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peggyhill · Mar 5, 2008, 12:39 PM

My fiancé was pulled over in December for failing to use a turn signal. He actually did use it, but he didn't realize it wasn't working. When the police officer realized the signal was broken, he was nice about it, and told my fiancé that he had a week to bring the car down and show him it was fixed, and as long as he did that, the officer would tear up his ticket and he would owe nothing. My fiancé had it fixed right away, took the car down to show to the officer 2 days later. The officer said "OK, you don't owe anything and the ticket is torn up. You don't have to do anything else about this ticket". The officer said the would call the traffic court and instruct them to remove the ticket. He said there was some amnesty program going on with traffic tickets. My fiancé then checked with the traffic court the next day, just to be safe, and the lady told him that it was taken care of and he owed nothing- the ticket wouldn't go on his record and had been removed.

A little over a week ago, he received a letter from the DMV saying that his license would be suspended in 8 days for failing to pay the ticket! So, we went back to the traffic court. The lady said, "Well, we have it in the computer that you came in to confirm that the ticket was taken off, and it should have been taken off, but someone must not have put it in the computer, and there is nothing we can do-go to the police". Over the next week, we contacted the police every day, and every day they told us it would be fixed tomorrow. Then we finally got a call from the officer who issued the ticket. He said he was very sorry and it was all a mix up because he shares a to-do file box with another officer at the station and it had been misplaced. He told us that he just got off the phone with the traffic court judge, and the judge had called and informed the court that there was no unpaid ticket, it was all a mistake, and should be changed right away. Then we called the traffic court, who told us they had changed it and informed the DMV. My fiancé was in the clear. We called to double check for three days in a row and each time were told "It's not going to be suspended, it was a communication error, and it's fixed."

Two days ago he went to the police station and asked them to run his license just to make sure. HIS LICENSE HAS BEEN SUSPENDED!! The cops were shocked and said "Oh my God, no way! We'll fix this right away, we're talking to the judge and getting this fixed". Nothing has changed since. The judge supposedly called the traffic court, but we've heard that before. Now they're telling him he will probably have to pay around $200 to get it back. The cop said "It's totally not your fault and it's a computer error, but you're probably going to have to still pay around $200 to get it back" This is all not his fault! That doesn't seem right to me. Also, the cop told him "go ahead and drive, we won't pull you over". That also doesn't seem right. Needless to say, he isn't going to risk driving.

What can we do to get this fixed? Should we talk to a lawyer? They keep saying "it's getting fixed, it's getting fixed" Some people tell him he'll have to pay, others say no. The police, traffic court, and judge all say it isn't their fault and the DMV wouldn't even talk to him about it. What can he do? This is in Indiana and he has a clean driving record and is over 21. Thanks for your help!

ScottGem · Mar 5, 2008, 12:44 PM

The first thing I would do is get a written acknowledgement that the ticket should have been voided. Make sure this is signed (preferably by the original ticketing officer) and witnessed. It would also help if the court clerk who told him it was voided would sign it also.

Then send a copy of that letter to the State DMV demanding that his license be reinstated with no record of the suspension.

Fr_Chuck · Mar 5, 2008, 04:25 PM

Would like to add more, but Scott hit it straight on the head.

peggyhill · Mar 6, 2008, 12:21 PM

Thanks to you guys for your help! Well, he went in to talk to the police about it. They were able to figure out that the DMV messed up. THe traffic court did tell the DMV that the license shouldn't be suspended. When the police talked to them, I guess they(DMV) said it was completely their fault and they were really sorry. I guess it was some sort of communicaton error. But, the police were able to fix it, and when he checked with the DMV this morning, his license was not suspended.

Scottgem, I told him what you said, and I had him get a signed statement from the police officer and the clerk, so if there is any more confusion, he has that to prove what happened.