Ticket for inproper headlights a complete lie

[Smackdragon]

I was driving my family car which we got back recently from an accident and got stopped tonight by a couple of cops downtown for driving without my headlights on.

One officer had me switch between my headlights and high beams and told me my headlights were burnt out. I had to take his word since
a) I hadn't driven this car in about 3-4 weeks as it is not my car, and it was in the shop being repaired.
b) I was driving through well lit major streets in the city (dundas st. w and king st.) so I couldn't tell if my lights were on or not.

I was kind of nervous because I had a temporary license and had trouble finding ownership and insurance because they were not in their usual location after moving documentation back to the car from the rental car.

The officer even asked me my age and if I was drinking etc. I felt like he saw me as a quick mark but i couldn't do much during the encounter as he told me to wait in the car and left me for about 8 minutes.

Once I got home, I checked my lights and they seemed to all be working. I will go to a garage to confirm this, but my question is what can i do about the ticket. I would love to call the officer and confirm that he checked my headlights and deemed them not working. I know I had the lights set on, but this would prove he lied about it, or that the lights were malfunctioning temporarily which is highly improbable.

I will fight this in court, but don't know what steps to take for this situation.

[curtis]

Doesn't sound like you have much ground to stand on. What's your arguement going to be? You weren't sure if it worked and need a mechanic to confirm?

I was driving my family car which we got back recently from an accident and got stopped tonight by a couple of cops downtown for driving without my headlights on.

One officer had me switch between my headlights and high beams and told me my headlights were burnt out. I had to take his word since
a) I hadn't driven this car in about 3-4 weeks as it is not my car, and it was in the shop being repaired.
b) I was driving through well lit major streets in the city (dundas st. w and king st.) so I couldn't tell if my lights were on or not.

I was kind of nervous because I had a temporary license and had trouble finding ownership and insurance because they were not in their usual location after moving documentation back to the car from the rental car.

The officer even asked me my age and if I was drinking etc. I felt like he saw me as a quick mark but i couldn't do much during the encounter as he told me to wait in the car and left me for about 8 minutes.

Once I got home, I checked my lights and they seemed to all be working. I will go to a garage to confirm this, but my question is what can i do about the ticket. I would love to call the officer and confirm that he checked my headlights and deemed them not working. I know I had the lights set on, but this would prove he lied about it, or that the lights were malfunctioning temporarily which is highly improbable.

I will fight this in court, but don't know what steps to take for this situation.

[PCDawg]

Should have walked out of the car and checked yourself when the cops said that the lights were not working.

Best to fight it in court and tell them that the lights are fine and working so they will reduce your fines.

[aznxtambOy]

I was driving my family car which we got back recently from an accident and got stopped tonight by a couple of cops downtown for driving without my headlights on.

One officer had me switch between my headlights and high beams and told me my headlights were burnt out. I had to take his word since
a) I hadn't driven this car in about 3-4 weeks as it is not my car, and it was in the shop being repaired.
b) I was driving through well lit major streets in the city (dundas st. w and king st.) so I couldn't tell if my lights were on or not.

I was kind of nervous because I had a temporary license and had trouble finding ownership and insurance because they were not in their usual location after moving documentation back to the car from the rental car.

The officer even asked me my age and if I was drinking etc. I felt like he saw me as a quick mark but i couldn't do much during the encounter as he told me to wait in the car and left me for about 8 minutes.

Once I got home, I checked my lights and they seemed to all be working. I will go to a garage to confirm this, but my question is what can i do about the ticket. I would love to call the officer and confirm that he checked my headlights and deemed them not working. I know I had the lights set on, but this would prove he lied about it, or that the lights were malfunctioning temporarily which is highly improbable.

I will fight this in court, but don't know what steps to take for this situation.

You said when you checked it at home, the head lights seemed to be working :confused:

It either was or not... Like OP said, you should of checked it when the officer was there.

[Pete_Coach]

When the Officer asked you to "had me switch between my headlights and high beams and told me my headlights were burnt out", you couldn't tell from the inside of the car that there was a difference or not? I suggest to you that if you could not tell the difference while sitting in the drivers seat, then perhaps the Officer was right, you probably had no headlights, just the daytime running lights.
Also, why would you have "trouble finding ownership and insurance because they were not in their usual location after moving documentation back to the car from the rental car". I cannot figure out a reason to take that documentation from my car to a rental car and back again. Rentals have their own documentation and yours is of no value in it.

[Smackdragon]

Yea I figured I didn't have much to stand on, thats why its more frustrating. I have been stopped a couple of times late at night before and I was under the assumption I could not get out of the car.

The reason I say it "seemed to work" is I don't know all that much about cars and lights, but a set of lights go on when I turn on the headlights, and it gets much brighter when I turn on high beams. I don't want to make an absolute statement that it works and find out the headlights are supposed to be brighter etc. thats why I will still get it checked.

Also the ownership and insurance is usually in the glove compartment and it wasn't there when I checked, increasing my stress at that point. It ended up being in the back luggage compartment, meaning my dad probably took it out and put it back once we the car was returned.

I just don't like how I was stopped even though I did have lights on and my driving did not stand out at all. It seems he stopped me because he saw a young male he could make a few bucks off in court from. He suggested bringing in a receipt to court for the lights to get a reduced fee. $110 seems way too much for an infraction I had little to no control over as it is not my car.

[D-3vil]

Yea I figured I didn't have much to stand on, thats why its more frustrating. I have been stopped a couple of times late at night before and I was under the assumption I could not get out of the car.

The reason I say it "seemed to work" is I don't know all that much about cars and lights, but a set of lights go on when I turn on the headlights, and it gets much brighter when I turn on high beams. I don't want to make an absolute statement that it works and find out the headlights are supposed to be brighter etc. thats why I will still get it checked.

Also the ownership and insurance is usually in the glove compartment and it wasn't there when I checked, increasing my stress at that point. It ended up being in the back luggage compartment, meaning my dad probably took it out and put it back once we the car was returned.

I just don't like how I was stopped even though I did have lights on and my driving did not stand out at all. It seems he stopped me because he saw a young male he could make a few bucks off in court from. He suggested bringing in a receipt to court for the lights to get a reduced fee. $110 seems way too much for an infraction I had little to no control over as it is not my car.

On the contrary, you had full control over the situation. You could have chosen not to drive if your car was unsafe to do so.

Most cars have DRL that may mimic the low beams in intensity (or at least come close enough that no one would notice in the city). But that doesn't mean your rear lights are on, which may be why the cops pulled you over. While you may not need your lights at night to see in the city (most streets are adequately illuminated), they are required for you to be seen by other drivers.

You can hide behind the "young male" theory, if you wish, but if you've been stopped several times already, in what sounds like your parents' car, I would guess that it's something more than that.

That being said, you've got nothing to lose by fighting it in court. You can provide the repair receipts after the accident, stating that everything was replaced. You can also bring a report of an inspection post-ticket that indicates you have a fully functioning light system. Still, you may have had functioning lights and forgotten to turn them on... which is enough for a conviction if the cop testifies to this regard.
At this point, see which section you were charged of breaking, and check out its full description at http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/DBLaws/Statutes/English/90h08_e.htm. This will get you more info about why you received the ticket.

[evolution921]

Just buy a new lightbulb and show them the receipt when you bring the ticket to court, they will have the ticket thrown out on the spot. When I was issued a ticket because my silverstar burnt out in 5 months, that's what I was told by the officer and I got my ticket dropped on the spot by the prosecutor without even going on trial. No need to worry about it.

[curtis]

I think the fact of the matter is that your low beams were not working. end of story.

The cop would be to be seriously ******** if he tried to pull something like that on you. Why would he bother? It won't make him any money.

Yea I figured I didn't have much to stand on, thats why its more frustrating. I have been stopped a couple of times late at night before and I was under the assumption I could not get out of the car.

The reason I say it "seemed to work" is I don't know all that much about cars and lights, but a set of lights go on when I turn on the headlights, and it gets much brighter when I turn on high beams. I don't want to make an absolute statement that it works and find out the headlights are supposed to be brighter etc. thats why I will still get it checked.

Also the ownership and insurance is usually in the glove compartment and it wasn't there when I checked, increasing my stress at that point. It ended up being in the back luggage compartment, meaning my dad probably took it out and put it back once we the car was returned.

I just don't like how I was stopped even though I did have lights on and my driving did not stand out at all. It seems he stopped me because he saw a young male he could make a few bucks off in court from. He suggested bringing in a receipt to court for the lights to get a reduced fee. $110 seems way too much for an infraction I had little to no control over as it is not my car.

[Stock R]

The reason I say it "seemed to work" is I don't know all that much about cars and lights, but a set of lights go on when I turn on the headlights, and it gets much brighter when I turn on high beams. I don't want to make an absolute statement that it works and find out the headlights are supposed to be brighter etc. thats why I will still get it checked.


You don't need to know much about cars and lights to figure out whether your lights are on/off, working/not working. You can tell when your room light is working or not, right?

So if you want to make an absolute statement, go to your car and:
1)Turn on the headlights
2)Step outside the vehicle, walk to the front and see if both bulbs are working
3)Go back to the car and turn on the high beams
4)Repeat step 2
5)Turn off the headlights

The ticket doesn't necessary mean your lights weren't working at all. It may just mean one of your bulbs was burnt out.

[aquariaguy]

You've been stopped a couple of times at night? I wonder what kind of car you drive and your driving style. And how can you be driving at night if you don't even know if your lights are on or not? How long have you been driving for??

[Whitedart]

Most cars have DRL that may mimic the low beams in intensity (or at least come close enough that no one would notice in the city). But that doesn't mean your rear lights are on, which may be why the cops pulled you over. While you may not need your lights at night to see in the city (most streets are adequately illuminated), they are required for you to be seen by other drivers.


I know on my cars, the DRLs use the high beam on a low intensity setting. If the parking lights are on at night, I have dash lights but also dim head lights with the DRLs, until I switch to the headlight setting when the low beams come on. On that parking light setting, if I use the high beam switch (as if flashing the headlights), the DRLs will switch to high beam while the low beams are still off.
This appears to be what the OP has done (DRLs and parking lights) with the officer, and then told his low beam lights were both out. If this is the case, the OP needs to become a little more familiar with the vehicle's controls and lights before he drives again.

[actng]

Didn't bother reading the whole thread but I don't really need to because the outcome is one of two scenarios.

1. You goto court and prove that your headlights are NOW in working order (as per your mechanic's statement). The JP accepts this rectification and allows the prosecution to withdraw the charges.

2. You goto court and prove that your headlights are NOW in working order (as per your mechanic's statement). But the prosecution insists, with the police testimony, that at the time your headlights were inoperative and in violation of traffic law.

[Alvito]

I will fight this in court, but don't know what steps to take for this situation.

File for the court date. Show the repair receipt. I'm sure it will list Headlights -FIXED or something like that, then take it to a shop ASAP and say you want them to inspect the headlights and print u a receipt saying they were checked out and are working fine.

wait for your court date, show that info that they were fixed after the accident and show the other receipt saying they were checked out shortly after you got the ticket and they are in working order.

good luck man.

do some more supplementary research too.

[Smackdragon]

This appears to be what the OP has done (DRLs and parking lights) with the officer, and then told his low beam lights were both out. If this is the case, the OP needs to become a little more familiar with the vehicle's controls and lights before he drives again.


Thats exactly what happened.

Thanks guys for your helpful comments. I did exactly as you and the police officer had suggested, got a letter from my dad's mechanic saying the lights were in working order and went down to the ticket office and luckily got the ticket thrown out.

I was used to our old corollas settings and didnt notice the difference for the past 6 months as the DRLs seem to always be on. Glad I learned my lesson without being put out $110 bucks

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:zEqv27uIKbvyoM

[15-20_God]

I was used to our old corollas settings and didnt notice the difference for the past 6 months as the DRLs seem to always be on. Glad I learned my lesson without being put out $110 bucks


please for the rest of us, in the future at least learn the basic controls of your automobile before you drive it. I see too many drivers oblivious to the fact that they drive with their drl's at night, or have their high beam on (and not notice the blue light on their dash), or fail to turn on their lights at all making them less visible from behind. who knew turning a stalk was such a science.

[KnifeEdge]

i dont mean to sound condescending but damn if you dont know the difference between DRLs and lowbeams u shouldnt be driving. None of this Im not use to the controls crap, all light controls work the same way, DRLs always on, parking lights, low and high beams, then fogs if you got em. The fact that the beam pattern is completely different in all modes doesnt help your story either.

[Avatar]

Well. Your brake light probably not working. Come out and had somebody checked all the lights with you.

It all depend on the mood of the officer. Years ago, I also had problem with my light and I got a warning ticket from the officer only. No need to go to court. Just asked me to fix it. Then had to go to the Station to verify and cancel the ticket.