How do you appeal a ticket given on the way to an inspection?

Question

My fiance recieved a ticket last week for an outdated inspection sticker, he made an appointment to get the car inspected today (8 days after the initial ticket) He got to the car garage and realized that he did not have his insurance card, on his way back to the house to get the insurance card he got pulled over for outdated inspection. He explained to the officer that he was on his way to get it inspected and the officer did not believe him and gave him a ticket. Following that my fiance indeed took it to the garage (immediately after getting pulled over) and it passed inspection. How do we go about appealing such a ridiculous ticket? We live in New Castle PA. any advice is helpful thank you.

Answer 1

Don't bother, you will lose.

Answer 2

Just take the ticket and the proof of inspection to wherever you have to go in your state and tell the truth.  They might not believe you, and I've often found that telling the truth gets you called a liar.  What you do from that point on is up to you.

The way I feel now, if I ran into such a situation, after explaining everything in truth and not being believed, I'd walk off without paying and get myself arrested just to live in truth and not give in to someone just because they don't believe my truth.  That they get the satisfaction of seeing me sit in jail, I can handle free meals and a place to sleep for a few days.  How that affects my job, however, remains to be seen.  It seems like cruel and unusual punishment to put someone in a position in which they lose their job just because some judge who has "heard all the excuses" assumes you're as big of a liar as everyone else is.

Unfortunately, as I've come to get used to living in a world full of people who actually do lie and accuse others of lying, I've become happier, so my truth is delivered with more natural cheerfulness and so the opportunities to make social statements through unjustified arrests have fallen.  Fallen?  h**l, I've never even been arrested except for the one time I was coming out of a hospital and they asked for my permission to put the handcuffs on me.  I allowed it and everything went off without a scene.

Damaeus

Answer 3

When you are issued a ticket it gives you a day and time that you can show up at the court house and state your case and then the judge on duty will decide how this should be handled.  

In PA they usually give you a grace period...not sure how long that is.  But how ridiculous is this ticket considering he is the one that broke the law.  I've been in the situation where I forgot to renew the tag, got a warning and had to turn in proof that it was taken care of and I immediately took care of it as soon as I got home.  Even if this was a case of just forgetting to do it in the first place why did he wait 8 days to do something about it.  Although I think that inspections are mostly a way to make money...they do tend to make sure that your car is in safe working order.  What if your man had bad tires and bad brakes and a bad accident was caused that could have been prevented if he had gone through with the inspection.  I am sorry it sucks but the law is the law suck it up and get over it!

Answer 4

It's not ridiculous, since the cop hears that same old story ALL the time. Pay the fine and remember to get the car inspected before the sticker expires.

Answer 5

I'm not sure how this is a ridiculous ticket.  You freely admit in your statement that your stickers were outdated.  That being said.  You may or may not be able to appeal the ticket.  Go to court with your paperwork from the garage and the judge may toss it.  Or he may tell you that next time you should have it inspected before it expires and fine you.  It really could go either way.  Good luck to you.

Answer 6

I don't quite see how it is a "ridiculous" ticket as you did have outdated stickers.  But, since he got the sticker immediately take the paperwork to court to show that he did indeed get the sticker, tell your story, and the court should get rid of the second ticket and you should only have to pay the first.

Answer 7

Have him take the latest ticket, along with the inspection paperwork, to the District Attorney's office. He can explain the situation to them, and possibly the ticket will be dropped.

Answer 8

This is why responsible citizens get their inspections done BEFORE their sticker expires.

There is also an option to get a temporary license without an inspection, which gives you the ability to legally drive your car to the inspection station.

Either way, you had the ability to do this process legally, and you chose to be irresponsible and drive illegally, therefore the ticket isn't ridiculous. You may get some leniency in court if you show that you got inspection within a few hours of the ticket, but the fact that you already had a ticket for expired inspection sticker will hurt your chances of getting the second ticket dropped.  

Answer 9

I'm sure many have tried saying they were just on there way to get an inspection, so the court may not give that much consideration.

His best chance may be getting some type of record from the garage showing he had an appointment BEFORE he was stopped. Simply getting the inspection may not be enough, proving he intended to get it prior to the stop would be best.

Answer 10

you don't,  you pay it

You violated the law,  man-up and pay the fine.

No weasels allowed

Answer 11

In Arlington, TX, if you get a ticket like that, you just bring the paper work and they will dismiss it for $10.

Answer 12

Go to the court indicated on the ticket on the day and time indicated. Bring a copy of the inspection report or the receipt issued to show you did get an inspection when you said you did.

Since the inspection *was* expired, the judge may still let the ticket stand; going to get an inspection after it expired does not comply with the law, however the judge may decide to let it slide.