Whew! What a relief!
You’re stressed out about the ticket you just got, and calculating the potential impacts on your insurance, and worried about whether it might result in a license suspension…
Until, as a parting thought, the police officer soothes your fears with an unsolicited declaration:
“Listen, don’t worry too much about this ticket. Just plead not guilty. I’m not coming to court.”
Boom! Winner winner!
Well, maybe.
For whatever reason, police officers either say this directly or imply it indirectly to motorists all the time.
Some cops may be afraid that you’ll explode in range upon receiving a traffic ticket, so they tell you this to calm you down and avoid a potential roadside incident.
Some cops may think they’re just being nice by telling you this, so your day isn’t ruined after all.
And some may really mean it.
Who knows? I’m a lawyer, not a mind reader. But I do know that cops who tell this to motorists often go to court anyway.
There was one police officer in Manhattan who made a habit of misleading motorists with this little nugget. Clients told me about it all the time. More than a few said, “I don’t need a lawyer for this one, because the cop said he isn’t coming to court.” They were surprised when I told them that this same officer hadn’t missed a single traffic court date in over ten years.
As far as I know, there’s no law that requires cops to be honest to you about their intentions. For example, cops often tell motorists that tickets are no points, even if they are.
If a police officer tells you something that sounds to good to be true, there’s a good chance it isn’t.