Traffic Citation question(s)

[J. Grouchy]

On a traffic citation, if the wrong road is listed under the description, is that grounds for a defense?

If not...there is no mention anywhere on the citation of just paying online or by mail and not having to go into traffic court.  Can the recipient just pay the damn thing online and not have to fuck up half the day by going to court? 

[Brandy]

Not sure about question A.

Re: Question B--I think it depends on the city/county.  City of Atlanta made me go to the courthouse.  Dekalb county could pay over the phone. 

I would suggest having a phone consultation with Alex Susor, Esq.  He talked me through my options re: ticket for passing a school bus.  He's local, smart, and worth a phone call (IMHO).  http://www.alexsusor.com/

[rewinderase]

Not sure about question A.

Re: Question B--I think it depends on the city/county.  City of Atlanta made me go to the courthouse.  Dekalb county could pay over the phone. 

I would suggest having a phone consultation with Alex Susor, Esq.  He talked me through my options re: ticket for passing a school bus.  He's local, smart, and worth a phone call (IMHO).  http://www.alexsusor.com/

You can pay Dekalb online. I just did a week or two back but it took a really long time to show up in their system.
+1 for Alex. He's awesome.

[J. Grouchy]

This is City of Atlanta
It states the intersection of East Lake & 2nd Avenue...but those two roads do not intersect.

[hfranks]

This is City of Atlanta
It states the intersection of East Lake & 2nd Avenue...but those two roads do not intersect.

They do, but not in CoA. 

[J. Grouchy]

This is City of Atlanta
It states the intersection of East Lake & 2nd Avenue...but those two roads do not intersect.

They do, but not in CoA.

They do not (East Lake Blvd runs between Memorial and Glenwood, parallel to 2nd).  Besides...2nd Avenue is completely incorrect as it is at least 1000 feet away from where the alleged infraction occurred.  I just don't know if this is worth pursuing. 

[Cap'n Ken]

I think if you were to go to court you wouldn't get very far by telling the judge "this intersection does not exist." But if you let things progress and the officer got up on the stand to recite his case, he might look at the ticket and go "I observed the defendant [doing whatever] at the intersection of East Lake and Second Avenue" - at which point you jump up and scream "Your Honor - THIS INTERSECTION DOES NOT EXIST! THE OFFICER IS LYING AND I DEMAND AN IMMEDIATE TRIAL FOR PERJURY!"

Well maybe nothing so dramatic. But the point is that what's written on the ticket is likely much less of a defense than having an officer swear under oath that he saw you do something that is not possible. And it's likely he'll just "testify" to what's written on the ticket and put himself in that position.

But that said, in Atlanta traffic court it's most likely that the judge would just ignore that problem, find you guilty and probably tack some other costs on for you acting all smart.

[hfranks]

This is City of Atlanta
It states the intersection of East Lake & 2nd Avenue...but those two roads do not intersect.

They do, but not in CoA.

They do not (East Lake Blvd runs between Memorial and Glenwood, parallel to 2nd).  Besides...2nd Avenue is completely incorrect as it is at least 1000 feet away from where the alleged infraction occurred.  I just don't know if this is worth pursuing.

No really, they do.  Trust me.

[Gmoney]

This is City of Atlanta
It states the intersection of East Lake & 2nd Avenue...but those two roads do not intersect.

They do, but not in CoA.

They do not (East Lake Blvd runs between Memorial and Glenwood, parallel to 2nd).  Besides...2nd Avenue is completely incorrect as it is at least 1000 feet away from where the alleged infraction occurred.  I just don't know if this is worth pursuing.

Intersection of 2nd Ave and East Lake Drive, by the Oakhurst Dog Park.

[J. Grouchy]

I think if you were to go to court you wouldn't get very far by telling the judge "this intersection does not exist." But if you let things progress and the officer got up on the stand to recite his case, he might look at the ticket and go "I observed the defendant [doing whatever] at the intersection of East Lake and Second Avenue" - at which point you jump up and scream "Your Honor - THIS INTERSECTION DOES NOT EXIST! THE OFFICER IS LYING AND I DEMAND AN IMMEDIATE TRIAL FOR PERJURY!"

Well maybe nothing so dramatic. But the point is that what's written on the ticket is likely much less of a defense than having an officer swear under oath that he saw you do something that is not possible. And it's likely he'll just "testify" to what's written on the ticket and put himself in that position.

But that said, in Atlanta traffic court it's most likely that the judge would just ignore that problem, find you guilty and probably tack some other costs on for you acting all smart.

Which is the entire reason for me bringing it up...traffic court seems like a monumental waste of time unless there is a very valid reason to contest the ticket.  If the argument has less than...say 75%... chance of succeeding, it seems like a better option just to pay to make it go away as soon as possible without taking time off work and take some small comfort in the fact that this particular officer got the shit duty of sitting at that intersection, waiting for this to happen.

[J. Grouchy]

This is City of Atlanta
It states the intersection of East Lake & 2nd Avenue...but those two roads do not intersect.

They do, but not in CoA.

They do not (East Lake Blvd runs between Memorial and Glenwood, parallel to 2nd).  Besides...2nd Avenue is completely incorrect as it is at least 1000 feet away from where the alleged infraction occurred.  I just don't know if this is worth pursuing.

No really, they do.  Trust me.

No really...they do NOT.  Trust me.

http://g.co/maps/5rh76

[simpson383]

I think all they have to prove is that it happened in their jurisdiction. You could use the error to attack officer credibility if you were arguing he made the whole thing up, but it doesn't make the ticket go poof. I sure wish officer errors weren't so "correctable" at trial...

Yes, call to see if you can pay in advance, depends on the court but some charges will always require an appearance.

[hfranks]

This is City of Atlanta
It states the intersection of East Lake & 2nd Avenue...but those two roads do not intersect.

They do, but not in CoA.

They do not (East Lake Blvd runs between Memorial and Glenwood, parallel to 2nd).  Besides...2nd Avenue is completely incorrect as it is at least 1000 feet away from where the alleged infraction occurred.  I just don't know if this is worth pursuing.

No really, they do.  Trust me.

No really...they do NOT.  Trust me.

http://g.co/maps/5rh76

Keep looking, you'll find it...

[Leah]

You can check online to see if you can pay the ticket in CoA.  Just paid one online for the hubs, and checked to see if mine was payable (wasn't) a few months ago. 

Also, I find that like 99% of tickets get dropped when you go to traffic court anyway unless you're being a douche.  Also the judge will usually give you the lowest fine possible, which is like $100 compared to usually $200-300.

I don't think having the wrong streets would be grounds to argue.

[J. Grouchy]

This is City of Atlanta
It states the intersection of East Lake & 2nd Avenue...but those two roads do not intersect.

They do, but not in CoA.

They do not (East Lake Blvd runs between Memorial and Glenwood, parallel to 2nd).  Besides...2nd Avenue is completely incorrect as it is at least 1000 feet away from where the alleged infraction occurred.  I just don't know if this is worth pursuing.

No really, they do.  Trust me.

No really...they do NOT.  Trust me.

http://g.co/maps/5rh76

Keep looking, you'll find it...

Jesus H Christ!  East Lake BOULEVARD ENDS at Glenwood and Memorial!  I am NOT NOT NOT talking about East Lake fucking DRIVE!