Ticket for U-Turn / Leaving country

[mberger]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

Hi,

I am currently visiting the US for the summer and I have a permanent residence in Europe. Unfortunately, the other day I received a traffic ticket for an illegal U-turn (from the shoulder of the highway) when I was driving a friend's car (on which I am insured).

Today I received the court letter, however, I shall be leaving the country for good in less than 4 weeks. It appears very tempting to simply *do not* pay the bail and to ignore the ticket altogether.

Regarding this I have the following questions:
(1) Are there any consequences I may face overseas via ignoring the ticket?

i.e. is it likely the court will try to get me overseas (I am not even sure the officer copied my overseas address)

(2) May I face any consequences when trying to enter the country again?
I do not have a US driving license i.e. the officer took note of my foreign license which is in a foreign language...

(3) Could there be any consequences for *the registered owner* of the car (i.e. my friend) if I simply leave without paying the bail?

Additionally, the "Notice to Appear" has quite a few mistakes in it:
- the quoted birth date makes me 20 years older
- the officer indicated that the vehicle is registered in my name after having been presented with the registration details of my friend...
Please let me know if these are of any use.

Thank you very much for you help!

It depends on how much the ticket is, and whether or not you want to stand on principle and get yourself and possibly your friend into trouble.

Just pay the ticket and be done with it. It's not worth the hassle.

Yes, you'd have a hard time getting back into the country. They may issue a warrant for your arrest if you ignore the ticket and don't pay it. They can track people anywhere these days so unless you plan to go underground in order to live, you can bet it WILL catch up with you. You violated U.S. laws. While you are in any country you have to obey those laws and rules. You cannot skip out and get away with it simply because you don't reside in that country. The U.S. is no different. While visiting this country you must abide by its laws and rules. Being a foreigner makes no difference.

You're better off simply paying the ticket and moving on with your life.

The place I come from, people from abroad do not pay any tickets - a matter of fact i.e. these people do not obey the rules and get away. Now, this is in the European Union where there are close relationships between countries. I am sure someone who gets a ticket visiting the US from Mexico does not waste more than a laugh on it either.

Given this, my thinking about not paying a ticket in a country where I need to get a visa to get in is not that an exceptional thought. While in theory U.S. law and order could track me down on the Moon (with the help of NASA), I do not suspect they will since its *not worth the hassle*.

On a similar line, my question is about how much hassle is my ticket worth the court? The officer has no information about me, apart from my name and a driving license ID which is completely useless, since its not from the US.

So even if I enter the country again, how can border control prove that the guy who did not pay his ticket is really me?

Originally Posted by Unregistered It depends on how much the ticket is, and whether or not you want to stand on principle and get yourself and possibly your friend into trouble. Just pay the ticket and be done with it. It's not worth the hassle. Yes, you'd have a hard time getting back into the country. They may issue a warrant for your arrest if you ignore the ticket and don't pay it. They can track people anywhere these days so unless you plan to go underground in order to live, you can bet it WILL catch up with you. You violated U.S. laws. While you are in any country you have to obey those laws and rules. You cannot skip out and get away with it simply because you don't reside in that country. The U.S. is no different. While visiting this country you must abide by its laws and rules. Being a foreigner makes no difference. You're better off simply paying the ticket and moving on with your life.

Are you really asking for legal advice, or just wanting someone to agree with your warped position?

You were ticketed while visiting this country. You violated the law. Now you think there's nothing wrong with skipping out simply because you reside outside of the country? Going by your twisted logic, do you think it is okay to come to your country, commit an offense, and laugh while walking away disrespecting and disobeying your country's laws?

The officer has "no information other than a name and a driver's license ID". To a completely out of touch troglodyte that may be "completely useless" but it's all the authorities need to identify and find a person. People have been found on less information than that. In fact, are you aware you are being tracked via your IP address (among other identifiers) when you post on this site? It's entirely possible to track your exact location by that alone.

You asked for advice and when you got it, you picked it apart and argued with it because it didn't conform to your petulant mentality.

If you are so sure you are in the right and it's no big deal, don't bother paying the ticket.