My husband just got a very large ticket for speeding – he was on a highway that changes from 55 to 40 mph, and his transmission acted up as he was trying to downshift. In paying attention to the transmission rather than his speed, he drove past a cop at 55 (this in an area where NO ONE ever goes 40). He explained what was up, but no dice. He got a large fine.
I think he should contest the ticket. Worst case scenario is the fine remains the same and he’s lost some time, but he’s self-employed so that’s an acceptable risk.
Have you ever gone to traffic court? What was it like?
I’ve contested several tickets. In some cases, the cop didn’t show up, so the case was dismissed. In others, I ended up paying $19 more for the ticket.
Basically I sat in a waiting room for 30 minutes to an hour, was called in, pleaded, and then set up a court date with the receptionist. In some cases, the cop didn’t need to show up, and I was fined anyway.
The first time, I was pulled over for speeding, but was fairly pissed, since it was right off an exit ramp, and who the hell goes down from 60 to 30 in 200 feet coming off a freeway? The cop didn’t show up. It was dismissed, and I paid nothing.
In the second, the cop incorrectly pulled me over for running a red light. I was actually in the intersection when the light turned yellow, but it took forever for all the oncoming traffic to pass, by which point it had turned red. I argued her out of that, but she the cited me for not having up-to-date proof of insurance (which was true). I went to court and showed my POI, and it was dismissed, again with no charge.
The third time was kind of like the first, except that I was definitely at fault, and was just trying to game the system. Unfortunately, this time the cop did show up. Dammit. I paid the fine plus maybe $10 court costs.
When you get your first court date, always ask for a continuance. The longer you can put it off, the greater the chance that the cop won’t make it to court, due to scheduling or even him changing jobs (many policemen I know job-hop quite a bit).
Got nailed for going 70 in a 60. I didn’t see a judge, but it was some other kind of guy at the courthouse. I stated that I wanted to contest the ticket. He dicked around on his computer screen, dropped the ticket, and put me on probation for one year. Didn’t even ask or care about my excuse. Over and done with in 30 seconds literally. Can’t remember if I still had to pay the fine though.
I don’t know if this counts. I had a car become disables in a public parking lot. I pushed it back into a parkingspace facing outward, and plugged the meter for a couple hours. I called a towing place and had it towed for repair. A had a ticket on the car for backing into the space, which the officer didn’t like. There are not signs saying don’t park that way. I called the city police and explained that the car was pushed into the space instead of being left blocking the lot exit. They canceled the ticket. It didn’t go to court.
About 5 years ago a friend of mine here apparently cut off an unmarked car full of undercover cops in a way they didn’t like while he was trying to get 'round a corner. They radioed a cruiser who came by and ticketed him 5 minutes later. It seemed a bit out there, so my friend dressed up and went to court. None of the officers involved showed up, and when the prosecutor offered a much lower offence instead, he decided to take it rather than go with the extra time and risk of facing a judge.
Given that (and that it seems your husband seems at least technically guilty), I’d try to bargain with the prosecutor ahead of time.
Former long haul trucker here. I’ve contested several citations by mail. Many states allow that now, primarily for drivers living outside their jurisdiction. I think all were reduced by about half and one was dismissed completely. The latter came back w/ a notation indicating it was dismissed because the issuing officer misspelled my name. I had not mentioned that, nor did I even notice it until I read that. Once I hired a lawyer and not only had to pay the full fine, but the lawyer’s fee also, that really ticked me off.
Much of the time I was trucking was when the national speed limit was still 55.
Just yesterday, I received a ticket for going 80 in a 65 mph zone on Route 90 in Junius, New York. I normally would contest the ticket, but this would require a day off from work plus a 600 mile round trip. Does anyone think it would be worthwhile to contest this? Interestingly, I hadn’t had a moving violation in over 10 years. Then just last month, I got caught going 61 in a 35 mph zone in New Jersey. I successfully plea bargained this down to 2 points. With this new ticket, my insurance will definitely go up.
My beloved grandmother got a ticket recently that she contested. She was pulling out of a parking lot onto a road that had a “Construction–do not enter” sign. There was a man in control of the machines, saw her getting ready to turn around and waved her through. As soon as she passed a cop pulled her over and refused to believe that the man had waved her through.
She contested, the cop showed up, and she was fined extra.
Something to consider – the real expense of traffic tickets is not the fine or the court costs. It’s the possibility (likliehood?) that your auto insurance rates go up if you have a moving violation on your record.
If this is his first ticket (or first in a long time) most jurisdictions have diversion programs. You enter a conditional plea, and if you don’t get any more violations for a set period of time (6 months to two years) the case is dismissed. I would always contest a traffic ticket.
I have gotten a speeding ticket every year for the last 10 years, it seems. I fight every single one of them. Yes, you will get a fine, usually in the $100-$150 range. That’s inevitable; some of these towns, I swear they make their entire budget on speed traps. What you WILL get is a reduction in your points, and a bump down in your violation from speeding to failure to obey a signal, or some similar charge.
Why is this worth doing? Several reasons. First, fewer points on your license, which is better for your insurance. Also, you don’t want speeding tickets on your record because if you get another one within a couple of years, you can lose your license. Speeding is 6-8 points, so you can only get 2 in 3 year in NY, though FTOAS is only 2 points. Though I have never had an accident that was my fault, I have had many tickets and would surely not have a license if I didn’t get my tickets reduced.
I have had to appear in court for a few of my tickets. Several of them I got reduced over the phone or in writing. Call the town clerk and ask about getting the ticket reduced. They will direct you to the ADA who deals with traffic violations and you go from there. I think you should try to get it reduced to save yourself the points/insurance/risk of future license suspension. It’s not that hard, really.
I always contest, unless the court is too far away for me to get to. Most of the times I’ve contested, I’ve either gotten a dismissal because the officer failed to show or because he neglected something in his testimony, or the officers bargained me down to plead guilty to a non-points violation.
In a certain large metro court, the first step is to show up for your first date and try and work it out with the prosecuter. Then if you can’t get it worked out you get an actual trial date.
I watched a guy who had gotten a ticket for spinning his tires, and he swore it was accidental due to some ice. He came into trial without a lawyer trying to argue on what he considered obvious logic. Meanwhile the prosecution treated it like a murder case (slight exaggeration). During a lengthy cross-examination the prosecuter tripped the guy up so much that he basically admitted to some inconsistencies in his story. After the argument, the judge pulled out the statute (which this guy had not even considered) and slowly and painfully pointed out why the guy was guilty.
The judge doubled the fine on the grounds that the guy had been close to committing perjury (due to his inconsistencies). He ordered the double fine plus court costs and the gavel came down. But the guy was so flustered he kept trying to reason with the judge.
That’s when I had to flee the courtroom lest I burst out laughing (I had begun biting my lip the moment the judge pulled out the statute book, but when he doubled the fine I just about lost it.)
The cop pulled her over for 35 in a 25 zone. She complained to him that he couldn’t give her a ticket for such a small amount, that he would have to give her a warning.
He said "I can give you a ticket for even 1 mile over the limit! " and wrote up the ticket for going 26 in a 25 zone.
She went to court and the judge scolded the cop for wasting his time and apologized to my my mom for her trouble.
