I got one today for driving 78 in a 60. Yeah, yeah, I know, my own fault, but it was the same path I take to work everyday, 4:15 in the morning, I was alone for a good hundred yards in either direction, and in the five years I’ve been in Austin, I’ve only received one other speeding ticket. Now, being nice and polite and all the other instances I’m sure attributed to getting my ticket for driving 70 in a 60, but I’m curious, does going to court to defend against a speeding ticket really get rid of it?
I’ve personally got no qualms paying it, but money’s pretty tight lately, so if I can avoid it, I’d like to. So, has anyone out there ever gone to court for a speeding ticket? And if so, what are the odds of getting it thrown out? I’ve been told that if the officer that issued it isn’t there to go against you, then it’s thrown out, but I don’t want to waste my day waiting around because someone said something they heard a long time ago from someone else.
I’ve always been told to go to court for any speeding ticket. And I’ve done that. I’ve had many speeding tickects and I believe that I went to court for all of them. It seems that they’ll almost always lower the fine or the points. I’d say go for it. You’ve got nothing to lose, and they can’t make it worse. It anything mention that you’ve only had one other speeding ticket. Also I would suggest not mentioning that there was no one around, or that you were late for work etc. Don’t defend/justify your reasons, just claim responsibility for your actions, it’ll never happen again blah blab blah. Listen to what the other 50 people in front of you say and see what the judge does for them.
Each state is different. In Mass, you would go to a magistrate. He would offer to lower the fine. You could take the deal, or ask for a real court date. You ALWAYS asked for the real court date. They can’t make it stick unless the policeman actually shows up in court. Unless you were a royal pain to the cop, he has better things to do than spend his whole morning in court to make a $100 ticket stick. I never had one show. In fact, twice I saw the policeman in court for more serious cases, wandering the halls, and he never even bothered to come next door and hang out my cojones.
Texas may be different though, the system varies by state. But my best adivce is, fight it all the way.
Ah. I was imagining quite a different thread when I clicked in. More along the lines of being very, very nice to the officer who wrote the ticket. Being extra specially friendly to him…
In some areas, there seems to be an informal “system” where attorneys wangle to get the charge changed. For example, you might claim your speedometer wasn’t reading correctly at the time, and have the speeding charge dropped in exchange for pleading guilty to “defective equipment” or some such, paying a smaller fine. The advantage is mainly in not getting points or an insurance rate hike, as what you pay the attorney is probably at least as much as you save on the fine. My understanding is this won’t fly if you try to do it yourself, you gotta have the lawyer.
When I was in Texas, all the military people used to make it a point to go to some type of driver’s training class, which effectively got them out of the ticket. Granted the cost was still there, but no points and no increased insurance premiums. Could be, though, that it was a county thing and not a statewide thing.
Here in Michigan I got a ticket for 78 in a 55 (I knew I was speeding, but I thought the limit was 65 at that spot!), and the officer was cool and wrote it for 5 over. That’s still a $100 fine and a point. I went to court and plead guilty with an explanation – I realize I was speeding, but I wasn’t endangering myself no others (the ticket being for only 5mph over the limit, remember, and really I wan’t endangering anyone). The judge asked about priors and pendings (no to both), and dismissed the ticket – I still had to pay a $100 “administrative fee,” though. Granted it cost the same as a ticket, but with no increased insurance premiums and a clean record in case I’m dumb again.
Two things, one on topic, one is a sort of hijack.
First about the driver’s training class. In wisconsin we have a point reduction class. That is if you incur a certain amount of points you are asked if you want to take the class. You can only take it once every certain amount of years (5 or 10). After successful compleation of the class they knock 3 points off your license. If you had enough points to take the class, 3 points isn’t very many, but it does give habitual speeders a bit of a cushion and I thought the class was pretty interesting.
Now the hijack. What Balthisar said about the officer lowering a speeding ticket reminded me of my roommate brother. He was got caught going 55 in a 45 and the officer said “I clocked you at 55 in a 35 but you were accelerating so I’m going to give you a ticket for 62.” What the hell do you do in a situation like that. If you were caught 55 you should get a ticket for 55 not 62. What would you say to the judge. The only think I could think of is to immidiatly call my uncle who’s an officer and my girlfriends brother who is a deputy sherriff and ask them. But really, what are you supposed to do. Yea, I know you can ask to see the radar. But the officer stated that the radar said 55 but he got a ticket for 62 anyways.
I got a ticket in Minnesota for 49 in a 35 when I was 17. The officer said I could get a court date, talk to the city attorney, and they’d probably drop the ticket. I don’t know if that was because I was under 18, because it was my first ticket, or if this was an option open to anyone, but it got me off the hook. Unfortunately, I still had to pay the court fee ($100 rather than the $80 ticket) but at least it didn’t send my already sky-high insurance up.
Dopers must drive fast cuz there are so many topics on speeding tickets.
My answer is the same, buy the book BEAT THAT TICKET. Legal ways to fight your ticket.
Any online bookstore has it & there are other books with a similar topic.
Thanks guys. Here in Texas you can take a defensive driving class to dismiss a ticket from your record, but I got my last ticket in August, so it hasn’t been a full year yet, so I can’t take it again. Off by one month…rasmfrasm…But I’ll go down to the courthouse and fight it. Like I said, I heard that’s the way to go, but none of those telling me such actually went through the process, so I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t some sort of urban legend. Thanks for the help gang.
When I got a ticket for 69 in a 55 in Orange County, NC, I was able to plead down to improper equipment.
My speedometer failed after I got the ticket (it read zero at all speeds), but before my court date. I spoke to the Assistant DA handling the case, and he wanted proof from a mechanic. He asked the judge to give me a continuance so I could produce my evidence.
I went to a garage with speedometer calibration equipment, paid $35 and got a receipt of defective speedometer.
I took that to my next court date, managed to get out for about the same price I would have if I’d plead to speeding, and I accrued no points on my license, nor any insurance increase.
My experience was to ask the judge for an adjudication. Since my record was clean, I got the points dropped, but my fine went up from $80 to $120.
A coworker swears this works in Florida: Pay the fine by check via US mail. Write the amount for $5 over the fine. When the court sends you a check for the difference, throw it away. This keeps the books “open”. No points are assessed until the books are “closed” and that can’t happen unless you cash the check.
I am currently beating a moving violation. I hope. I am buds with the lawyer at work, and he takes on stuff like this for giggles. Keeps him in the courtroom. We have a Pre-Trial Conference July 3 (I don’t have to be there), when he says what a great guy I am, and tries to get it reduced. Or tossed. If no deal, then we get a court date and proceed as above.
One thing that had worked in the past for me is to request, at the hearing, the maintenence history of the radar equipment. I don’t know the particulars of any other state, but in PA radar guns must be inspected every 30 days. If the last date of inspection was more than 30 days ago, you’re in luck- the police officer cannot with validity argue the equipment was accurate.
In the six or so years I lived in Dallas, I got four or five speeding tickets. In each and every instance, I took it to court, and the ticket was dismissed due to “no officer present.” IOW, the cop never showed up at my court dates, so every one was dismissed.
When I moved to SF, I did the same thing two times, and both times the guy showed up. Both times, b/c he was there, they offered traffic school. (4 years between tickets, in two different counties - I’m not sure what would have happened if the 2nd ticket had come up before I was elligible for traffic school again).
So I say take it to court every time - worst case scenario is you have to do exactly what you would have had to do in the first place.
No, the worst case scenario is that your fine gets substantially increased, which is quite likely to happen for wasting the court’s and the police officer’s time. I’d also observe that there’s quite a few fans of perjury around here, apparently.
Then why did I get traffic school when I fought the tickets in SF? It sounds to me like they should have fined me even more, which they didn’t. Did I just get lucky?
And I’m perjurious for wanting to get out of a speeding ticket? I don’t see it that way, I guess.
Law. The deliberate, willful giving of false, misleading, or incomplete testimony under oath.
The breach of an oath or promise.
I don’t see that here, what I mostly see is folks hoping the officer doesn’t show up, or trying to get the fine reduced. I don’t see any lying being suggested (as that probably wouldn’t be a good technique anyway).
Oh, and you’re not “wasting the court and police officer’s time” either. It’s your RIGHT (in the U.S. anyway) to contest things like that. Actually, I’d say it’s more of your DUTY to do so, in order to keep checks and balances on the system. If you don’t go to court, then you are saving the court and the police officer time, but the “default” should be going to court.
Actually, the justice system could require that everyone show up in court. But in their “benevolence”, they allow you to pay by mail, etc. Not to mention the fact that if everyone went to court for every ticket, it would quickly drive the legal system into the ground with overwhelming numbers.
