Fighting a ticket in court

[ShantJ]

Hey guys.

A few days ago, I got a ticket for supposedly not stopping for a stop sign. After diligently stopping and turning right, a cop came out of nowhere and stopped me.

I KNOW for a fact that I stopped. Is the dash cam video available to me?

Any help is appreciated.

[TwoZs]

I just asked around at work and got different opinions. Some people believe it's available to you under the FOIA (freedom of information act), and that you contact your local police department to "order" a copy (at a charge). Others say it's only available to someone like a defense lawyer and that you should get a lawyer even for a traffic stop (some lawyers work on this type of thing for a set reasonable fee in Texas). One guy said it's not available until the case is adjudicated. No one seemed to have any personal experience of recent vintage although I got lots of stories about how the police watch your rim to see if it completely stops moving, and how that happened to them 20-some years ago. Lots of speeding ticket experience, however, and everyone seemed to say it's cheaper to just go to traffic school to get rid of the ticket as then it does not go on your record plus you get an insurance discount for taking a driving safety course.

[TwoZs]

2nd post - one of my friends said to google it (dash cam rules/footage) as there is some sort of open records act in some states. Have no idea if that works in CA an I'm sure someone who lives there will chime in soon. I do have a good friend who is a policemen in So. Cal and I can ask him this weekend if no one else has the answer for you by then.

[Ludercrz]

yup... going 0.1 mph is not considered stopping. if by any chance you were still slightly rolling before you took off again he could've nabbed you on that. you literally have to be at a complete stop and wait 1-2 seconds while fully stopped to do your direction checks and then you can go.

it's annoying and alot of people actually overlook that stuff to save time but the cops don't

[Scotty001]

Concur with TwoZs and Ludercrz..

Also - depending on where the cop was sitting, the dash cam may not of been pointed in your direction.. Could be even more costly to contest.. But, if directly behind you.. and you are sure a complete stop was made - you may have a case...??

[wicked1]

I've been rolling stops a lot lately, to get higher MPG. I take a good look around to be sure no people or vehicles are around, and roll through in 2nd. It really does help the MPG! But, if a cop is ever sitting a block down or something, I'd be in trouble.

[TinTin]

its pretty much he said she said IMO, you can usually request disclosure (at least in canada) which is the officer's notes on the incident. Usually they are damning evidence in your case the officer could write something like.

Date of the 3rd of whatever month 2011, officer ****goblin and i witnessed mr nice guy come to a rolling stop on the intersection of right street and wrong street. there were no vehicles around mr nice guy and no vehicles or no other individuals involved in the incident.

then you are screwed because then its you saying there is a witness and them not.

You could just plead your case but really everyone blows stopsigns or just rolls through them. I see it every day. I do it. Who has time to stop these days? So its not like you can say the officer profiled you. He just needed to meet his quota for that day and you were the unlucky SOB that he picked.

sorry for the bad news

[VTEC Mini]

Just remember here in Cali we are in a sever money shortage and the idiots- I mean the government is using the CHP to generate revenue so be careful!

[ShantJ]

I'm fairly certain that I came to a complete stop.

I don't typically "roll through" stop signs.