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Posted by David Sherman [24.32.202.83] on Saturday, April 03, 2010 at 15:12:52 :
In Reply to: Re: This woudnt happen in a Power Wagon.... posted by Kaegi [24.113.81.122] on Saturday, April 03, 2010 at 14:03:24 :
It's true that if you were really driving, you'd have to lie to the judge, but if you really weren't driving you can't prove a negative and I don't see how they can hold you responsible. Traffic tickets are civil matters, which means they only have to prove their case by a "preponderance of evidence" rather than "beyond reasonable doubt". Nonetheless, it seems to me there needs to be SOME evidence that you were driving, and the fact that the car is registered to you doesn't prove it. If you want, I can give you the number of a Seattle lawyer who comes highly recommended for being able to get you out of just about any traffic ticket. I have not used him myself, but he's apparently worked miracles for a lead-footed friend of mine. I've been in court and watched those guys in action and they definitely know all the magic words and they always get their clients' tickets dismissed. The trouble is that paying the ticket is cheaper than paying the lawyer, so it's only worth doing if you're in danger of having your insurance rates raised or losing your license.
From the government point of view, I suspect that the difference in revenue between a fine paid in full and a fine cut in half at a mitigation hearing is nothing compared to the cost of maintaining the courtroom and its bureaucracy and paying the magistrate. Even if everybody challenges their red-light-camera tickets and looses, the cost of the challenges will eat up the revenue fast.
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