New Rochelle court - do they offer plea bargains ?
 

Recently got hit with that idiotic "move over" violation in the Westchester area (Hutchinson River Parkway). Had no way to move over due to traffic and the cop thought I didn't slow down enough to respect his presence on the side of the road. Since I disrespected his ass, I got slapped with a ticket (2 points moving violation) assigned to New Rochelle City Court. Never mind that undue lane changes and slowing down to unreasonably slow speeds on the highway is way more dangerous then just being cognizant and extra cautious of cars on the shoulder. Putting hazards on, as I was passing him, to alert other drivers wasn't sufficient and appreciated, apparently. He also had the gall to say that I'm lucky he's not hitting me with other tickets, such as "unsafe passing" and "speeding" (he made this one up as I slowed down to under 40mph; I should have dared him to write me a speeding ticket so I could subpoena his bs records) lol.

Anyway, does New Rochelle offer plea bargains? Since I have a clean record and this violation is "only" 2 points, I'm hoping they will downgrade to something like a parking violation. Is this realistic? If they do, then I'm assuming probably not necessary to hire a lawyer. Regardless, extremely inconveniencing as I'm in Suffolk County and need to take time off for this.

Thanks!

Westchester cares about one thing, you money. Most of the time they drop it down to a parking ticket. Ask me how I know.

Did you get stop by state trooper or county police? If it's the hutch that's usually county.

I'm from the area and know the courts well, been pulled over a lot and I still have a clean record. You wont need a lawyer, but do yourself a favor and plead not guilty, then mail the ticket in. Do not go to that court hearing on that ticket.

Lucky you weren't caught in it's neighboring town, Harrison. They are absolutely NOTORIUS for their heavy use of traffic tickets for increasing the town's income. You should see the multi-hour waiting line that wraps around outside the building on court days. Of course, they will usually plea you down to a lesser offense. Why - not because they are being generous, but because of the infraction/payout structure. The town gets a greater cut of the ticket payment depending on the type of offense you plead guilty to. So to back Jose's comment - it's all about money.

Thanks guys... I don't believe it was a trooper. The suv was bright blue and had the word "police" on the front grill. How long roughly, does it take when you arrive at the New Rochelle court to when you leave after accepting a plea bargain? An hour? Two?

And most importantly lol, how is the parking situation at the New Rochelle court house? Is the parking lot large enough that I can park the S2000 away from cars or get an edge spot? Is it relatively safe to park the S2000 there without worry of theft? Assuming yes since I'm sure plenty of cop cars will be there, but you never know.

That's westchester county police that stop you

it's a small parking lot, may have to park on the street. The area is so so, should be fine with leaving your s2000 on the street for an hour or 2. It depends on the day, I say 2-3 hours at most.

Cool thanks... was just curious since I'm not too familiar with the area and because it's relatively close to the Bronx lol.

Don't badmouth the cop. Just explain that you did the best you could and it wasn't safe to move over and that you'd appreciate some help because of your clean driving record.

...and explain you slowed as much as you dared.

At some point it increases danger to cop if you slow too much. Cars behind following too close can't slow enough, and when they hit you, might push you into cop. Or worse try to go around you not seeing cop (distracted driver), and drive right into cop.

You need to slow enough to be safer for cop, and not too much to be totally unsafe for cop.

If traffic was such that changing lanes wasn't viable, then its enough traffic that the don't slow too much 'rule' applies.

Oh, and bring cash to pay any fine.

They don't take credit cards over there? Not even checks? Don't like carrying cash. Back in the day, the one in Suffolk County accepted them. Double whammy... can't even earn points on something I don't even want to do in the first place lol.