How do you find information on Violation 24603B?

Question

I was pulled over for my right brake light being out but after having it inspected by a mechanic and the local police dept the officer advised me to contest my ticket. The reason being she asked if the officer had me 'test/pump' the brake. When I said he didnt she instantly advised to contest because it was obvious she said my light was functioning.

Now the fun thing is when my lights are turned on the light for the right break light is 'dim' but still visibly on. When my brakes are used it fully lights up in equal brightness to my left light... this was at 4:30am PST btw.

The thing is she asked if he had me test my lights.. so Im trying to find out if there is some California code or some legal reference stating the steps / procedures an officer is supposed to do when pulling someone over for a light being out????

It seemed odd to me she immediately gave me the recommendation to contest when i said the officer did not have me test my lights...

Thanks for any insight offered.

Answer 1

Holy smoke.  Much ado about nothing.

This is a fix-it ticket.  Fix the light (or don't, if you're saying it already works), show a cop that it works, get the ticket signed off and turn it in to the court.  You're not being charged with bank robbery here.

No, there is no standard testing procedure for a citation to be issued for 24603 VC.  If the light works, it works.  If it doesn't work when the officer sees it, you can be cited.  There's no reason to go through any series of tests to see if maybe the light will work nine out of ten times - it's supposed to work every time.  You saying the light is dimmer than it should be (which is very likely another violation) and then works fine when the brake is applied should be a clue that maybe your brake light isn't working 100% the way it should.

You can contest this if you want.  You'll save ten bucks and spend most of a day in court to do it.  There's really no argument to make here, though; the cop will say the brake light didn't work, you'll show the judge it does, and the judge will say, "Okay, it works.  Thanks for coming."

The whole idea here is that you have a working brake light.  You're not going to prison.

Answer 2

This is a pretty simple traffic court case. You do not need the police procedure. Contest the ticket, subpoena the ticketing officer, obtain written documentation that the light is functioning from your mechanic. Bring the documentation to court for the Judge. Explain the situation, including that the officer did not ask you to test the light. Typically the defendant will win against a ticket.