but Im not guilty? WTF ?

[Wild Weasel]

15-20 isn't even a rolling stop. He flat-out ran the stop sign.

[sp3GT]

15-20 isn't even a rolling stop. He flat-out ran the stop sign.

It was like 3:00 am out in the country. So I guess he never thought a cop would be out there that late.
But ya he's definitely going to fight it.

Has anyone been to court by themselves? What happens?

[Wild Weasel]

Yeah, I'm not suggesting that what he did was dangerous. I'm just saying there's really no excuse for it. By all means fight it and hope the cop doesn't show, but if he does then you might as well take whatever deal they offer, which won't likely be much.

[sp3GT]

You guys think that he could argue saying the cop was too far to tell if he stopped or not since it was pitch black.

[RX9]

i will hire a fighter for it, rolling stop isnt a small ticket, its about 3point. i always hired a fighter for my ticket, my record is clean, that kept my insurance low.

[JuggernautX]

Fight it if you can, and not to a lesser charge or with no demerit points. From an insurance point of view, they don't care about demerit points. If it's on your record, it's a conviction. If you're shopping around for insurance, you'll probably be surcharged for it...