Beating a New York City Red light Ticket
It is very important to fight any traffic ticket you receive from a police officer in New York City. This article considers one of the most issued summonses and a very expensive one (over $200 for a first offense) which allocates 3 persistent violator points on your license; namely, a NYC red light violation.
Before we get into how to beat a 1111D1 or a NYC traffic violation, let’s examine the differences between NYC traffic court and traffic court in other parts of NYS. Let’s take Westchester as representative of the rest of NYS and Manhattan as representative of the 5 boroughs.
In Westchester, if you get a red light ticket, you will be allowed to plea bargain with the town prosecutor or police officer who wrote the summons. In most cases, the ticket can be pled down to a non-point violation, especially if your record is good. In Manhattan, even if your record is perfect, you must go to a hearing and if you lose, bang!! You get 3 points and a fine of over $200, the full penalty of the law.
In addition, many more red light tickets are issued in NYC then elsewhere in NYS. This happens because NYC is so populous. Also, the evidence and proedure rules in NYC are far more favorable to police then those in the rest of NYS. The burden of proof in NYC is lower for the police then in the rest of the state too.
What can a lawyer do for you? Quite simply, a competent and experienced lawyer is your best defense in beating a NYC red light.
There are certain things that an officer must say in order to get a motorist guilty of an 1111D1. They are 1. The light was working in all phases prior to and after the stop; 2. The motorist disobeyed a circular disc light or directional arrow light signal; 3. No other officer was directing traffic; 4. No emergency vehicles were present; 5. An accurate description of the roadway including a stop line or pedestrian cross walk or both, and 6. A description of where the motorist was in terms of the intersection prior to the stop, etc.
It is very important to hire a good lawyer to dismiss your NYC red light ticket
Michael Spevack, Esq. is a NYC traffic ticket attorney with more then 15 years experience in beating traffic tickets in NYC. He is a graduate of NYU School of Law, and would be glad to help you beat your summons.