minor traffic ticket - fight or not?

[duke600]

What do you think about fighting a minor traffic ticket like stop sign or careless driving? If you fight it and plead no contest or whatever the legal term is, it's still on the court records but not on your driving record as guilty.

The purpose of fighting it would be for it to not show up on your record but if on the airline application says have you ever had any or list ALL infractions or violations, and you don't list and they find it through court records or something like that you will be in hot water.

I figure you will list it on the app either way if you get out of it or not, so is it worth fighting?

 

[Mr Wu]

Depends on what State you are in. Here in FL, no one has access to your first ticket if you take driving school. I would put it on your airline app anyway as it will probably not have an impact on their decision to hire you, but will definately be grounds for firing you if they find out later.

 

[satpak77]

What do you think about fighting a minor traffic ticket like stop sign or careless driving? If you fight it and plead no contest or whatever the legal term is, it's still on the court records but not on your driving record as guilty.

The purpose of fighting it would be for it to not show up on your record but if on the airline application says have you ever had any or list ALL infractions or violations, and you don't list and they find it through court records or something like that you will be in hot water.

I figure you will list it on the app either way if you get out of it or not, so is it worth fighting?

Try to defense driver it and make it go away...barring that, personally call the City Attorney's office or District Attorney (who ever is prosecuting this) and personally speak to the prosecutor involved. Ask in plain English "Look, this is my situation, how can we resolve this" and tell that person straight up about your aviation career and how you indeed want to resolve it, to include paying a fine or taking defense driving.

Inquire about Deferred Adjudication as this allows your record to remain clean. Here is a Texas law summary of this concept.

http://www.ci.desoto.tx.us/deferred.htm

At application time/interview time/etc, if this thing does show up, you can discuss how you proactive resolved it (versus accept the ticket, screw the cops, etc) and learned from it.

Good luck

 

[FN FAL]

What do you think about fighting a minor traffic ticket like stop sign or careless driving? If you fight it and plead no contest or whatever the legal term is, it's still on the court records but not on your driving record as guilty.

The purpose of fighting it would be for it to not show up on your record but if on the airline application says have you ever had any or list ALL infractions or violations, and you don't list and they find it through court records or something like that you will be in hot water.

I figure you will list it on the app either way if you get out of it or not, so is it worth fighting?

Prevent further infractions, by getting a driver's handbook from DMV and reading what is printed in there.

 

[satpak77]

Prevent further infractions, by getting a driver's handbook from DMV and reading what is printed in there.

:laugh:

 

[FN FAL]

:laugh:

I have done the city attorney thing twice, in both cases it worked out pretty good, one time better than the other. But it depends on what kind of mood these guys are in. A lot of times, they will work with you on the charge, but the city still wants the money.

As for fighting tickets? There was one back in 1987, I wished I would have fought, but it's a moot point now.

Deuputy was oncoming, clocked the lead car of a four car platoon on a two lane federal highway. He then made a U turn accross the highway and clocked the trail car of the platoon and then pulled all four of us over. I was in the middle.

Since that deputy never clocked my car or painted it specifically, that ticket shouldn't have stuck. If something like that happened today, I'd take the time and money to go to court on it.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

How bad are a few traffic violation tickets for applying to an airline? A few spaced many yrs apart?

 

[FN FAL]

How bad are a few traffic violation tickets for applying to an airline? A few spaced many yrs apart?

I wouldn't worry, the subject never came up on my Mesaba interview five years ago.

 

[FreeFaller]

Rumor has it that a Delta guy got fired for "lying" about not ever having gotten a ticket since the ticket he did get he went to traffic school and it was "supposed" to be expunged, but wasn't. You got a ticket, big deal.
A few unrelated tickets, spread out over time, shouldn't be a real problem.

 

[satpak77]

I don't think a few tickets over a few years is gonna cost you anything. However, I did know personally someone who had a Air Force Pilot "slot" due to ROTC scholarship and his 10 tickets in College gave him some security clearance issues. Never found out what happened to him.

Criminal and Traffic History is a "Behavior Record", one or two tickets, especially if not related (one is speeding, another is expired inspection sticker), are no big deal. Five school-zone tickets or 10 "exhibition of acceleration" and what would YOU do if you were the Chief Pilot and green-lighting resumes for interview?

With major airlines paying bucks to get background checks done thoroughly (post 9-11 world), I would admit to ALL tickets and if its not on the record, admit to it, and say "however it should not be on my record"

FN FAL - yeah your would have beat that ticket I am sure....heck most first time DUI's are plead down to a lesser charge if there is any chance the defendant will fight it....I am not sure how he could honestly testify that you, bearing license plate XYZ, was in fact speeding, a fact he factually knows since he clocked your vehicle (which he did not). Other issues is radar gun calibration, officer/radar training records, etc

Oh well

later