I recently received a failure to stop or yield ticket in NJ.
I was on my way home from starbucks at 2am when I was making a left turn onto a 2 lane street. I was on a hill with the nose of my car pointing upwards. I was stopped at the stop sign for a solid 1 minute while changing CD's and BSing with my friends. There were trees and bushes blocking my view from looking to the left to see if any cars were coming, so I proceeded to inch up until I could see. All looked well so I went and there was a cop coming in my direction. He pulled a u-turn and gave me a ticket for failure to stop or yield and no insurance card. He only gave me a minute to look for the card which I found later on.

Is there any way to fight this. I can't afford the points for insurance and cannot afford the fine of unsafe driving because of school payment. Im hopeing it can get knocked down to a non moving violation.

Any info would be great.. Thanks

The only way to get it "knocked down" is to see if the DA (or Assistant DA) will negotiate. If you had friends with you, they can certainly testify that you had stopped and did inch out (although the testimony of people in the same car is often ignored).

The uninsured charge will be dropped if you show proof of insurance.

Generally, if you plead not guilty and show up for a hearing, they will offer you a plea down to a lesser chanrge that will not involve points. Or you can opt for a trial, which may mean going back again.

If you do opt for a trial, go back to the corner and take pictures showing the bad sightlines that justify inching out.

Whether you will win or not, I can't say. But I do think your chances are above average.

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

The uninsured charge will be dropped if you show proof of insurance.

Generally, if you plead not guilty and show up for a hearing, they will offer you a plea down to a lesser chanrge that will not involve points. Or you can opt for a trial, which may mean going back again.

If you do opt for a trial, go back to the corner and take pictures showing the bad sightlines that justify inching out.

Whether you will win or not, I can't say. But I do think your chances are above average.

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Does a trail cost money whether I win or lose? When I was puilld over the cop said he has a video of me not stopping but I know all he has is he inching out. But obviously it the police mans word over mine. So I guess I have to decide if I want to go though with trial or not.