Quote:
Originally Posted by forza370z
^^ But if I spend this $25 there is a chance that the cop can't make it to the court and I could slide? It's like buying a scratch ticket.  |
I'm not sure about MA but here in NY often times police officers get time and a half for court appearances, so they have an economic incentive to appear in court against you. Many police officers I know significantly supplement their base salaries with court overtime. Don't count on him/her not showing up.
IMO the ticket is worth fighting, however, since often times (again based upon what happens in NY) the local prosecutor is willing to reduce the moving violation (= points on your license) down to a non-moving violation (= no points). The town benefits because they get to keep all of the revenue generated from non-moving violations (whereas they get to keep only a fraction of the fines associated with moving violations and thus have an economic incentive to offer the plea) except for a mandatory surcharge which goes to the state. The police officer gets time and a half for appearing in court. You pay a fine but no points are assessed against your license and your insurance premiums don't go up by an amount which would greatly exceed the fine. Everybody "wins".
YMMV in MA. Good luck.