Legal Question in Traffic Law in Washington

Re: Does a traffic ticket that contains incorrect information valid?

Both Mssrs. Lustick and King are correct. Bear in mind that if you really have to beat this ticket, you should consult with an experienced traffic lawyer in your area.

Re: Does a traffic ticket that contains incorrect information valid?

The information about your height, weight, and eye color is on the ticket merely for identification purposes. On traffic infraction citations, that information is almost never relevant and if you ask the judge to throw the ticket out due to these minor errors, you risk loosing all creditability with the judge who presides over the case. As for the year of the car, this too may not be relevant to the charge.

The only way that you could make a �safe use� of these errors would be perhaps to impeach the reliability of the citing officer to recall specific details. On cross examination, if you can expose the fact that the officer is inept in his ability to accurately report simple details, then his ability to restate the complex ones will be in question too.

As for your not signing the ticket, there is a court rule which allows the officer to send you a citation through the mail as long as it is accompanied by a summons. Did you get one along with the ticket? A summons must be signed by a judge or a court clerk authorized to issue a summons. Sometimes a lazy cop will overlook the summons requirement, and if they did so in your case, you may have grounds to object to the ticket.

Re: Does a traffic ticket that contains incorrect information valid?

Usually, the mistakes made on the face of a ticket are not sufficient grounds to have the ticket dismissed. However, you should point these discrepancies out to the court (should you choose to contest the infraction). Good Luck.