Getting pulled over for a ticket can ruin anyone’s day but one driver recently learned that if you get a ticket while driving, and the ticket-issuing police officer doesn’t appear at your hearing, the case is automatically dismissed. She said knowing this saved her $300.
TikToker Trinity Jackson (@thetrinityjackson) posted about her experience in a viral post that’s accrued over 210,000 views and 27,000 likes on the popular social media platform. Jackson says in the video, while holding up a document to the camera, “This is your sign to show up to court for your traffic tickets.”
@thetrinityjackson Case DISMISSED
♬ original sound – Trin
She goes on to explain that after getting a ticket for $300, she was told at her first court appearance that she had three options. She could opt for a trial by a judge, a trial by a jury, pay the ticket, or take a defensive driving class.
“I said okay, trial by jury. Let me pull up in three months.”
When she returned to the courthouse for her trial three months later, Jackson was told, “Your case has been dismissed.” The TikToker holds the document up to the camera again, saying, “The State versus Trinity Jackson. Dismissed. Total due: zero dollars and zero cents.”
She goes on to explain how this happened. “The officers that give you a ticket have to be there. … to be like, ‘Yes, she did this. This is what happened. I was there. I issued the ticket.’ Like a lot of officers just aren’t gonna show up to court.”
The TikToker says that a police officer she knows personally told the driver that they had never even been to court over a ticket.
“‘If I’m not there, they can’t do anything,’ and boy was she right.” Jackson blows a kiss to the camera before signing off with, “Case dismissed.”
Viewers resonated with the video, and they shared their thoughts in the comments section.
While Jackson’s appearance at court worked out for her, the matter wasn’t as simple for another TikToker, who wrote, “Well my officer showed up so I paid the fines.”
Another driver warned against the tip as well, claiming, “My officer showed up and I ended up paying $60 more court fees,” while a third said, “This only works in bigger cities. I’m a tell you those small town cops got nothing better to do than to show up smh.”
But there were many others who provided their own anecdotes that gave credence to Jackson’s “just show up” method.
“So true I had a speeding ticket costing almost $500 officer didn’t show up they sent me home without paying for anything!” one person said.
Another wrote, “Yep! I’m going every single time. They don’t show up lol.”
One driver said that while the officer who issued them the ticket did make it to court, they failed to remember details pertaining to the stop. They wrote, “This happened to me once! The officer couldn’t remember pulling me over so I got it dismissed!”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Jackson via email for further comment.
