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This one should be interesting. My wife was driving to her Dermatologist's office in the afternoon. The GPS messed up the location and she was trying to find the doctor's office. It was a 35mph internal road and she was doing 15 or 20mph and trying to turn right to the lane that leads to the Doctor's office.
A cop showed up and cited her for "39.4:97.1 driving at slow speeds impeding traffic". Funny part was, there was no car behind! He was understanding and actually showed my wife where the doctor's office was but still ended up giving a ticket.
Seems the ticket has a penalty of $85 and 2 points, not including the potential increase in insurance premium (which is in my name as primary insured)
We have entered a "not guilty" plea online with court date set for 6/22. This is her first offense and understandably, she's pretty shaken up.
What are our chances of winning the no guilty plea? Will the prosecutor consider first time offense and since it's not a serious offense, can the case be dropped?
I am no expert by any means, however everytime I have gotten a ticket the prosecutor has lessened the ticket. I even fought a parking ticket once and lost and the judge lessened the ticket. I will say though its up to the town some are good and some are bad.
Dont tell your wife to frett,she wasnt causing harm to the public and the prosecutor will take it lightly most likely with no points. I once got a driving to slow ticket by going the speed limit in NJ. I was a younger driver (in college) on a two lane road down the shore with the speed limit was 35mph. I was in the left lane and a cop pulled behind me so I drove 35mph (the speed limit) in traffic and got a ticket for impeding traffic by driving the speed limit.
At the time I had out of state tags and points/tickets didnt transfer to my home state so I just paid the ticket.
Pay for a traffic lawyer. Kenneth Vercammen (out of Middlesex) has removed the points from two tickets, one in Middletown and the other in Sea Bright.
You will pay more, his fee and and the penalty amount, but no points. He will meet you on your court date, speak to the prosecutor and do all the work.
I wouldn't recommend a lawyer, they cost too much and this is an easy discussion. Just go in and tell your story, and the prosecutor will likely lessen the charge.
I agree with Danny. Get a letter from her doctors office stating her appointment date and time and show it to the prosecutor. They have bigger fish to fry so they most likely will have her pay the fine with no points or possibly dismiss it. I used to work radar and this is a bs ticket if no other traffic was delayed.
I would say about 98% of the time they will offer you a different charge BUT the trick is knowing WHICH charge they offer you instead.
One of them they offer most everyone has no points BUT costs about $475 by the time you add the surcharges and you can only get it a certain amount of times before it backfires and you get even more points instead of ZERO.
There is another one that if the prosecutor is more sympathetic it costs about $75 and is ZERO points.
You can lookup details online but it's extortion anyway, particularly in your case where no other traffic was around.
Another friend of mine was recently pulled over on the Interstate in NJ for going 64 in a 65, knowing their was a trooper behind him. He talked his way into a warning instead, but its outright nuts.
Also just be stern that you're in the right when talking to the prosecutor. The last thing the prosecutor and cop want is to bring a BS ticket to ticket. If they are you plea such as take this other ticket, which is more money but no points I would just refuse. In many cases they will call you back, and offer a better deal.
I've done it both with a lawyer and on my own. In both instances, speaking to the prosecutor resulted in a higher fine, but zero points. In the long-term not having any points will reduce your insurance premiums. You can do this without having a lawyer. But it certainly helps to have the lawyer in case your wife gets anxious.
I'm not an expert in NJ traffic laws, but IME in traffic enforcement, if what you're staying is true at face value, and there is nothing more to the story, I would push to get this dismissed. If you can prove she was slowing to make a turn, this is a dismissible cite for even the dumbest of attys. Note that my experience is in another state so YMMV
Section: 39:4-97.1: Slow speeds as blocking traffic
No person shall drive a motor vehicle at such a slow speed as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic except when reduced speed is necessary for safe operation or in compliance with law.
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