Traffic Referee
Today, I went to West Jordan to go to a traffic referee. I went in to discuss the ticket I got when I had that last accident. I wasn't trying to fight the ticket, I just wanted the price of it to go down. The offense itself cost $82 (that's the cheapest traffic ticket you can get) and then if you were involved in an accident they tack on another $30.
Of course, when you get to the building you have to empty all your pockets of any metal so you can go through the metal detector. Then you go up and wait. The wait wasn't too long. I did hear a little bit from the guy who went in before me. It didn't sound too good.
My turn came and I went in to see the guy. He said he was actually ahead of where he should be. It looked like he had a bunch of no shows. He pulled my information and read it over (out loud) and asked me a few questions such as if there were any injuries. I told him I wasn't trying to get out of the ticket (I was guilty) but that I was trying to get him to discount it (as it said on the website he could). He said, that he usually doesn't do this but to take the 82 dollars and add the 30, that comes to $112. I could either pay that, or I could pay $170 and this won't go on my record at all. It would mean that I am on probation for six months, and as long as I don't get any more tickets then it would completely go away. If I did get another ticket then both of them would be on my record. I'm thinking, just another way for the city of West Jordan to get more money. I refuse that.
I tell the guy that the officer gave the primary ticket to the other guy and me a secondary contributing ticket. Because of this, I believe the $30 should not be given to me, because the other guy should be paying that. He tells me that these prices are set down by state law and that he can't change that. I inform him that the website says that he can reduce bail. He kind of hems and haws on that and then tells me that in the case of accidents he doesn't have as much lee way. In discussing this further with him, it is based on if there is litigation going on. I tell him that I am not sure of the litigation because I just heard from the other insurance agent today and they said it was looking like a 50/50 on the accident as far as insurance goes (meaning we both pay for our own vehicles - or our insurance companies). He goes off on that 50/50 ruling of the insurance, and I bring him back around and ask what the purpose of saying one is the primary source of the accident and the other the secondary source if it is truly 50/50. He kept on going off on that 50/50 thing. I ask him why two people are paying for one incident on the accident. In doing this I ask if I wasn't at fault, would I still be charged $30 for having an accident, or would the other guy be charged $60? I then remind him again of the Primary vs Secondary situation. He goes off talking about other things with this accident. Then he comes back to the point and says that I have a good point about there being one accident and two people paying $30. He dismisses the $30, but won't go any lower on the $82. He then sets me up to make two payments by the end of the next two months. I'm glad to have this all over, even though he contradicted himself by telling me he couldn't change bail amounts and then it gets changed. I'm grateful for that. He was a nice guy, and we both talked civilly through the whole process. I am just discouraged that I couldn't get the bail amount reduced even further. I did the best I could, and I shouldn't complain because that 15 minutes saved me $30.
Well, our kids have been staying at their grandparents house, and it looks like they will be spending at least another day there. I will probably be picking them up on my way home from work tomorrow evening. Tonight, I just have a nice quiet night with my wife.
Of course, when you get to the building you have to empty all your pockets of any metal so you can go through the metal detector. Then you go up and wait. The wait wasn't too long. I did hear a little bit from the guy who went in before me. It didn't sound too good.
My turn came and I went in to see the guy. He said he was actually ahead of where he should be. It looked like he had a bunch of no shows. He pulled my information and read it over (out loud) and asked me a few questions such as if there were any injuries. I told him I wasn't trying to get out of the ticket (I was guilty) but that I was trying to get him to discount it (as it said on the website he could). He said, that he usually doesn't do this but to take the 82 dollars and add the 30, that comes to $112. I could either pay that, or I could pay $170 and this won't go on my record at all. It would mean that I am on probation for six months, and as long as I don't get any more tickets then it would completely go away. If I did get another ticket then both of them would be on my record. I'm thinking, just another way for the city of West Jordan to get more money. I refuse that.
I tell the guy that the officer gave the primary ticket to the other guy and me a secondary contributing ticket. Because of this, I believe the $30 should not be given to me, because the other guy should be paying that. He tells me that these prices are set down by state law and that he can't change that. I inform him that the website says that he can reduce bail. He kind of hems and haws on that and then tells me that in the case of accidents he doesn't have as much lee way. In discussing this further with him, it is based on if there is litigation going on. I tell him that I am not sure of the litigation because I just heard from the other insurance agent today and they said it was looking like a 50/50 on the accident as far as insurance goes (meaning we both pay for our own vehicles - or our insurance companies). He goes off on that 50/50 ruling of the insurance, and I bring him back around and ask what the purpose of saying one is the primary source of the accident and the other the secondary source if it is truly 50/50. He kept on going off on that 50/50 thing. I ask him why two people are paying for one incident on the accident. In doing this I ask if I wasn't at fault, would I still be charged $30 for having an accident, or would the other guy be charged $60? I then remind him again of the Primary vs Secondary situation. He goes off talking about other things with this accident. Then he comes back to the point and says that I have a good point about there being one accident and two people paying $30. He dismisses the $30, but won't go any lower on the $82. He then sets me up to make two payments by the end of the next two months. I'm glad to have this all over, even though he contradicted himself by telling me he couldn't change bail amounts and then it gets changed. I'm grateful for that. He was a nice guy, and we both talked civilly through the whole process. I am just discouraged that I couldn't get the bail amount reduced even further. I did the best I could, and I shouldn't complain because that 15 minutes saved me $30.
Well, our kids have been staying at their grandparents house, and it looks like they will be spending at least another day there. I will probably be picking them up on my way home from work tomorrow evening. Tonight, I just have a nice quiet night with my wife.
posted by Craig's Blog at 10:26 PM
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