[WSBAPT] Fwd: An HOV Violation question

[Andrekita Silva]

Law Office of
F.ANDREKITA SILVA
_______________________________________________________  
                                                            
October 31, 2022
 
Dave,
 
I couldn’t say for sure but I assume that there is a photo of every  
single car that travels on every single lane on a toll road. I say  
this because on a couple occasions, I haven’t had my flex pass in my  
car (or it fell on the floor or something and was not read). I got a  
letter in the mail saying, “you owe xxxx for travel… if you have a  
pass, call us and you will pay xxxx less.”
 
So, my license plate# was read as I drove through. They tracked down  
my car, my address, and sent me a bill. 
I assume DOT knew which lane I was in, too.
 
Can I assume that the officer actually pulled over your friend and you  
are reading off the citation the officer wrote?
I'm  fairly positive the camera reads only the license plate and  
doesn’t capture who is in the car- so you only get cited if a cop  
catches you as a single in the HOV lane.
 
Whenever you get a citation, the citation must give you notice of your  
infraction. So, it the ticket was issued by seattle police, it must  
say SMC xxxx.   (for Seattle Muni Code) , or if Wa.State Trooper, it  
must say RCW xxxx., etc.
 
I once had a ticket thrown out in Seattle Muni court because the  
ticket had the number of the ordinance, but it didn’t have SMC in  
front of the number.
Judge agreed it was insufficient notice. The prosecutor moved to amend  
and judge said "nah, too late."  I assume some judge's may have  
permitted the amendment. 
 
You can request discovery and the city/ county etc. will have to give  
you everything in their file.

It is a rare judge that will not believe a cop who testifies that they  
saw this person in the HOV lane before stopping them for being in the  
HOV lane.

Maybe your friend should just write and say "mea culpa mea culpa" it  
was an accident- I drove this on xxx with passengers and forgot to  
change back.
Please give me a warning."
 
andrekita
Law Office of F. Andrekita Silva
1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 2000
Seattle, Washington 98101
206-224-8288
www.seattle-silvalaw.com

----- Forwarded message from Dave Culbertson  
<dculbertson at culbertsonlawoffice.com> -----
    Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2022 21:52:36 +0000
    From: Dave Culbertson <dculbertson at culbertsonlawoffice.com>
Reply-To: WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: [WSBAPT] An HOV Violation question
      To: solo-and-small-practice-section at list.wsba.org,  
creditor-debtor-section at list.wsba.org, wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com,  
wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com


    Hi, folks.

     

     

     

     

    Helping a friend address a traffic violation. The charge is for  
being in the HOV lane without additional passengers.

     

     

     

     

    Something about the officer’s description raises a question:  
“OBSERVED DEFENDANT VEHICLE PASS UNDER TOLL CAMERA AND WHITE LIGHT  
ACTIVATED INDICATING VEHICLE'S FLEX

     

    PASS WAS IN HOV LANE MODE.”

     

     

     

     

    I’m not sure how the toll/radar/camera system works, wondering if  
anybody has developed that info? Is the meaning of the officer’s  
statement that the toll camera/white light reads the flex pass and  
determines the car is in the HOV lane, ie, that the white light is the  
proof that establishes he was in the lane (as opposed to the officer  
saying “I put my eyeballs in the direction of the car and saw that it  
was in the HOV lane?”)

     

     

     

     

    There isn’t much more information about that stop than that, other  
than the officer noting there was only the driver in the vehicle.

     

     

     

     

    Best Regards,

     

     

     

     

    Dave Culbertson

     

     

     

     

    THE LAW OFFICE OF DAVISSON CULBERTSON

     

    PO 20403

     

    Seattle, WA 98102

     

     

    / /

     

    /Phone: /(206) 478-8134

     

    /FAX: /(866) 867-7796

     

    /dculbertson at culbertsonlawoffice.com/

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    

    

    

----- End forwarded message -----

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