Pulled Over for Having a Headlight Out, Accused of Following Too Closely
My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: California
Tonight I was pulled over for a headlight that was out and supposedly 'following too close.' It was the first time I was ever blatantly lied to by an officer to my face.
The officer saw me waiting to make a left turn from oncoming traffic before he turned right. After he turned, I let another car pass and made my left turn onto the same road traveling in the same direction as the police officer. I made a left into my nearest lane, so now the police officer is ahead of me in the lane next to me. He slows down and cuts me off; he proceeds to slow from about 20 mph to exactly 16 and I am quickly forced to do so myself. Then he switches lanes again, slows down even more to get behind me, and pulls me over.
I had no idea my head light was out so I'm kind of freaked out at the moment. I thought he must think I'm driving a stolen car. The first thing he tells me is that my headlight is out, and then he also asks me if I had been drinking. Not a drop. Then he proceeds to tell me that I was following too close to him for a matter of seconds AFTER he cut me off! Then as he wrote the citation he lied about my speed!! He said i was following too close at 30mph. I told him I clocked him cutting me off at 20 mph and i had to immediately reduce my speed to 16mph. On the ticket, he also first had written 20mph THEN WROTE OVER IT with 30mph making it essentially illegible. I honestly don't know what it says because he changed it on the ticket, but he denied that I slowed to 16 mph after he switched lanes directly in front of me without any space for me to leave between us. Which is impossible because I would have rear ended him, and he would have been doing the same speed as I was.
So NOW he tells me he never switched lanes in the first place!! i thought i was dreaming. he told me that if I argued with him he would impound my car!! Is there anything I can do in court or will this guy just lie his way through the trial?
Re: Following Too Close As a Reason to Find Drunk Drivers
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Quoting
Cinema
The officer saw me waiting to make a left turn from oncoming traffic before he turned right. After he turned, I let another car pass and made my left turn onto the same road traveling in the same direction as the police officer. I made a left into my nearest lane, so now the police officer is ahead of me in the lane next to me. He slows down and cuts me off; he proceeds to slow from about 20 mph to exactly 16 and I am quickly forced to do so myself. Then he switches lanes again, slows down even more to get behind me, and pulls me over.
Sounds as if he noticed that headlight out. That's a legitimate reason to make the stop (VC 24400 or 24250 - take your pick).
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The first thing he tells me is that my headlight is out, and then he also asks me if I had been drinking. Not a drop.
A standard question.
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Then he proceeds to tell me that I was following too close to him for a matter of seconds AFTER he cut me off! Then as he wrote the citation he lied about my speed!! He said i was following too close at 30mph. I told him I clocked him cutting me off at 20 mph and i had to immediately reduce my speed to 16mph. On the ticket, he also first had written 20mph THEN WROTE OVER IT with 30mph making it essentially illegible. I honestly don't know what it says because he changed it on the ticket, but he denied that I slowed to 16 mph after he switched lanes directly in front of me without any space for me to leave between us. Which is impossible because I would have rear ended him, and he would have been doing the same speed as I was.
What specific code sections were you cited for?
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So NOW he tells me he never switched lanes in the first place!! i thought i was dreaming. he told me that if I argued with him he would impound my car!! Is there anything I can do in court or will this guy just lie his way through the trial?
Well, he couldn't impound your car for arguing with you ... he shouldn't have made that threat. And, clearly, one of you is mistaken. It might be you, it might be the officer. Unfortunately for you, the officer's account is going to be the one most likely believed by the court unless this officer has a history with the court ... and, if he does, he shouldn't be working anymore.
About all you can do is address the violations specifically and attempt to establish reasonable doubt - at least for an offense related to speed or following too closely. You're kinda stuck on the headlight out, however.
What were the code sections cited?
Re: Following Too Close As a Reason to Find Drunk Drivers
24252 (a), headlight which is correctable
And 21703 following too close. I understand the headlight but why switch into my lane and reduce speed in front of me and then double back to pull me over? It seemed like he created my infraction by switching lanes too close to me (id say about 5-10 feet!). I understand that an officer can manipulate a situation wherein he decides to pull someone over but the fact is the information on the ticket is just wrong in terms of speed and when I mentioned otherwise he told me he could just impound my car.
Re: Following Too Close As a Reason to Find Drunk Drivers
All you can do is present reasonable doubt as to the following too close violation if you can. If he did as you say, then I would tend to agree with you that this was an offense of his own making. But, I am sure his account will be different from yours.
Perhaps look at making your case as a trial by written declaration, first, and then if you lose, going for the trial de novo.