8 proven ways to get a Stop Sign Ticket Dismissed
When driving on the road, you have to follow many simple rules including stopping when there is a stop sign posted. When you are at an intersection and there is a stop sign, you should always stop and be aware of your surroundings before you make any moves. Stop signs are meant to ensure the safety of people and after you stop at a stop sign, you should always be aware of other cars and people around you before you make any sudden movements.
A stop sign ticket is very likely to damage the driving record of the license holder. However, there are specialized lawyers for this type of ticket. The ticket fighter needs to hire a traffic ticket lawyer and let them fight on their behalf.
What is a Stop Sign Ticket?
If you fail to stop at the limit line and are issued a stop sign ticket, then it means that you have violated the traffic law. Stop sign tickets are issued for not stopping at the limit line, crosswalks, or intersection of roads.
Knowing that crossing a limit line and ignoring the stop sign will issue you a stop sign ticket, stopping way before the limit line can also be a violation of the law. Although, stopping way before the limit line is still a violation, the judge will usually offer you some leniency in court while making a decision. The reasoning to this is that you have a brief understanding of the law and you at least made an effort to follow it.
When Will You Receive a Stop Sign Ticket?
Here are some more stop sign laws that will help you understand violations and will alert you about the law.
Usually, the stop sign laws state that the driver of the vehicle must stop at the nearby stop sign indication. Most commonly the stop sign is placed at the beginning of entrances, crosswalks, and intersections. In case that there is no stop sign posted, the driver should stop at the nearest crosswalk and look both ways before entering the road.
The proof that the authority will have against you in any case of this type of violation will be listed below. The case may get stronger or weaker with the availability of evidence from the other side of the story.
- The driver has approached the sign painted on roads or installed by the roadsides.
- The stop sign was installed at the above-specified locations, and it is visible to any driver on the road.
- The driver was not able to completely stop at the stop sign or has crossed the limit line.
- Even if the sign is missing, you must stop at the intersections and entrances.
If you are caught in any way breaking a stop sign law, you can be charged with a ticket for violating the law. If you have gotten a stop sign ticket recently, being the ticket fighter, you would have to make a online traffic ticket payment for immediate submission, hire a traffic court lawyer to help you fight a ticket, or you will have to go into court and fight the ticket alone with very little experience.
How to Get a Stop Sign Ticket Dismissed?
To get a stop sign ticket dismissed, here are some proven ways to do so.
Consulting a lawyer is another side of the story which is also briefly discussed here. So, have a smooth fighting experience ending up in a win-win situation.
1. Challenge an Officer’s Observation
It is rare but potential that an officer could make a mistake. Although the roads these days are technologically equipped with cameras, there are fewer chances of any negligence from the end of those authorities. However, a potential lawyer will surely end up fighting your ticket for you.
It is quite common that the judges will side with what officers have to say, so all you need to do is make the officer’s judgments suspicious by explaining your point repeatedly. If the judge feels like where you are coming from is different from the officer’s observation, then there are chances that you will get your ticket dismissed.
Also if there was any other passengers in the car or observers from other cars watching you get the ticket, it can be another way to differentiate your response from the officers to have a better chance to dismiss your ticket.
2. Challenge an Officer’s Conclusion
Now, when you have tried your absolute best to console the judge that the fault is not yours, you should keep on diverging the officer from his point of view. One way you can diverge the officers point of view is by putting how you got the ticket in another perspective. For example, if you crossed the limit line before stopping, you could say, the brakes in my car are very old and they lead to me not being able to stop perfectly on time before the crosswalk.
So, now is the time to prove this point to the officer as well as to the judge. As there is no objective judgment for stopping at the stop sign, henceforth the judge and officer could not deny the driver’s situation.
3. Justify Your Act
Justifying such an abominable act is not an easy task, However one may justify it by saying that there are reasons why they have crossed the stop sign.
For example, if there was a driver tailgating you and you have just reached a stop sign, a great reason to say that you didn't stop on time was to avoid getting hit. A stop sign ticket is not worth getting hit, so in the scenario, it would've been the best thing to do.
Do not forget to mention the uncontrolled vehicle behind you is on the verge of having a great collision which will do more harm than crossing a stop sign.
Just do it and wait for further response. Further investigation will shed more light on the situation, However you can always come up with your judgments instead of being terrified by the outcomes.
4. Claim That Mistakes Were There
Stop signs are usually posted on the edge of a road entering a crosswalk, but if there is no sign posted, you should still always stop before an intersection/crosswalk to ensure safety and to avoid any collisions possible. If you pay attention to some stop signs and they are not visible, often they have branches of trees covering them or they are posted on the road rather than as a sign. Since trees are sometimes along roadways, you should still always be aware when you are coming to an intersection and fully stop even if the stop sign is covered.
5. Covering your view of the Stop Sign
If you are in court and coming up with the claim that you didn't seen the stop sign because it was covered with shrubs, this will cast a responsibility on the shoulders of authorities to keep a check on the growth of plants alongside the road with the exception of giving you a more lenient final court decision because of the growth of plants leading to the reason you didn't stop at the crosswalk. This will lead to the authorities going out and being able to sort the issue out, so any shrubs covering any important signs in that specific area(Stop/speed limit signs) won’t hamper anyone’s way to see the stop signs.
The obscured stop sign is enough to claim that it is not the driver’s fault. You can take pictures of the site and present that to the court. You can even make a short video of other vehicles and passersby who are not able to see that sign.
A simple yet meaningful claim and the presentation of obscured stop signs, in court, will prove you are not guilty of the accusation. Hence, your ticket will be dismissed.
6. You Stopped to Far Away
Most stop signs require you to stop at some point away from the entrance, crosswalk, or limit line. It means that you have to stop before the white limit line painted on streets before reaching the road. The main purpose to stop at the limit line fully rather than passing it is to be careful that no pedestrians or vehicles are crossing which will minimize the chances of collision.
Many drivers drive very consciously leading to them being used to stop further away from the limit line. Although being careful and stopping before you get to the limit line can avoid hitting a pedestrian, it can also lead to you not seeing other cars when entering the road which can cause a car collision. Although the outcome of a car collision is very unlikely in this situation if the driver looks both ways before entering the road, it is still possible and it is a violation of the law and you can be written a ticket for it.
7. Faded Stop Signs
Stop signs come in various forms. Sometimes they are present on the roadside boards, while other times they are marked on the road before crosswalks and limit lines. The driver before getting a license had to properly learn the meanings of those lines. They will get to know that they are just another form of communicating a stop sign.
However, sometimes they are faded due to the constant passing of vehicles from over them. Although, the faded lines may not be visible to every driver at any time of the day, if a driver has received a stop sign ticket, then they may claim that the line was too faded, and they have not been there on the road before.
If you are true to your words, a picture or a compiled video will help you a lot in fighting a stop sign ticket. Here the law of the state plays a great role. If the law demands that you have to ultimately stop at the intersection, then the claims may not get justified in the court. It is because the negligence lies at the end of the ticket fighter. Otherwise, it is the responsibility of the state to paint those lines that should be visible to everyone.
8. Contact a Traffic Court Lawyer
When the ticket fighter has done everything in his power to try to dismiss their ticket by themselves, they must contact a lawyer for any type of ticket. A CDL lawyer will make things easy and better for the driver, although a lawyer for traffic should have been involved before opting for all or any of the above defense strategies, they are a professional and will guide you from start to finish.
A traffic court lawyer is bound to provide you with all the unique ideas and tell you about all the possibilities that could have occurred during the event of violating the traffic laws.
Contacting a traffic court lawyer is the ultimate solution for stop sign ticket holders. Instead of paying your traffic ticket online to get rid of a stop sign ticket, It is wise to contact a CDL lawyer in the meantime. You won’t regret paying the professional because
Getting the ticket dismissed with careful facts and figures is the only go-to option. Giving a stance that the driver was not aware of the rules will not do any good.
Final Thoughts
A stop sign ticket issued to some drivers will have a major negative impact on their driving records and careers. Their license may also be seized, and they would be on the verge of facing many implications in every other type of life expectancy. To avoid such problems, getting your tickets dismissed is the only solution. You should hire a professional lawyer as soon as possible to avoid any problems and to win your case. At Myticketdismissed.com, you can fight your stop sign ticket and have a 99% chance of winning it. I hope all these pointers and tips about stop sign ticket laws helped you out today and don't be afraid to reach out if you need any help.
If you have any questions or need help with your Traffic Ticket, DUI, DWI, Criminal Case, Auto Accident or any other related questions, just give us a call at 425-278-9922 or email us at ken@myticketdismissed.com.