Can a cop issue a traffic ticket for failure to yield to a emergency vehicle when he did not witness it?

Answer 1

Yes and no. Remember when it comes to tickets, it's really the cops word against yours. You would have to somehow PROVE that he didn't see you not yielding to the emergency vehicle. Before you think about that, consider this: Cops are NOTORIOUS for hiding EXTREMELY well, especially at night. This is usually how speeders are nailed amongst other types of violatiors. Not only that police are extremely keen in the eye, which is how they can spot someone run a stop sign or make an illegal U-Turn from what can be literally a mile away. This explains why when most people commit violations and are later caught, their complaint usually is that the cop was NOWHERE around when the alleged violation occured when they probably actually were. Depsite all this, ask yourself: Did you really fail to yield to an emergency vehicle when you could have safely pulled over? If you answer yes, MAN UP to your mistake, admit your guilt, pay the fine and move on.

Answer 2

NO THEYANNOT GIVE YOU A TICKET. tHEY HAVE TO ACTUALLY SEE WHAT HAPPENED, they cannot go by hearsay. All they can legally do is tell you that someone reported the incident to them and they are giving you a verbal warning, that's all they can do.

Yes, the officer can write the ticket.

However, if you contest the citation and can prove the officer did not witness the accident/incident the judge case will be dismissed.

A dismissal would not automatically relieve the person of any civil liability.

Answer 3

Yes, a police officer can ticket someone who is driving recklessly even if it is on a private road. Reckless driving is a threat to public safety, and it's the duty of the officer to issue a ticket when this occurs no matter where it is.

Answer 4

If some other person witnessed the careless driving and tells the police officer, the officer may issue a ticket. There must be a live witness to the driving in order for it to be proved at trial. In general, the mere occurrence of an accident is not in and of itself proof of careless driving. An accident might have been caused by simple negligence or through no fault at all, but careless driving is in the nature of a criminal charge and all of its elements must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. This is not to say that some officers will not issue such a ticket even without witnesses, but that ticket should be dismissed at trial, since there can be no evidence of careless driving.

Answer 5

An officer can issue a citation whenever s/he has a reasonable belief that a violation of some statute has been committed. Technically speaking, an officer never needs evidence to issue a citation; s/he does, however, need an argument to present to a judge if the citation is challenged, and courts generally take a very dim view of officers who issue citations without some tangible reason, because overzealous officers put the reputation of the entire system at risk. So pragmatically speaking, officers will generally not cite you for things they don't directly see unless they have some over-arching concern (e.g., if an officer has a reasonable idea that you've been involved in a street race, he will probably cite you even if he didn't witness the race himself, because of the risks to bystanders).

Another View: (in the US) Any violation for which a citation may be issued is, by definition, a MISDEMEANOR offense.

Except in cases of certain specifically excepted misdemeanor offenses, an officer (technically) may not make an arrest, nor issue a violation notice, unless he can testify that he witnessed the offense occurring within the perception of one of his physical senses (i.e.: sight, sound, smell, touch, or hearing).

Otherwise, he may issue a summons to appear to the suspected misdemeanant and present the facts of the circumstance to the prosecutor's office for a determination if grounds exist to support an arrest or the issuance of a violation notice, or not.

Answer 6

There are many traffic citations issued on a daily basis. However, a cop cannot give you one of these without explaining the reason why. Even cities who want to ticket people for running red lights must make their intentions clear with signs around the intersections.

Answer 7

Yes. Warrants are issued in connection with traffic citations usually when the person getting the ticket fails to answer to the citation. Sometimes the identity of someone who has committed an offense is not known when the incident is investigated, or they are not present to be issued a citation. This is common in hit-and-run cases, among others. In such cases, the officer doing the investigation will request an arrest warrant after he has identified the person)s) responsible.

Answer 8

Yes, officers are not immune from receiving tickets (although, admittedly, it does not happen very often).

Answer 9

Yes they can