Do I really need a lawyer for this relatively minor traffic ticket?

February 6, 2007 12:48 PM

TrafficTicketFilter: I was in a minor accident where I rear-ended someone because traffic stopped suddenly and I was unable to stop in time. Do I really need a lawyer for the court date regarding my ticket?

My court date is tomorrow and I haven't gotten myself a lawyer yet. I figure there's no way I can possibly plead not guilty to "failure to slow down to avoid collision" when I collided with someone. While I could argue to the death that the accident was unavoidable, it's pretty easy for someone to say "no it wasn't, you hit him."

This falls under chapter 90-11-601a of the driving code, which regards "General speed restrictions" and according to Illinois' points system is one of the lowest scoring ones.

Of course, if the guy doesn't show up the charge is immediately dropped. I'm not sure if he'll show or not, as it was a relatively minor fender-bender.

If he does show up, I'm figuring on pleading guilty and requesting court supervision / traffic school since my driving record is 100% clean. I'd been figuring that public counsel is all that I need for this, but now I'm second guessing myself and worrying. Will the judge tell me I'm stupid for not having a lawyer and make me reschedule?

Also, any idea how much this ticket might cost me if the judge is feeling surly? This would be in the NW suburbs of Chicago...

posted by twiggy to law & government (13 comments total)

You'll probably be fine. Most people who go to traffic court don't have a lawyer unless they're repeat offenders or DUI-ers facing license suspension.
posted by croutonsupafreak at 12:50 PM on February 6, 2007

Dunno about the charges but it would seem that you are still going to held liable for the damages to the other car.You may want to at least talk to a lawyer to see if there is something you can do to avoid the fallout from your insurance company.
posted by JJ86 at 12:56 PM on February 6, 2007

I had the same exact thing happen to me - traffic stopped and I did not. I showed up, the cop showed up, but the other people in the accident did not. I got no points and I did not even have to pay the fine that was on the ticket (only about $80). Dress nice, be on time and be humble.
posted by chiababe at 1:01 PM on February 6, 2007

If you're not a jerk about it and your record's clean, the judge will most likely grant your request for supervision / driving school. Which doesn't make the accident not your fault of course, so if the other driver files claims it will still affect your insurance.

In a situation like yours, probably the main benefit of having a lawyer is so that they go to court in your place - most states (including Illinois, I believe) don't require that you show up personally if you have legal representation there - really handy for handling out-of-state speeding tickets. In trickier (or repeat-offender) situations they give you a definite advantage in working through the system, but this sounds pretty cut and dried; I wouldn't worry about a lawyer unless you can't make the scheduled court date.

IANAL, but I did research a similar thing a few years ago.
posted by chundo at 1:25 PM on February 6, 2007

Indeed, there is a growing business of traffic ticket lawyers in my city. They go down before the court date to see if they can get you out of it (usually a non-accicent moving violation is brought down to a parking ticket plus the original fine). Its nice in that you dont have to show up, however the negative impact is that there is no real consequence for speeding or running red lights, other than the monetary fine (which most people dont care about).
posted by SirOmega at 1:41 PM on February 6, 2007

No need for a lawyer in light of what your goals are here (traffic school). Had the same thing happen to me years ago.
posted by taliaferro at 1:48 PM on February 6, 2007

You can't ever get away with arguing that rear-ending someone was unavoidable. If you say that you couldn't possibly have braked any earlier and/or come to a stop any faster then you're admitting to following too closely.
posted by winston at 2:11 PM on February 6, 2007

I got into the same connondrum. The officer impressed upon me that it was his duty to give me the ticket albeit it was somewhat unwarrented. I went to court and he didn't show, thus expunging the ticket. You could try postponing the hearing, the officer will probably no show for that...
posted by stratastar at 2:42 PM on February 6, 2007

Lately, the rage in my city has involved citizens asking for officer notes, etc. for traffic court. They are entitled to this under "discovery" and sometimes that indicates a serious challenge to the ticket and a no-show if it was an iffy ticket.

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posted by Gerard Sorme at 3:34 PM on February 6, 2007

you're gonna have to plead not guilty, whcih means you will have to wait a while before the judge will hear your case. your fine should be less then $100, and traffic school shouldn't be required, if you are found guilty or plead no contest.

if the other driver is not there, they will not necessarily throw it out automatically. sometimes the cop will testify against you. this is likely to happen ... because cook county is running out of money. for what understand, and have experienced, rolling meadows is a bit easier then markham, so you're probably better off in that regard.

sometimes, though, wierd things can happen ... i watched a guy get off with a no contest plea despite the fact he hit a kid in a crosswalk, and i was there as a third party witness against him. i don't think he was even fined.
posted by lester's sock puppet at 4:47 PM on February 6, 2007

In both states where I've had traffic tickets, the first court date is to try to get you to plead guilty. You're just supposed to show up, plead guilty, and pay a fine.

If you have the temerity of actually claiming that you're innocent, then they'll schedule another court date for the real trial. Sometimes they may opt not to prosecute: that depends on how your local system works. Sometimes the prosecution is automatic, sometimes it's discretionary.

Most likely, you just want to show up tomorrow and say 'not guilty'. If they go ahead and schedule a court date for you, think fast... you may want to say that you're going to get a lawyer. You obviously haven't decided to do that yet. You don't have to have one yet, just express the intent of getting one if you're going to. I think they use that info for scheduling.

Again, the first hearing is USUALLY where they hope you'll just cave and pay them. If you show signs of fighting and it's a minor offense, they may just drop it.
posted by Malor at 5:33 PM on February 6, 2007

Since the court date is tomorrow, it might be too late for this but you should observe a court session to see what you have in store for you. It helps you to know to sequence of things, especially if you are doing this without a lawyer. If your hearing is in the afternoon, take the whole day off and watch the morning session.

You can't ever get away with arguing that rear-ending someone was unavoidable. If you say that you couldn't possibly have braked any earlier and/or come to a stop any faster then you're admitting to following too closely.

Right, but you can successfully argue that there was no accident and no infraction for you to be charged with if there is no witness (the rear-endee). The officer will say, "Mr. Jones said..." and you say, "Objection, this is hearsay your honor." If the officer did not see the collision, s/he cannot offer any testimony about it except the damages that were apparent upon their arrival. If your bumper is messed up, there are many possible reasons for this; If you testify that the vehicle in front of you was damaged before you hit it and there is nobody to contradict your testimony then you have scored.

The prosecuting attorney will have a lot of cases to deal with and some of them will involve people driving under the influence or committing more serious crimes than you, he or she will want to to dicker you down as fast as possible to get the big fish.

Dress nicely, be humble, and stand up for yourself.
posted by peeedro at 10:51 PM on February 6, 2007

Update: Other party didn't show up, I didn't need a lawyer, ticket was thrown out and dismissed without question and my license was returned.

Woohoo!

Thanks for all of the answers/advice.
posted by twiggy at 1:16 PM on February 7, 2007