I was doing 67 in a 50. HOWEVER, it was during rush hour and I had to merge over 3 lanes to the left to make an exit and had to increase speed to safely merge. I couldn’t have slowed in that rush hour traffic and still be safe.
I know that the “everyone else is doing it” excuse won’t work, so I’m not even attempting that.
The officer also clocked me 308 feet from the speed limit sign (that goes from 55 to 50), so again, with the merging, there was no way I could have slowed safely and merge at the same time in 308 feet.
Also, there was another officer (unmarked car) present at the ticketing. He held my license and presumably advised the ticketing officer on the case (or at least that’s my argument). If this other officer does not show, can the case be dismissed, or will the judge retry the case and subpoena the other cop?
Please share experiences and advice with your day in front of the judge. What would the essentials to case preparation need to be?
You’re asking for legal advice here and it’s not going to fly.
I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice:
Neither a judge nor a jury will give a rats ass about your need to exit and your inability to get to the exit ramp you needed. This is an excuse, not a defense. Drive past the exit and get off on another. GUILTY! Next case!
Presume nothing! If the prosecution can make their case against you with only one of the officers they will. And if they need both they’ll both be there. Officers routinely show up at traffic stops to back each other up. Just because they were talking to each other doesn’t mean anything to your case. GUILTY! Next case.
Your inability to control your vehicle in a manner proscribed by law does not excuse you from controlling your vehicle in a manner proscribed by law. **GUILTY! **Next case.
If I were being charged with speeding I would go after the device used to clock my vehicle (radar. VASCAR, laser, pacing) and the proficiency of the officer to operate such device. And I would try to impeach the officers credibility on his observations of my vehicle.
THIS HAS NOT BEEN LEGAL ADVICE, I AM NOT A LAWYER.
With one exception, I have been able to fight traffic tickets by asking for a court extension. By the second court date, the police officer involved is often unable to attend court and I have won by default.
Not a fool-proof method, obviously. But it has worked for me…
I agree with everything in your post except the “Get a lawyer” part. That’s financially stupid in a traffic case. Unless you have so many moving violations you’re at the point of losing your license, then it could make sense if losing your license could have disastrous personal consequences (like make it impossible for you to go to work or etc.)
You missed my point, which is my fault as I should have been more clear:
This has not been legal advice. I am not a lawyer. If you want legal advice get a lawyer.
Getting a lawyer for a traffic case isn’t necessarily stupid. There are some firms that deal specifically in traffic and don’t charge an arm and a leg. The expense can be dwarfed by the raise in insurance premiums if one is convicted of several violations.
The first was a speeding ticket for doing, I think, 66 in a 55. I just went ahead and paid that one - there was no point in arguing it. I had passed another vehicle (actually getting up to 70 to do so), and I simply took too long slowing back down after I had completed the pass.
The second was a “too fast for conditions” after I slid on ice and caused an accident. This one I did argue in court, as the “too fast” in this case happened to have been “I was moving at a speed between 5 and 10 MPH” - the same speed as the vehicle ahead of me. The road was covered with packed snow and was somewhat slick, so traffic was moving very slowly and I was attempting to maintain sufficient space between myself and the vehicle in front of me. I slowed even further when I attempted to make a right turn. Unfortunately, it was early-afternoon and the sky was clear, and there was a large evergreen tree on the corner. The sun had partially melted the snow on the road, but the snow refroze into ice as that tree cast its shadow across it, and so there was a large patch of ice that I hit as I was halfway into my right turn. So instead of continuing to turn, my car slid and continued in a straight line and slowly plowed into the car that was stopped at the intersection.
I went to court and presented my argument, and the judge said, “I still think you were going too fast, but I’m going to reduce the fine to $45.” Which, to my then-unemployed ass, was much better than the original $95.
Sitting in the courtroom waiting my turn was an entertaining experience, though. Especially listening to people’s excuses for why they were going as fast as they were. There was one old man who was attempting to fight a ticket for something like 30 MPH over the limit, and his oft-repeated, “I don’t know where that cop came from, but…” made it pretty clear he was guilty as hell and knew it
When dealing with traffic violations, each court operates differently. If it is a strict court, you will lose. If it is a plea-happy court, the court will allow you to plea the ticket down just because you showed up. Unfortunately, the only people who know how a court treats traffic violations are lawyers. It’s debatable whether hiring a lawyer will make a difference, but you will certainly be more prepared.
From my experience, the court will immediately ask you if you want to plead the ticket down to a minor offense for no points with a minimal fine. Even if you have the greatest defense in the world, this plea usually sounds pretty good.
When you have to cross 3 lanes of traffic to make an exit, you are guilty of driving badly. You start working your way across the road a step at a time a couple miles early. Then exiting is not a problem. You deserve a ticket.
Many police departments require a periodic calibration of all radar guns. These calibration records (so far as I know) are public and may be requested. If the radar gun used to clock you hadn’t been calibrated within the required period at the time of the ticket you could argue that the state doesn’t have sufficient evidence.
IANAL either, but to me it sounds like **pkbites **nailed it in one. Particularly the 1st point - take the next exit if it’s not safe to take this one.
Also, dunno about rush hour where OP lives, but around here (DFW) “rush hour” means “*maaaybe *getting up to 25 or 30 on the highway if you’re lucky.” I’ve never heard of rush hour as being an excuse to speed up. It’s an excuse to be late - everyone else is doing 10, you’re gonna do 10 too.
Pay the ticket, dude. Sounds like a waste of time to try and fight it, unless you’re just sitting around all day, in which case: what the hell, why not.
If you have the time, go observe a session in the court in which your case will eventually be heard. See what happens in similar cases, and you may learn something that’ll help. I agree that you probably won’t need a lawyer unless you’re at risk of losing your license. In our court, your case would be dismissed if the officer failed to appear. If you are polite, well-prepared and articulate, it is quite possible that you will be found not guilty after trial, or that the judge will impose a smaller fine than she would have otherwise.
As much as I think the OP has no defense, I know of a specific instance where this isn’t true.
Here in the Milwaukee area I routinely find myself traveling south bound on U.S. 45.
There is an interchange where U.S. 45, Interstate 94, and I-894 connect. This is know as the Zoo Interchange as Milwaukee county zoo is very close.
My exit ramp is 84th Street. In order to get to 84th Street I have to go east on I-94 and have less than half a mile to cross 3 lanes of traffic to get to the ramp. There is no “several miles” to gradually change lanes.
When traffic is light to moderate it’s no big deal. Making a 3 lane change in half a mile is safe and legal at 55MPH. When traffic is heavier, like during morning rush hour, it is not possible to make it to the ramp without either speeding, cutting people off, or both, each a citable offense. In that case I continue east until I can inch over and get off on 70th street and double back.
Keep in mind that for a big city Milwaukee isn’t very big and is a breeze to get around in even during rush hour. I’ve been to all 50 states and have driven in all major cities. Milwaukee is a baby compared to most other metro areas. So YMMV depending on your location.
I haven’t gotten out of them because of this (because they send ANOTHER cop) but I’ve gotten it reduced significantly. The key here is no points. You so don’t want points. Money is money, I chalk it up to my always speeding tax, but points are $ up on your insurance.
Ask your friends, relative, co-workers, your barista if they’ve ever going before the judge you’ll be going before. Their personalities and temperaments vary widely.
Be sure to dress nicely and don’t be nervous. You’re likely to look better than some sweaty cop in a uniform.
/lindsaybluth, fought at least 4 speeding/ red light tickets in the past 4 years.
When my wife and i drive home from work, our exit comes right after a place where two freeways meet. We have about 300 yards to get across two lanes, with heavy merging traffic from the other freeway. Most of the time, it works out fine, but there have been a few times when forcing the issue could have led to an accident, so we just went to the next exit, which is not more than another half mile down the freeway.
You meant to write “prescribed by law”. To proscribe means to forbid something. To prescribe means to establish or spell out the standards or conditions for something. THAT’S the word you wanted.
I wasn’t asking for legal help. I was asking opinions, anecdotes and experiences from non-lawyers about their time in front of a judge. At no time did I ask “at what point would I present physical evidence”, or “what’s the procedure for XXX”.
I see one of my statements being construed as such, and I apologize but nothing else. And you may never know, an actual lawyer might come on here and give one of those “I don’t practice in your state but here’s what I would do.” things.
Get a lawyer? For a traffic ticket. OK. Getting on that one. Someone piss in your cornflakes this morning?
not possible at this place. It’s an exit off an interstate. Two lanes merge into one which becomes an off-ramp for another exit (not mine) to the right. I have to merge another 2 lanes over to the left-hand side.
