He obviously saw you before you turned them on. The infraction was committed. The courts will most likely say you only turned them on because you saw the officer, but the fact that you turned them on may help your case. See if you can plead it down to a warning. You are supposed to do a pre-trip check before you put the vehicle in gear so you technically have no excuse for getting out of it, but you could try. Stupid thing to get caught for though - it's one of those basic rules of driving.

You really have no case. As long as the officer can prove that you had your headlights off after sunset you probably will lose in court. Your best bet is to just pay the ticket.

It doesn't seem fair but maybe a ticket will help you to never forget again and possibly save your life. Maybe that will help you feel a little better about it? ;)

All the stuff about shoulda had em on is correct, but. If you want to fight it, just follow the directions on the ticket and you will probably end up at a hearing. There the officer who gave you the ticket may offer to reduce the fine or reduce/eliminate the points. If he won't you can go in front of the magistrate and they will listen to your case and may offer to do the same. Unless you did something really stupid the worse that can happen is nothing. The only thing you are out is the time. For me, the 100-200 bucks is not a big deal, it's the 1000-2000 bucks extra the points add to the insurance. I did it and it's not as scary as you think. There were 40 or 50 of us, 30 or 40 made a deal with the officer and went home happy the rest saw the magistrate and most got a reduction in points and fine. One guy got a bigger fine but he was driving in a lawn chair that folded up. The mag. was pissed he tried to get out of the ticket and increased charges. I got no points and 25 bucks off for left on red light. Good Luck!

Apparently, the officer observed you first, with your lights off. this is all that needed to issue you a citation. once you observed the police vehicle, you then turned on your lights. This is like a vehicle speeding through radar. once the speed is recorded, the driver slows down, realizing radar is in use and sees a police vehicle. It's toooooooo late!

Does anyone know how much a ticket would be for driving with your headlights off? My situation is sticky. I was with a friend at a show. He paid $50 for valet parking, believe it or not. He had a few too many to drink, but I was completely sober. I offered to drive. They pulled the car up. My date started walking to the driver's side and I offered to drive. He said okay. It was midnight. I got into the driver's seat and drove out of the parking lot. Just a couple of blocks and then we got pulled over. I had no idea why, and then the cop said we were driving without our lights on. Okay, I should have checked, but I didn't even think of it. I shouldn't have assumed that the lights would have been on, but then again, you'd think that the valet driver would have put them on since it was midnight. Anyway, I guess I have to go to traffic school. I hope I can, as I would hate to have this on my record. I've had a clean record for years. So, if anyone knows how much this ticket might be, please share. I live in California, so the cost might be different in different states, but just looking for a ball-park. Thank you!!

Don't bother contesting it. Pay your fine, learn from your mistake and never do it again. How many blocks does it take to kill a person? You would have failed your driving test for doing what you did. You know you were wrong. We know you were wrong. Lets not talk about it anymore.

Sounds like you turned your lights on AFTER you spotted the police vehicle. Pay the fine and forget it.