Didn't pay a ticket in NJ and now live in California (what can they do)?

In many states stopping/parking on driving area of a road is illegal. In the OPs case he pulled over because the oil light was on and he was worried about engine damage. The officer saw him stopped and pulled up to see what was going on. He was unable to demonstrate the problem he claimed so the trooper wrote him a ticket.

This is the NJ law on the subject :

39:4-67. Obstruction of Traffic 39:4-67. Obstructing passage of other vehicles or street cars prohibited; clearance of intersections

No vehicle or street car shall be permitted by the owner or driver thereof to so occupy a street as to interfere with or interrupt the passage of other street cars or vehicles, nor shall the driver of a vehicle or street car drive such vehicle or street car into an intersection if preceding traffic prevents immediate clearance of the intersection.

Looks like it is a no-point violation with a "normal" minimum fine of $54.00 + court fees

OR the OP could have been written up for Unsafe Driving

39:4-97.2 Unsafe Driving, operating a motor vehicle in an unsafe manner, offense created; fines., 4 points on third offense

1. a. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, it shall be unlawful for any person to drive or operate a motor vehicle in an unsafe manner likely to endanger a person or property.

b. A person convicted of a first offense under subsection a. shall be subject to a fine of not less than $50.00 or more than $150.00 and shall not be assessed any motor vehicle penalty points pursuant to section 1 of P.L. 1982, c.43 (C.39:5-30.5).

c. A person convicted of a second offense under subsection a. shall be subject to a fine of not less than $100.00 or more than $250.00 and shall not be assessed any motor vehicle penalty points pursuant to section 1 of P.L. 1982, c.43 (C.39:5-30.5).

d. A person convicted of a third or subsequent offense under subsection a. shall be subject to a fine of not less than $200.00 or more than $500.00 and shall be assessed motor vehicle penalty points pursuant to section 1 of P.L. 1982, c.43 (C.39:5-30.5).

e. An offense committed under this section that occurs more than five years after the prior offense shall not be considered a subsequent offense for the purpose of assessing motor vehicle penalty points under subsection d. of this section.

As to what can be done. Fail to answer the bench warrant and they will probably suspend your license, revoke any registrations, and probably arrest you.

One time I was part of a Corvette caravan, about a dozen cars. The guy leading the caravan had forgotten to attach his cb antenna (that dates this, huh!), so pulled over on the side of the freeway (CA SR

78) to attach it, and everyone obediently followed. Chippie comes up to see what the problem is, when told, goes apoplexic, rants on about how the guy should have pulled off the freeway, looks down the line of cars, cusses, gets back on his bike and motors off. Highly entertaining.

jg

Greg

I was tagged on a NJ DL which is long defunct. I reside in California now and have a valid CA DL.

Cop asked me if I had pulled over to pee or take picture (on the Turnpike).

Turns out that you can't pull over for a non emergency (even the action of taking pictures is illegal).

Cop said he didn't believe me about the oil light.

If I understand the OP, he pulled over because of the oil light. An officer came up behind him and issued him a citation for pulling over on the freeway. It wasn't because of the light, but the pulling over.

Exactly. The NJ cop thought I had pulled over for some other non emergency reason.

He noted I hadn't yet called AAA, for example.

Sometimes there are issues due to mismatches in the computer codes:

Obviously that is way old and issues are likely to be different now, but the more systems interact, the more stupid can happen. The thing about police systems is, they necessarily assume the worst. You simply can't assume you get away with anything just because you changed jurisdictions.

jg

Nice site. It assumes a ticket === a conviction. I never showed up. I guess I'm convicted as a result of that.

I wonder why CA DMV never said anything?

>

IANAL, but in most (all) cases if you receive a ticket and don't show up at your court date, you are automatically found guilty, so you in effect

*were* convicted...

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- gpsman

Bullshit. The police do not stop a vehicle simply because it has an out of state plate.

If you're such a badass when the police show up, how come when the Secret Service came to talk to you about your threat against the President, you didn't tell them to piss off and slam the door in their face?

Wow, you are such a badass.

Advice that is best ignored. You CAN be fined and can have your license suspended for an out of state violation.

There is one other scenario that can happen. The court in NJ can assess a fee. Now you owe them money instead of just failing to appear. NJ wants revenue so they turn it over to collection agency. You ignore them and then it appears on your credit report. To make matters worse, they are charging interest (and its not a tiny rate). Your landlord finds out about your bad credit report and doesn't renew your lease.

Kinda reminds me of those ads that DirecTv was running where you wind up selling your hair to a wig shop

Don't re-enact scenes from Platoon with Charlie Sheen :)

Yep, dozens of things can happen - they can contact your local DMV who can refuse to renew your registration and or license. You do the crime, you do the time (or pay the fee).

A year ago I switched from DirecTV to Comcast. DirecTV has been hounding me ever since then. Caller ID shows DirecTV, I don't answer my phone. Anyway, probally best to pay that ticket.A guy I knew in 1964 in Vietnam, one time he said, When I left New Jersey I never looked back! He n ow a Colonel at Army.Mil.

If You NO LONGER Possess The NJ DL On Which This OFFENSE Was Issued, Then Yer "DONE" With NJ's COMPLAINT...

I ASSUME NJ FOUND YOU and *Forwarded* The "Bench Warrant" Because You TRADED Said NJ DL For a CA DL... True?

IF Y'got Time, You Would NO DOUBT Profit From EXTRA Information By SCANNING & POSTING [Here], a [REDACTED] Copy of The "Bench Warrant"...

Naughtius "WHUT Th' HELL IZ That THAYNG???" Maximus

I gotta say, between your advice and your shouting, you really don't know what the hell you are talking about. The entertainment factor evaporates quickly.

jg

I don't have the bench warrant as we threw it away but you are correct in that I allowed the NJ driver license to expire.

Since it had expired, I simply started the California driver license process from scratch, telling them I never had a license before (which, for a 28 year old guy, is pretty silly - but they never asked a thing about it).

The hardest part of the California D/L test was remembering the five or six colors of the curbs!