Can you be arrested if you don't sign a speeding ticket?

Question

I just got done watching a video where a cop was going to arrest the guy b/c he refused to sign the ticket. Long story short, he got tasered for stupidy, but that is beside the point. I know that a signature is not an admission of guilt, just that you received the ticket. But if you refuse to sign, you can get arrested for it?

Answer 1

Yes, you can be arrested for not signing the ticket. Remember, signing the ticket is your promise to appear for the court date. If you refuse, the officer most certainly will make sure you appear by taking you to jail.



CA vehicle code 40302:



40302. Whenever any person is arrested for any violation of this code, not declared to be a felony, the arrested person shall be taken without unnecessary delay before a magistrate within the county in which the offense charged is alleged to have been committed and who has jurisdiction of the offense and is nearest or most accessible with reference to the place where the arrest is made in any of the following cases:

(a) When the person arrested fails to present his driver's license

or other satisfactory evidence of his identity for examination.

(b) When the person arrested refuses to give his written promise to appear in court.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Technically, you can be taken away if you don’t sign. The fact that it has been like this for years does not means that it is right and can’t be changed.

The fact is that they are forcing you to sign; otherwise you are taken to jail. And nobody should force you to sign anything.



Now, the cops here are telling us that technically we are srrested and they are letting us go free because we sign a promise to appear in court. The fact is that this is something very similar to extortion.



Regarding the guy that got tasered because of speeding, he did not got tasered for disobeying, look the video again, the cop pulled the taser before telling him that he was under arrest, that guy was tasered because he got scared like anybody else would be.



That guy got tasered because the cop wanted to punish him as a result of him telling, with some attitude, that he would not sign anything. Watch the video, see the cop walking to his car, dropping the documents and pulling the taser. At that point the guy was doing everything had been ordered to do, but signing the ticket.



Regarding the person that suggested here, that the ignorant public should go to the Taser web site to read the studies about how harmless is the taser to people with pacemakers, please, you are not out of being ignorant just because you read anything. Please, you better filter your sources otherwise they can make you even more ignorant, and also fool.

Answer 4

I had the same question, and the answer--he was arrested! I mean Rosa Parks was arrest, Rodney King, and the list goes on and on and on. In those cases and thousands others a bad arrest changed our way of life. Every time a cop makes a stupid unnecessary arrest he gives a single person the opporutnity to make it easier for real criminals to take advantage of our legal system.



The question is can the guy sue for false arrest, misuese of force, or some other rule? Sadly the video showed some mistakes by the paid trained police officer and I think the officer could have diffused the situation without an arrest. We rely on giving the officers a chance to make an arrest based on their knowledge and the "hairs on the back of their neck" (ha ha). But in this case, this was just one guy like every other who didn't like his ticket. And sadly, tax payers don't have enough money to arrest a person for not liking a ticket, nor signing it or whatever.

Answer 5

If you have been pulled over and issued a ticket you are already arrested. A simple way to know if you are arrested is to ask a peace officer "Am I being detained, or am I free to go?" If they have pulled you over to issue a ticket, their answer will be "yes, you are detained and no you are not free to go." Ergo you are arrested. Having been arrested the ticket and the signing thereof is an agreement to waive your right or the officer s need to be immediately remanded before a magistrate, i.e. we can immediately remand you into custody and force to to appear before a magistrate, however if you sign the promise to appear in the future we will release you from custody now.



Note the language, you the ticket recipient is already referred to as "the arrested."

40302. Whenever any person is arrested for any violation of this code, not declared to be a felony, the arrested person shall be taken without unnecessary delay before a magistrate within the county in which the offense charged is alleged to have been committed and who has jurisdiction of the offense and is nearest or most accessible with reference to the place where the arrest is made in any of the following cases:

(a) When the person arrested fails to present his driver s license or other satisfactory evidence of his identity for examination.



(b) When the person arrested refuses to give his written promise to appear in court.



(c) When the person arrested demands an immediate appearance before a magistrate.



(d) When the person arrested is charged with violating Section 23152.



Amended Ch. 53, Stats. 1982. Effective February 18, 1982.

Answer 6

Yes you can.... its failure to cooperate with the officer.



If you read the back of the ticket when you sign it you are being arrested and then released by the officer. When you fail to sign the ticket your lack of cooperation will land you in the back of his car.



Even though the ticket might not be fair sign the thing and take it to court.



I'm pretty sure though if you don't sign the ticket and go to jail for the night there is no fine because you stayed the night. Dont quote me but Im pretty sure.

Answer 7

In TX you can. Your signature is a promise to appear and answer the charges. If you refuse to sign then you are refusing to answer to the charges and will be arrested and taken to answer the charges immediately. Now, some agencies have a policy to just write "refused to sign" and will put out a warrant for your arrest if you don't show up for court.

Answer 8

The officer has a couple of choices. what the ticket means is that you will apper in court.



1. you can get arrested

2. you can right another ticket and sign it.



As for the taser the guy was moving around not obeying officer, also he had his hand in his pocket. -This is the reason he got taser not over ticket.

Answer 9

In California there is section that allows for their arrest if they refuse to sign a ticket. The box says "This is not an admission of guilt, merely a promise to appear." By not signing it, they are saying that they are not promising to appear in court, therefore they can be arrested and forced to court. I did it a couple times when someone was being a complete ****** refusing to sign even after learning that it would end up with them in jail. It is the offender's choice to go to jail or be brought before a judge/magistrate but that only works during business hours on weekdays when the Courts are in session.



CVC Section 40302(b) allows for the arrest of someone who refuses to give his written promise to appear in court



Technically the citation is an arrest, but the offender is being released on a ticket instead of being booked. MOST people, when faced with this information, decide to sign....those that don't.....learn the hard way.



Also, for those who sugested signing John/Jane Doe or some other name, CVC Section 40504(b) allows for an arrest of anyone signing a false name or another's name.

Answer 10

You are not signing for receipt of the ticket. What you are signing for is that you agree to either pay the collateral or promise to appear in court. If you refuse to sign then you can be arrested.

Answer 11

I have seen that too. I do not know why it is true, but it is, they can, do, and will arrest you. I am no authority, but I think it falls under the ' disobeying a police order' rule thing. But as I understand it, that in this country, you cannot be forced into signing anything. Signing under duress invalidates the signature. Can you imagine if it were legal to hold a guns to someones head and force them to sign a document? Man, you could force anyone to give you anything and everything any time you wanted it. For an officer to say " sign it or I will arrest you" is in a way of threating you to sign something. But like you said, signing a traffic violation is not an admission of guilt. In fact, it gives you the right to fight it in court if you so please. Yes, you can be arrested, the tasing was way out of line in my book. One day those cops are going to tase someone with a pace-maker and kill them, over a traffic violation. My point of view is skewered from most others, I grew up in a very small community and still live here, in a very rural state. everyone knows everyone, and we do not see it here very often.

Answer 12

Yes, a citation is a summons to appear in court. If you do not promise to appear in court, we can force you to by arresting you. And in the case of the video, when you resist arrest, things go downhill from there.

Answer 13

You can get arrested for just about anything, just sign you speeding ticket and don't speed anymore. You won't have to worry about getting them then.



yenkoman1969.....by the way tazers do not interfere with pacemakers, before you make statements be sure to do your research and quit making the public any more ignorant than they already are. Feel free to go to tazers official research site and you will see all the studies done.

Answer 14

In only case you would not sign a Citation is when you run away. But hey when you do get caught you would have more papers to sign. So, why not just put your initials atleast on the Current Citation!

Answer 15

depending on your state. in idaho the CRIMINAL AND TRAFFIC LAW MANUAL states on page xxviii it states you are not required to sign a ticket. there is a spot on it that the cop will sign saying they have been served. also you cannot be arrested for an infraction in idaho.

Answer 16

In my state, it just an acknowlegement that the Officer explained how to contest the ticket. If you don't sign, the Officer just writes "refused to sign"in the signature block, initials it and hands it to you anyways. I have had people get mad and rip up the ticket and throw it on the ground, whereby I make them pick up every piece or I cite them for littering, a $500.00 fine. (I LOVE that! People can be SOOOO Stupid)

Answer 17

No. The policeman can simply write, "refused to sign" on the ticket. However, it's not wise to anger the over zealous members of the police force.

Answer 18

Yes you can get arrested for not signing

Answer 19

sgt d - I think I saw you on some cop video show on court tv the other night :)

Answer 20

try doing a *right to travel* search, then talk about citations!

Answer 21

we have to obey the rules the cop told him to sign if you dont sign that means u didnt recieve that ticket he can diny it thats why n cops are to strict

Answer 22

yes. actually you can get arrested at any time for any reason if you piss a cop off.



failing to obey a cop's orders is technically resisting an officer (not resisting arrest, that's worse), which is minor but they can certainly arrest you for it, if they feel like it.

Answer 23

Let's all sign "John Doe" or Jane.

Answer 24

Yes. You are technically obstructing the police in their legal duty