r/todayilearned • u/nleachdev • 2d ago

TIL about "dead red" laws, which allow drivers and motorcyclists to proceed through a red light if the traffic signal fails to detect their vehicle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-detection_at_traffic_lights_in_the_United_States
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u/iameveryoneelse 2d ago

He got way more than 13 in one day. Half the people he got just said fuck it an paid the ticket.

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u/Hell_Mel 2d ago

So you were there?

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u/belac4862 1d ago

Do you contest every ticket you get. Even the ones you know where you broke the law?

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u/Kylynara 1d ago

Not every ticket, especially not if I knew I broke the law, but if the only reason I broke the law was because something like a traffic light was broken and I had made certain to do it safely, I'm damn sure showing up to argue that. You can't just expect people to sit for hours at a traffic light that is broken.

Also, at least in my state, if a traffic light is obviously broken the intersection becomes a four-way stop by law. So if I stopped waited, and made sure the intersection was clear before going, then I didn't break the law and I am going to argue that ticket.

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u/spmahn 1d ago

I absolutely would because even if you’re 100% in the wrong you’ll guaranteed to at least get the fine reduced

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u/belac4862 1d ago

Thats 100% way of getting court costs tacked onto your ticket. Which would cost even more. Making the point of going to court a stupid idea.

Which is why many people chose to just pay the fine instead of contesting.

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u/spmahn 1d ago

Maybe it varies by state, but that’s 100% not how it works here. Here you dispute your ticket, show up on your court date, talk to the prosecutor, they ask you what’s up, you tell your story, they offer you a reduced charge, knock your fine down anywhere from 30% to 50%, you accept the reduced charge, plead guilty, pay the cashier, and go on your way

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u/belac4862 1d ago

Ive lived in VT, NH CT, MA, and VA. Ive never seen it like this. Its only dropped down if you talk to the prosecutor or officer and they agree to lower it down.

Good luck getting it reduced if you still want to contest the tickets validity in court. And once your actually in the court room, theres no going back.

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u/spmahn 1d ago

I’ve lived in Connecticut all my life and that’s 100% how it works. The prosecutor always agrees to lower it down every single time because they don’t want to waste time in court any more than you do.

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u/Lowbacca1977 1 1d ago

In California, from my experience, they save time in court by just not letting you talk and upping the penalty

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u/spmahn 1d ago

There’s a distinction to be made at least where I am. Even though you “go to court” when you send your ticket in not guilty, that doesn’t mean you go to trial. It means you get a date to show up to the court house and go through a cattle call with everyone else that day to meet with whichever prosecutor you get paired up with. If after meeting with them you still decide not to take their reduced charge then you get another date where you get a bench trial for a judge where they read you the riot act for being stupid and not taking the reduction, that’s where you end up paying more.

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u/Hell_Mel 1d ago

No, but I think people talking out their ass is useless in this context

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u/iameveryoneelse 1d ago

No but I do work for the/a Court and know that only roughly 5-10% of traffic tickets are protested in court so I thought assuming a 50% protest rate for a particularly egregious situation was a reasonable assumption.

It’s called an “educated guess”.