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Over the years I have heard of some pretty awful defense strategies people use to try and get out of a traffic ticket. You cant blame them though. A lot of these individuals were simply relying on so called insider information they heard from a friend.

This article will outline five of the biggest mistakes you can make when battling your traffic ticket in court. Familiarize yourself with them and never use them in traffic court.

Mistake #1- Delaying the Court Trial

The rationale for this, some say, is that the longer you can delay traffic court for your traffic ticket, the likelier the chance the police officer won’t show up at your court date.

Do not try to delay your date with the traffic court. You will not increase the likelihood the officer wont be there and thus having your traffic ticket thrown out.

The question I’ve always had was if you do put off your court date, what do you do when he still shows up?

Traffic officers get paid overtime to be in traffic court. They don’t bring them off their patrols to be there.

Mistake #2- Request the Prosecution’s Evidence Before Trial.

By law you do have a legal right to see everything the prosecution plans to convict you with. This process is called ‘discovery’ and can be useful in a murder trial. But this isn’t a murder trial and doing so can actually hurt your case.

Requesting evidence before any kind of trial tells the prosecution you are planning a defense. He will see this as a challenge and will undoubtedly prepare accordingly, making your chances of winning almost impossible.

Don’t give the prosecution a heads up that you know anything about traffic court proceedings. Do not contact them prior to your traffic court date.

Mistake #3- Doing a lot of needless research

There is no need to spend any time reading boring law books. Its pointless.

For most traffic tickets it is pointless to read up on case law before traffic court. Except on the rare occasion that you may want to see how a certain statute is worded.

Mistake #4- Going after the police officers credibility

If your defense is to go to traffic court and try to make the officer who gave you the traffic ticket look like an idiot, don’t waste your time. Using any number of ridiculous excuses like the police officer singled you out or that he used the radar gun improperly will not work.

Never go into a courtroom with the intent to challenge the officer’s training of the radar/laser gun. This type of defense is always attacked by the judge. He will accept the officer’s testimony as to his training and will tell you to ask your next question.

Its just understood that the officer has the proper training on the speed detecting equipment he or she used to give you a traffic ticket. There’s no question about it. Say you do try this defense, where are you going to get the evidence the judge will ask for to support your claim?

Mistake #5- Showing up to traffic court unprepared.

This is by far the biggest mistake people will make when fighting a traffic ticket. They go to court, thinking they’ve done their homework, when in reality everything they did leading up to the trial was in vain. They’re research was done the WRONG WAY and as a result, they lose their case before they even had a chance to defend themselves.

And then there are the people who show up to traffic court thinking the judge will have pity on them if they just tell their side of the story. Yeah right!

Look, I know the thought of going to traffic court can be a little scary for some, but this isn’t a murder trial. It’s just a simple traffic ticket. Traffic court is set up to be extremely ‘user friendly’ due to the large amounts of people who go there every day.

If you avoid these 5 mistakes you will have a better chance of claiming your victory in traffic court, and hopefully getting that traffic ticket thrown out.

Looking to find the best information on traffic court? Then visit www.Paytrafficviolation.com to find the best advice on traffic violations and how to fight them. Also published at Fighting Your Traffic Ticket: Don’t Make These 5 Foolish Mistakes.