[Diesel_Dave]

The only time I've even contested a ticket was a couple years ago when I was going to school in Indiana and went back home to Pennsylvania for Thansksgiving. My car was registered in my mother's name and so it was registered and inspected in PA. While I was in IN the inspection had run out. The day after I came back to PA I got pulled over for expired inspection. I told the cop I went to college in IN so I couldn't get the car inspected until I got back. Cop told me that was rediculous and he didn't believe me, and gave me the ticket.

At the time I thought he was a jerk, but that I really didn't have any legal ground to stand on because I WAS operating a vehicle with expired inspection. When I looked into it, however, I found that the law had a provision that if the vehicle has been out of state for at least 30 days you have 10 days upon re-entering the state the get it inspected. So I got a court date for when I went home for Christmas. I showed up with a copy of the law and a whole stack of utility bills and receipts from Indiana. The cop got up and gave his side of the story. I got up and said that I agreed with everything he had said, except he had left out the part where I had told him I'd been out of state. Then I gave the JP a copy of the law and said I had a whole stack of proof that I had been out of state. She read the law, then looked at the cop and asked if he had anything to say. He said no. She said not guilty and that was it.