Question for Officer: Ticket for Following too closely?

[Bob O]

FredS- I don t know about every community but when i am sent to an accident scene it is my discretion if a citation is to be issued or not. If a crime is committed ie-drunken driving etc, their is no discretion but in other non-criminal situations i make the determination if a citation is to be issued and unless their is something out of the ordinary i will almost ALWAYS issue a citation as after 22 yrs of experience that is the best way to educate the driver so they hopefully dont do the same actions again and should suffer a penalty for causing an accident and damaging the other car and taking up the other parties time having to deal with an accident/insurance company etc.
As for lawyers again every community can be different but in mine they know the best way to play "lets make a deal" Where they barter with the the city attorney who is happy to have somone plead guilty to a no-point violation as long as they city gets the same fine amount. Unless the driving record is bad they are happy to let someone plead guilty to obstructing trafffic which is no points and looks better on a driving record than speeding/failure to yeild right of way etc.
And i have never heard of a city/dept policy where you are required to speed when going to an assignment. When officers do respond to burglaries in progress/man with a gun etc you will often turn off your lights/siren when close to the assignment because you dont want to telegraph your arrival to the suspect who then can better plan his attack on you. Of course you should do this in a safe/proper manner which isnt always done.

 

[Steve H.]

Originally posted by KathyTX
Steve,

If the OP lives in Alabama and the ticket's in Atlanta, that could mean as much as a 5 hour drive each way. The drive, plus spending an undefined amount of time waiting around in traffic court, plus missing a day's work, plus the liklihood of needing an Atlanta hotel room the night before, plus the stress of having to brave the horrific Atlanta driving conditions again...

...paying an Atlanta attorney to avoid the hassle might be a bargain!

(If the OP were an Atlanta local, I agree that this would be much simpler.)

Good point -- I'll be honest, I didn't look to see where the OP was from, so I agree, it would likely be easier (and possibly cheaper) to have someone take care of it for her. My bad on that one.