Depends on the laws in your state. In Oregon, you have the right to face your accuser as I believe is true everywhere. Postponing as long as possible, again and again, then failing to schedule, then letting them schedule a night court for you (because of your supposed shift change) works often. I once postponed for about 5 months. When I appeared and the officer didn’t, the judge actually said “This is your lucky day, get outta here!”
In Washington, the cop’s statement is admissable as evidence, but you have the right to cross examine etc. This can be quite expensive and they will go to great pains to see that the officer appears. (subpoena etc.) If you wish to appear and plead guilty with an explanation the fine is almost always reduced significantly. Check the rules in Ohio.
If you’re guilty, pay the fine.
But find out if you are guilty first.
If you are not sure, at least when it comes to speeding, you probably are.
Remember…my tax dollars are being spent here.
If you were speeding, you deserve higher insurance rates than someone who does not speed.
Maybe this is one of those differences between the United States and Canada - going to court to fight speeding tickets doesn’t seem to be done very often here (at least, no one I know has ever done it). We all speed, all the time, and we pay our occasional tickets and forget about it. I’ve had two speeding tickets in 21 years of driving; I speed every single day. Seems fair enough to me already.
I had never had a speeding ticket in my life, and then bam…got two in a week.
Went to traffic school and paid half the fine.
BTW, one speeding ticket was bogus (I saw the cop three blocks ahead and was NOT speeding…he said I was going 5 miles over the speed limit. At traffic school, a few people got ticketed for going 1 mile over the speed limit!!!)
The other ticket was valid, although on the street I was travelling, everybody always goes the speed I was going…I just happened to be there at the end of the month (quota time) and was the only car.
I did, however, get some sage advice from a woman at work.
Woman: Well, DMark, do you ever go over the speed limit?
DMark: Uh, yeah.
Woman: And this is your first speeding ticket?
DMark: Yeah.
Woman: Then just consider this a fine for the other 300 times you haven’t been caught.
Somehow, it seemed to make the whole thing a lot less personal.
BTW…forget about that nice judge being nice about the ticket…ain’t gonna happen.
Slight hijack–when I got my last speeding ticket, about eight years ago, on the NY State Thruway, a two lane (in each direction) highway between Harriman and Albany, I had been doing around the speed limit in the right lane and I found myself behind 3 0r 4 slow-moving trucks. I passed them all, doing about 75 during the passing, and then pulled in front of the truck caravan. Almost immediately I got pulled over and ticketed for doing 75.
I thought this was wildly unfair, as I wasn’t driving 75, I was doing 75 WHILE PASSING, but the court was in a small town (Athens, NY) a hundred miles from where I live and I couldn’t take the time to argue my case, but is mine a valid argument? Or if you find your self behind four trucks doing 50, must you pass while doing under 56 the whole way? That seems ridiculous to me, and out of keeping with actual practice on the highway. Was I just unlucky to run into a trooper who needed to issue tickets, or was I really speeding?
That isn’t always true. In Washington state, the Officer does not have to appear in court on infractions. His or her testimony is the sworn report.
Radar units have two modes: stationary and moving.
In stationary mode, it reads how fast the target vehicle is approaching or pulling away.
In moving mode it reads the closing speed between the target vehicle and the cop car, also reads the closing speed between the cop car and the road ahead, then subtracts one from the other to get the speed of the target vehicle.
It all depends on the laws in your state. Washington state used to allow you to speed while passing, so long as you reduced your speed once you were back in your lane. However, that was changed some time ago and you can no longer exceed the speed limit, even while passing.
Wow. So I assume you’ve never driven 66 in a 55?
Sounds to me like you should have been issued two tickets…one for speeding and one for passing more than one vehicle at a time.
Well, it’s been almost eleven years since I was issued a speeding ticket of any sort. I have been issued three in my lifetime, all as a teenager. The most recent was a bona fide ticket…doing 35 in a 25. I paid that one with full awareness that I was guilty.
The other two were arguable. One was for doing 26 in a school zone even though there were no children present. That equals one mile an hour over what I thought was the posted limit…and eleven over the school limit. Since then, I always slow down in school zones whether there are children present or not.
And the third was downright bogus…I was “clocked” doing 72 in a 55 while being passed by a school bus. I paid that ticket as well simply because it was out of state (a 250 mile drive to appear in court? I don’t think so).
So, in answer to your question…since my most recent speeding ticket, I can say with absolute certainty that I have not sped unless the flow of traffic dictates that I speed (which is rare indeed)…and I have logged over 12,000 professional driving miles (in addition to my personal driving) in that period. Ironically, I haven’t even come close to being in an accident during that period either. For some reason, I have a feeling that the two are related.
Just for some perspective on this, school and playground zones in Calgary have a zero tolerance policy; 1km over wins the jackpot. Also, school and playground zones are in effect for the posted times on the signs; school zones here are in effect from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. Children present in the zone makes no difference at all. They seem to be pretty serious about people slowing down in school zones. Maybe they should post them a little more clearly, but that’s another rant.
I went to court. Had to sit through about 20 other cases before they got to me. (OT: There are a lot of people with serious problems out there. I felt like a goody two shoes in there.) My name was called and I approached the bench. The prosecutor read the charges: “66 in a 55, was wearing seatbelt, showed proof of insurance, last prior in 2000.” As with everyone else, the judge gave me the option of pleading guilty, not guilty, or no contest; I chose guilty. She asked the prosecutor, “How fast was he driving?” “66 in a 55, your honor.” She rolled her eyes, said I had a good driving record, and reduced the fine to $25. She never even told me to “watch my speed.” It took all of one minute. Total cost (including court cost) was $88. Not bad considering it would have been $150 had I simply sent them the money.
Glad I went. I had the day off anyway. Thanks for all the advice.
He was on the NYS Thruway, a divided highway 2 lanes in each direction (in that area). I’m sure that it’s OK to pass more than 1 car at a time there. However, he was actually speeding, I was caught the same way, me going 70 in the left lane, slowly passing a bunch of cars in the right lane.
This is such a gigantic crock of SH*T, it’s unbelievable! This is the law in Iowa as well, you can’t speed while passing. F@#@#g g@#@%&#d morons. What this basically means is you can’t legally and safely pass someone on the highway unless they’re going 10-15 mph under the limit. Thanks for separating those two ideas out, lawmakers, so all the drivers on the road can weigh legality vs. safety before making a pass. I’ve never gotten a ticket from this, but the very idea of laws like this makes my blood boil.
Glad you saved $60, Crafter_Man.