Getting a ticket for an unsafe lane change?

I was driving home, it was dark, and i made a lane change to the left, i wasnt speeding and i had my signal on.

a cop pulls me over saying i cut him off and made him go into the middle divider, when swear i checked both mirrors AND my blind spot. What DID happen was i DID see a car (3-4 car spaces behind me) going about 43 mph and i didnt know it was a cop.

Im a pretty safe and slow driver, so probably by the time i had switched lanes he was right behind me.

i didnt speed, i was going 37 on a 40 zone and i had my signal on.

ive never heard of somebody getting a ticket for something so ridiclouse!!

cops are just giving out tickets for the most b.s reasons to gain some money for the government in an economic time like this!!!!!

i dont know if its worth fighting and what happens if i fight it and loose? or the cop shows up?

and how much is the ticket?

what should i do?



btw; he cited it as a 21658(a)cvl and put it as an infraction.Getting a ticket for an unsafe lane change?
You were going 3 miles below the speed limit he was going 3 miles above. You either should have speed up to the speed limit or let him pass before you changed over. At night things look different then during the day.Getting a ticket for an unsafe lane change?
YOU moved into a lane in front of a vehicle traveling FASTER than you. EVERYTHING else is extraneous. You ARE guilty.

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In the dark what looks like 3 or 4 car lengths back is usually 2 car lengths back. You did all the right things at the wrong time.

You can try fighting it but it's your word against the cop.

You can call the court house for the cost of the ticket. Just have the ticket with you when you call and they will tell you what you owe.
Cops don't hand out citations to get money, about 3% of the ';profits'; that my department gets for the citations actually goes to the department. The other 97% goes to courts, cities, roads, jails, and the state. So using ';the cops write tickets to gain money'; is just plain stupid, the cops don't get a DIME of it. We are not getting rich from writing tickets, we (personally) don't get to keep any of the money, so I don't write so you have to pay, I write because it will stop you (sometimes) from doing whatever it was you did wrong.



Traffic Violations in most states are only ';Infractions'; they are not criminal. Go and fight it, but the cop will be there with his report, the dash camera, audio recording of the stop, and whatever else he feels is important to the case.
Buddy is probably pretty close, the po po was probably a little closer than you thought. Even if he was a full 3 - 4 car lengths behind it sounds like it was too close, you should have waited until he was past. As a police supervisor I can't speak for all cops of course, but I can tell you for a fact that we couldn't care less about the economy and making money for the government - some really small towns might pressure their officers to do that but in most places the cops feel it's up to the city to better manage their money. We get nothing for a ticket, except sometimes OT for court. It sounds to me like you are a pretty safe driver. Go to court, ask for a Deferred, if they don't offer that plead not guilty - ask for a trial by the judge. Then tell the judge your version but don't bad mouth the officer - most judges don't like that and you may prejudice them against you. Good Luck.

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