Contact Springfield Traffic Tickets Today for the Legal Services You Need!

Traffic tickets usually come when you least expect them. Many of us go a long time without receiving a traffic ticket of any kind. After enough time without a ticket, there’s a common tendency to become a bit too complacent with our own driving abilities, thinking we’ve outsmarted the police enough so far, that we can afford to be a bit more “loose” with how we drive.

That’s when the tickets happen. Those red and blue lights grab your attention, and before you know it you’re pulled over on the side of the road looking for your papers.

No one likes a ticket. However, they are necessary for giving drivers the incentive they need to drive safely. That said, there are also times when the police give out unfair tickets, or when you were unjustly pulled over. There are many reasons to fight a ticket, and if you decide to do so, it’s always best to contact a traffic ticket attorney to have them fight your case for you.

Some of the Most Unusual Traffic Tickets Ever Issued

A Police Officer Fined a Man Whom He Ran Over With His Car

Daniel Horne was issued a traffic ticket by the same police officer who veered off the sidewalk and ran over his leg. What could possibly be the reason for this fine? Daniel Horne’s body dented the poor police officer’s vehicle during on impact.

The fine came out to £80 ($103.90).

A woman was ticketed for leaving her vehicle in the same spot since 208 AD

This event occurred in Sicily, where a woman was issued a traffic ticket for leaving her car in the same spot for over 2000 years. Now, obviously this is impossible, but this was the information found on the ticket.

The reason for this is that the officer wrote “208” rather than “2008”. What makes this story worthy of note is that, despite the obvious mistake, the date written down still factored into the amount on the ticket that was issued by the officer, which came out to 32,000 Euros ($44,500 American).

Apparently, when the woman opened the ticket and saw the due amount, she underwent a panic attack and ended up in the hospital. To her relief, however, the ticket was later revised due to the obvious error and she was only required to pay 103 euros.

London Councils Issued Themselves Parking Tickets, Only To Later Refuse To Pay Them

Not only did six boroughs councils in London write up and issue parking tickets to themselves, they also later underwent an arduous 14 stage process that ended in a Parking Appeals tribunal. Gerald Styles, an adjudicator, decided that he couldn’t make an order for costs because the council could not “act wholly unreasonably or vexatiously against itself.”

69 Red Light Cam Tickets Were Issued to a Woman In Albuquerque, New Mexico

In two years, a woman by the name of Amber Gray ran 69 red lights, apparently being ignorant to the fact that these lights were being monitored with cameras. During the same time period, she was also stopped 23 times by police officers for unrelated driving violations.

Her fines ended up exceeding $10,000.

£50 Issued to a Toy Bus That Was Parked On the Side of a road in London for One Month

Giovanni Cortessi owned a salon, and as part of his decor, he wanted to include a toy bus outside thinking it would attract more customers. Although the officer (described by Giovanni as a “killjoy”) ended up issuing a ticket, it was later dismissed on appeal.

Click Here for More Information On These and Other Strange Ticket

Some of the Most Common Traffic Tickets

Most people don’t have to deal with traffic tickets quite as eccentric as those described above. Here are some of the most common traffic tickets people get every day.

Speeding Tickets

This is easily the most common traffic ticket issued for a number of reasons. First of all, it’s such an easy law to break, and most of us do it without even thinking about it. How many times have you been listening to some really good, pulse-increasing music, only to look down and discover you’re driving 15 miles over the limit? Most people also think it’s fine to go five or even ten miles an hour over the limit.

Another factor that makes speeding tickets so common is that a police officer can essentially pull you over for any speeding violation. You could be going a mere five miles over the limit, or two miles under it, and an officer can pull you over.

There aren’t many excuses that will get you out of a speeding ticket either. Even if you were simply “going with the flow of traffic”, an officer is unlikely to let you off with a warning.

Leaving the Scene of an Accident

This is one of the most serious tickets that can be issued. Leaving the scene of the accident is highly illegal. Even minor car accidents need to be taken seriously, as injury due to whiplash can occur. Of course, there’s also damage to a person’s vehicle to take into consideration. All of these factors need to be determined and worked through legally, which is why leaving the scene of an accident is such a serious crime.

Reckless Driving

This may seem like a bit of a vague term. After all, isn’t all driving that results in a ticket by definition “reckless”?

Maybe so, but legally speaking, reckless driving is essentially any kind of driving that is blatantly reckless and totally disregards the safety of others. This can include aggressively speeding around someone and cutting them off, driving in a way that is meant to intimidate other drivings, evading the police, or racing.

Driving Without a Valid License

In any state in the United States, it is illegal to drive without a valid license. However, the fines and consequences of getting caught doing so vary from state to state.

Running a Red Light or Stop Sign

Yes, we covered the woman above who ran 69 red lights in the span of 2 years, however, that’s a pretty uncommon case. Running a red light or stop sign is something people do relatively frequently, and thus end up issued tickets because of this reason.

Despite how common it is, it’s still a serious offense as far as the law is concerned. That said, some factors will probably make your fine more or less expensive. For instance, if you ran a red light because you didn’t want to stop too abruptly on black ice, your fine will likely be lower (many officers will probably let you off with a warning).

That said, blatant disregard for these signs will land you with a hefty ticket.