A friend of mine recently received a speeding ticket from a Sherriff’s department officer in Cook County, IL… it is a 75 dollar ticket and he was going 63 in a 45.
So my questions are as follows:
What ways are there to get out of a ticket so that it isnt on your record? (It does say that he can pay more money and go to traffic school)
I have heard that if you don’t pay the ticket, you will get a court date. If you show up for that court date what happens? If the police officer doesnt show up, does the ticket get thrown out? If this is the case, how often do the police officers show up to court for minor speeding violations like this one? What if the officer does show up, then what happens?
Any further advice is appreciated as well!!!
Have your friend go to court. There’s a pretty good chance the officer won’t even show, in which case it will be dropped. If he does, try to get to traffic court.
Unless he was a particularly big ass to the officer, or was driving recklessly or drunk, his chances are pretty good.
Prior suggestion that your friend actually go to court is hereby seconded. One other suggestion: while if friend goes to court odds are probably 80% that ticket will not end up on record, if friend hires an attorney odds go up to 99%. It’s expensive, but sometimes still cheaper than the points on the record for insurance.
The safest and easiest way to keep it off your record is to do traffic school. I don’t know if the previous posts are specific to Cook County, IL, but where I live you most certainly don’t have a 90% chance of winning your court case. I have lost traffic cases several times. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not worth a try, if that’s what you want to do. If your friend does go to court and loses, tell them to be sure to request traffic school from the judge at that time, so they can still keep it off their record. I don’t know if they’ll always give it to you, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask.
And this is crucial: it is false that “if you don’t pay the ticket, you will get a court date”. You MUST contact the court and set a court date. Simply neglecting to pay might get you an arrest warrant. When you set the court date, be sure to skip any arraignment, and just ask to set a date for trial. The arriagnment is just a waste of your time.