It is a type of summons, a Notice (to appear). It can also be an Order (to show cause, etc.)
A Notice needs your indorsment for evidence of knowledge;
(a) Subject to subsection (f), a person has "notice" of a fact if the person: (1) has actual knowledge of it; (2) has received a notice or notification of it; or (3) from all the facts and circumstances known to the person at the time in question, has reason to know that it exists. 1-202
Of course if the officer doesn't get an indorsment that doesn't mean that they won't try an push an action upon a presumption of knowledge of the Notice.
That is why the officer insists that you receive the copy. He wants the original for the agency to be the
"holder in due course".
Try not indorsing or accepting it. When he tosses it in the window, take it back to his car and put it on the windshield.
An Order only needs to be signed by;
(8) "Order" means a written instruction to pay money signed by the person giving the instruction. The instruction may be addressed to any person, including the person giving the instruction, or to one or more persons jointly or in the alternative but not in succession. An authorization to pay is not an order unless the person authorized to pay is also instructed to pay. 3-103
§ 3-104. NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENT.
(Traffic Ticket) (a) Except as provided in subsections (c) and (d), "negotiable instrument" means an unconditional
promise or
order to pay a fixed amount of money
(fine), with or without interest or other charges described in the promise or order, if it:
(1) is payable to bearer or to
order at the time it is
issued or first comes into possession of a holder;
(2) is payable on demand or
at a definite time; and
(3) does not state any other undertaking or instruction by the person promising or ordering payment to do any act in addition to the payment of money, but the
promise or
order may contain (i) an undertaking or power to give, maintain, or protect collateral to secure payment,
(appear) (ii) an authorization or power to the holder to confess judgment or realize on or dispose of collateral, or (iii) a waiver of the benefit of any law intended for the advantage or protection of an obligor.
(e) An
instrument is a "note" if it is a
promise (to appear?) and is a "draft" if it is an
order (to show cause?). If an instrument falls within the definition of both "note" and "draft," a
person entitled to enforce the instrument may treat it as either.
(d) A
promise or
order other than a
check is not an
instrument if, at the time it is
issued or first comes into possession of a holder, it contains a conspicuous statement, however expressed, to the effect that the promise or order is not negotiable or is not an instrument governed by this Article.
A Notice To Appear does not state this.
(12) "Promise"
(to appear? to show up and pay?) means a written undertaking to pay money signed by the person undertaking to pay. An acknowledgment of an obligation by the obligor is not a promise unless the obligor also undertakes to pay the obligation.
From Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summons
Citation
A
citation,
traffic violation ticket or
notice to appear is a
type of summons prepared and served at the scene of the occurrence by a
law enforcement official,
compelling the appearance of a defendant before the local
magistrate within a certain period of time to answer for a minor
traffic infraction or
misdemeanor or other
summary offence. Failure to appear within the allotted period of time is a separate crime of
failure to appear.
compelling: demanding attention
§ 3-302.
HOLDER IN DUE COURSE. (a) Subject to subsection (c) and Section
3-106(d), "holder in due course" means the holder of an
instrument if:
(1) the
instrument when
issued or negotiated to the holder does not bear such apparent evidence of forgery or
alteration or is not otherwise so irregular or incomplete as to call into question its authenticity; and
(2) the holder took the
instrument (i) for value, (ii) in
good faith, (iii) without notice that the instrument is overdue or has been dishonored or that there is an uncured default with respect to payment of another instrument
issued as part of the same series, (iv) without notice that the instrument contains an unauthorized signature or has been altered, (v) without notice of any claim to the instrument described in Section
3-306, and (vi) without notice that any
party has a defense or claim in recoupment described in Section
3-305(a).
