[OT] Speeding tickets (any cops in the house?)

[stevethatsmyname]

Well, I was nailed for going 73 in a 55 zone. Does anyone have any experience in this matter about how I can get it overturned?

[Etemenanki]

50/50 if you show up in court in nice clothes :idea:

i'd just pay it.

[stevethatsmyname]

well upon inspecting the speeding ticket, the fields marked 'Print Rank, First Initial, & Last Name' and 'Badge/ID No.' Were left blank. Do you think this helps me out at all?

[fgh24]

If they dont show in court u get off scott free but they will more then likely show up. U can also take an online traffic class and wipe it clean if u are so worried about it, but if this is your first ticket dont bother just pay it.

[squigipapa]

I don't know if you're in canada or the states or somewhere else.. but this is a canadian site: (http://www.magma.ca/~fyst/) FYST - Fight Your Speeding Tickets.. I'm sure you can find something similar in your area if you're not in canada.. but anyway, this site gives you all the forms, example "fill in the blank" type letters to send to the crown, etc. etc. Basically, it gives you everything you have to right to demand as a defendant.. and if they mess up one thing that you request, you get off. I've used it once, and one of my buddies has used it successfully 4 times. I have a lot of cop friends, and actually went to school to be a cop (before I got into the whole computer thing) so they do actually show up in court most of the time, however, there are so many little technicalities that you can demand as a defendant that it's pretty easy to catch them on one.

I got them on a 'full disclosure' thing.. it was a couple of years ago now, but I believe it was something like they had to send me a bunch of stuff at least 10 days before the court date, and they missed their deadline by a couple of days so it was thrown out.

Just on a side note.. it's funny when you think about it .. speeding tickets are such a bad business model.. For example: If I get a 100$ ticket, and I have 6 things that I can demand from the prosicution, which when all man hours, overtime for the cop appearing in court, court fees, etc. etc. etc. are taken into account.. even if I simply show up in court, plead guilty and pay the 100$ .. I've just cost the government thousands of dollars.. if say for a period of one month EVERY person in a single province/state decided to fight their speeding tickets, and demand everything to full extent of the law, the state/province would go broke .. basically if everyone always fought their tickets they'd have to change the system cause it just woulden't work.

I for one, always, always, always fight them .. with the info and examples on the FYST site above, it's pretty easy for me so it's really no big deal, but even if they do win, and get 100 or 150$ from me .. I easily end up costing them thousands.. however, their thousands come from my taxes .. so maybe I'm just screwing myself anyway .. ahhh .. whatever. :)

[kenshinlod]

First, you shouldn't speed. There's a speed limit for a reason. It's for the safety of the community and it's kind of selfish to speed.

Anyway,
Agreed, there are alot of technicalities you can catch them on. For example, the cop couldn't identify the color of my brother's car and he got off. So, show up to court and fight it. Sometimes the cop doesn't show up and you get off.

[Cleglaw_Himself]

Don't sure of all the rules where you live, but if you were speeding and got caught and you have to pay a fine, then pay up and be more careful next time.

[stevethatsmyname]

i live in Hawaii

[nebby]

First, you shouldn't speed. There's a speed limit for a reason. It's for the safety of the community and it's kind of selfish to speed.


ALright, I can't let this one slide by, because it's one of my personal peeves. Of course we have laws for a reason, and most of them involve public safety or rights to reasonable security in public. But the amount of law enforcement rescources expended in most US cities on traffic violations is hugely disproportionate to the number of fatalities and serious injuries involved relative to other crimes. In fact, many states' law enforcement revenues are based to a large degree on minor moving violations (source: US Department of Justice, FY2000 data, see http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/annualreports/pr2000/TableofContents.htm for further details), which are not subject to the same budgetary constraints tax revenues are. The result? It's in the best interest of the local & state law enforcement agencies to spend even more police rescources on catching speeders, and less catching/investigating murder, sexual assault, and all other violent crimes combined. "To protect and serve"? Hardly. The 2 years following raising the national maximum speed limit to 65 from 55 saw a decrease in highway fatalities (source: DoT, several articles have cited this stat, find any one on google). And the arguement that "we catch people in other criminal activities by routine traffic stops" doesn't really work statistically either. Might as well make random check points on the highway, if that is your goal.

So, fight that ticket man. Hopefull the officer won't show. One less trick turned for The Man.

[stevethatsmyname]

yeah... I am going to fight it in court... hopefully I won't even have to fight! One website i visited reccomends that I find ways to delay the court date as long as possible. The reason being, the court date that Officer set is the most convenient for him. If i make a new court date, it will not be as convencient for the officer, and he has less reason to show up. If he doesnt show up, *yay i won!*

[hc_ugajeremy]

That's amusing. Responsibility is such a horrible thing.. damn the "Man"

[EmoSk8er]

It's people like you that make me sick. You were caught doing wrong, now you run around saying "oh , its my my fault! lookie! i even found a error in their doing! that means i can exploit the system and not pay up. " good job, its people like this that make the roads unsafe and the reason americans look morally decieving
-EmoSk8er

[weedkilz]

ALright, I can't let this one slide by, because it's one of my personal peeves. Of course we have laws for a reason, and most of them involve public safety or rights to reasonable security in public. But the amount of law enforcement rescources expended in most US cities on traffic violations is hugely disproportionate to the number of fatalities and serious injuries involved relative to other crimes. In fact, many states' law enforcement revenues are based to a large degree on minor moving violations (source: US Department of Justice, FY2000 data, see http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/annualreports/pr2000/TableofContents.htm for further details), which are not subject to the same budgetary constraints tax revenues are. The result? It's in the best interest of the local & state law enforcement agencies to spend even more police rescources on catching speeders, and less catching/investigating murder, sexual assault, and all other violent crimes combined. "To protect and serve"? Hardly. The 2 years following raising the national maximum speed limit to 65 from 55 saw a decrease in highway fatalities (source: DoT, several articles have cited this stat, find any one on google). And the arguement that "we catch people in other criminal activities by routine traffic stops" doesn't really work statistically either. Might as well make random check points on the highway, if that is your goal.

So, fight that ticket man. Hopefull the officer won't show. One less trick turned for The Man.


I totally agree... Most speed limits at least where I live are totally bogus anyways, but I actually find that more accidents here in maine are caused my people going under the speed limit like old people causing others to drive in ways they normall wouldnt, and then that is where accidents happen. AS far as fighting it though, unless you have gotten lots of tickets, you might as well just pay it, save your self the aggrivation and get a radar detector next time :lol:

[kenshinlod]

Ok, if you want to fight the speed limit because it's too low, speeding is not the right way. When you are the only person speeding while everyone else is trying to follow the law, that's when accidents happen. Haste makes waste.

If you don't like it, fight it the right way by getting signatures of people who want the speed limit raised and fighting it in city hall.

[stevethatsmyname]

the speed limit was 55. Traffic was flowing at around 65 miles per hour. I was going a little faster in the 'fast lane', no one else in the fast lane, and got nailed. How is this unsafe? anyone want to tell me?

[0takuPryd3]

Yeah.. don't fight a 73 in a 55 ticket. That's really just stupid. Also, I don't see how all you people get off on these technicalities.. my brother was going the speed limit when a car pulled behind him with its high beams on. It follows him for a long time, so he eventually speeds so maybe it will turn its high beams off and stop following him so closely. It turns out to be a cop, and I personally think that is quite a stupid way to catch "speeders". My brother did as well, and so he told his story to a judge who immediately turned him down and didn't even really listen to his story. Fighting tickets seems pretty useless to me, especially when you were actually speeding for no good reason. You were speeding and you knew it... going over the speed limit is always worse than not if something abnormal happens. I'm not telling you not to speed, because I speed horribly all the time... I'm saying that the cop wasn't wrong in giving you a ticket.

[priestofzakarum]

i hear ya man, i live in Sheboygan, WI (Safest place to raise a family in like 1998 or so) that means 35 on rural like roads :P

[memphis]

(Note this is only my opinion if you dont care what i have to say then i probably dont care what you have to say either)

I believe that speed limits in all but the highest of traffic areas should be totally removed. if people are allowed to drive at a speed they are comfortable at then they are less likley to cause an accident. figting the ticket isnt going to make you a bad person (as emosk8r seems to think) becasue it is your right as an american to "due process" so fight till your hearts content : could jsut be a waste of your time though.

[kenshinlod]

steve, if someone is 73 and everyone is going 65 you would need a greater distance to come to a complete stop. you would need a faster reaction time to avoid unexpected objects, etc. Therefore, there is a higher probability of an accident.

anyway, i am not the person you should try to convince that there there is no harm in speeding. talk to the judge and see if you can bring him over to your logic.

[Phantom_Man]

It's people like you that make me sick. You were caught doing wrong, now you run around saying "oh , its my my fault! lookie! i even found a error in their doing! that means i can exploit the system and not pay up. " good job, its people like this that make the roads unsafe and the reason americans look morally decieving
-EmoSk8er

No, it's called reaping the benefits of a horrible legal system.

Phantom-

[probowl278]

I know the autoban in europe has a very high speed limit with very few fatalities and I think it is a great idea.

[Cleglaw_Himself]

If I was a judge overseeing this if it went to a court, I would make you pay double for wasting my time and trying to be smart. Nothing personal, but that's how the judge will see it especially if you are under 25 yrs old.

Pay the fine.

[RlNDl]

Pay the fine, you were wrong driving that fast. And most important, dont do it again.
I work as a fireman, and I've seen first hand the work of high speed and sudden stop. You DONT want to be involved.

[stevethatsmyname]

I dont like hiked insurance rates, thank you very much. I read somewhere that if the cop doesn't show up in court, 99% of the time the case gets completely thrown out!

*hopes the cop doesn't show up*

[Toliphar]

I've been caught speeding three times. I knew every time I was speeding and thus violating a very simple rule and so I payed the fine. The last time I speeded I didn't feel I did moraly wrong (sircumbstances), but I did violate the law and so I still payed up.

You know you were speeding, you know you did wrong, you know you broke a very simple rule, and now you're trying to run from YOUR responsability? Just admit to breaking the speed limit, pay the fine and walk with your head high and drive more safely next time.

[CreLuSioN]

lol just pay like every1 else.....

[stevethatsmyname]

lol just pay like every1 else.....

nice idea, but i dont like succombing to peer pressure. I never do something because 'everyone else does it'

[Cleglaw_Himself]

stevethatsmyname,

Almost everyone gets a ticket at some stage. Maybe this is your first and that's why you seem to be adamant that you can get out of it.

Its got nothing to do with peer pressure, just common sense so you can get on with your life, and learn from the experience.

Do you really want to go through all the stress of fronting up to court when you were in the wrong? No, you don't, you prefer to remain anonymous to the court system.

[LyrinJytus]

Pay the ticket, speed a night in traffic court (if your eligible the ticket won't show on your record or insurance), and don't do it again. I just went through that process myself towards the end of last year and it was much easier and less painful than 'fighting' the fact that I was actually breaking the law.

Just my personal opionion but people who fight tickets which they know they should get should have to pay double the fine at least if they are convicted. It's a waste of tax payer money and goverment officials time as well as the police officer who has to attend instead of either being at home on a off day or doing something more important.

[Afro AmeriZON]

Well, I was nailed for going 73 in a 55 zone. Does anyone have any experience in this matter about how I can get it overturned?

2 things:

1.) You can either request a supporting deposition which forces the cop to show up at your court date. Usually the cop won't show up and the ticket will get torn up. But you may get unlucky with this method.

2.) Talk to the judge. Tell him/her that you didn't realize how fast your were going. Ask the judge, what can I do to get this reduced. The judge will usually reduce the points (or just reduce it to like parking on the pavement or something silly like that) but the fine will be bigger then it would be if you had just taken the points. The courts really care about the money.

Now I don't know about you but I would rather have a bigger fine then taken the full 4 points on my license (which I can't really afford to have since I have a bunch on it anyways. :lol:)

[weedkilz]

stevethatsmyname,

Almost everyone gets a ticket at some stage. Maybe this is your first and that's why you seem to be adamant that you can get out of it.

Its got nothing to do with peer pressure, just common sense so you can get on with your life, and learn from the experience.

Do you really want to go through all the stress of fronting up to court when you were in the wrong? No, you don't, you prefer to remain anonymous to the court system.

This is something that I am glad someone brought up....if you go to the court, and the cop does show up, you are bringing much more attention to yourself, and the cops are going keep a lookout for you and pull you over again whether you are going 73 or 59. You are much better off staying unknown. Cops really does not like people trying to get their way out of things and they are just going to pull you over even more. You trying to be smart is just going to make it worse for you in the long run. But then again, it sounds by your comments that you are young, so you have not grown up to the fact that you take responsibility for your actions

[Afro AmeriZON]

This is something that I am glad someone brought up....if you go to the court, and the cop does show up, you are bringing much more attention to yourself, and the cops are going keep a lookout for you and pull you over again whether you are going 73 or 59. You are much better off staying unknown. Cops really does not like people trying to get their way out of things and they are just going to pull you over even more. You trying to be smart is just going to make it worse for you in the long run. But then again, it sounds by your comments that you are young, so you have not grown up to the fact that you take responsibility for your actions

Are you talking about my post or cleglaws? Seems to me like you meant to quote mine.

[Chiller_babe]

I don't know how it works where you are - but my next door neighbour tried to contest a speeding ticket here in the UK (they were caught on camera as well so were blatantly in the wrong). They ended up paying a £60.00 fine AND £250.00 in costs - so it may not be such a great plan if the Traffic Cop turns up.

On top of that if this was near to your area and you contest the ticket you may well find yourself booked everytime a COPPER SEES YOU DOING 2MPH OVER THE LIMIT as the local coppers don't like people taking the piss

Chill

[Mn_Swe2]

I know the autoban in europe has a very high speed limit with very few fatalities and I think it is a great idea.

If IIRC most parts of AutoBahn has a speed limit of 130 km/h, but I do think they still have no-limit-areas under the right weather conditions et.c.

IIRC Germany ranks rather high in the death toll rankings for traffic, so I don't think it's a very good idéa with no-limit roads.

Sweden has somwhere around 450 traffic related deaths/year. IIRC Germany is in the vicinity of 8000. Their population is close to 10 times ours, so if you compare figures they should be around 4000-4500/year if it was comparable.

I don't say this is because they have theese high-speed roads, but imagine an accident in 180 km/h instead of 110 and you get the picture. I think we in Sweden end up with more traffic injuries, but countries with high speed roads end up with more traffic deaths...

/Magnus

edit: @the original poster:
Why even bother with this. You know you did wrong, and now society punishes you. So pay up and admit you did wrong, and try to obey the rules next time. Your reaction, to immediately look for loop holes, I find rather offensive and shows signs of low moral :(

[Mn_Swe2]

I never do something because 'everyone else does it'

Hmmm... this could lead to a rather large discussion about democracy, your "ego" and other circumstances, but I quit early today, so I don't have time for more :p

But I bet you are wrong on this point ;)

/Magnus

[rickcarson]

(Note this is only my opinion if you dont care what i have to say then i probably dont care what you have to say either)

I believe that speed limits in all but the highest of traffic areas should be totally removed. if people are allowed to drive at a speed they are comfortable at then they are less likley to cause an accident. figting the ticket isnt going to make you a bad person (as emosk8r seems to think) becasue it is your right as an american to "due process" so fight till your hearts content : could jsut be a waste of your time though.

You are so totally right. Just think! Its evolution in action!

NB: during the Vietnam war, a young American man was statistically more likely to die in a car crash back in the US than on the front lines in 'nam....

Or, you could save the rest of us some trouble, and just shoot yourself. Mkay?

I love America, its the Americans I can't stand.

[baalos]

*people passing judgement* Sheesh, let the judge do that people! Steve is just asking for some advise in exercising his duty as an American.

Steve, the court is suppose to be neutral, considering the evidence and making judgement. In this case so far, you have your word vs. the officer. The question to the court is, How do you know the officer was not mistaken? What method was used in clocking your speed? Did he use radar? When was the radar last calibrated? Does the officer have as evidence the calibration certificate? Did the officer use his/her speedometer? When was that calibrated? Where is the copy of the calibration certificate?

In cases involving "safety", has an engineering analysis been done on that stretch of road? Does the officer have the report as evidence?

Too often we just pay the fine. There are strategies to avoid this. But as the fireman said, don't use that as an excuse to put yourself in danger. Although I doubt there was that much risk going that little over the max speed limit. Good luck, *no_loafing!

[baalos]

NB: during the Vietnam war, a young American man was statistically more likely to die in a car crash back in the US than on the front lines in 'nam....

*pulls out BS Metor* Off the chart man. A second lieutenant had a life expectancy of 6 weeks in country. Most young American men driving cars beat that hands down.

[stevethatsmyname]

*pulls out BS Metor* Off the chart man. A second lieutenant had a life expectancy of 6 weeks in country. Most young American men driving cars beat that hands down.

yeah, i am very sceptical of this statistic too.

[Toliphar]

*people passing judgement* Sheesh, let the judge do that people! Steve is just asking for some advise in exercising his duty as an American.


People passing judgement? He speeded, got caught, got a fine for speeding. The first thing he does is to try and get away from paying, to run away from the consequences of his own actions.

I don't know what I feel is worse... Steve running from his responsability, or people telling him how to run from it. One is cheating, the other is teaching to cheat. Bah...

[Cleglaw_Himself]

Something I forgot to mention which is relevant to the first post, steve, before everyone whistled for their high horses.

My sister was in the Australian police force. At the time, I asked her all the questions everyone wants to know.

One of them was about speeding.

In Australia, there are different fines/point penalties for amount of speed (km/hr) over the limit.

<15 km/hr over Fine about $AUD80 points about 2
<30km/hr over Fine about $AUD130 points about 4
<40km/hr over Fine - a lot points a lot
>40km/hr over Big fine and loss of license basically.

Speed cameras and radar guns are usually set up to catch the people going well over the speed limit, but they calibrate the guns to only catch people going at least 10% over the limit to account for errors in calibration etc.

So, you will never get caught going 85km/hr in an 80km/hr zone. But once you get into the next bracket of over 15km/hr, you're caught for sure.

In your case, limit 55miles/hr, the radar was probably set to catch over 65miles/hour, so they only get the bigger fines for their coffers. Sending out notices and stuff isn't really worth it for them in the long run - paperwork, time, etc for the more miniscule fines.

So, basically, if you were in Australia, your chances would be slim indeed trying to get off.

*whistles for high horse again*... :)

[Rekoc]

Steve Dont fight it! i got a tickit for doing 97 in a 60 :( lol and i went to court with my mom(it was like 3 weeks after i got my license didnt even have the hard copy yet) and all i got was a 120$ fine and 3 month probation...dont remember what it was called...if i didnt get a ticket for 3 months the ticket i got wouldnt go on my record. So its really not that bad.

[Hobbesmsu]

clewglaws right as near I've been told. Cops usualy are on the look out for people doing a % over the speed limit I try to stay under 10%. No tickets since I've adopted this policy and two before going 35mph in 25mph areas. =/

[ConnerMacleod]

Yeah.. don't fight a 73 in a 55 ticket. That's really just stupid. Also, I don't see how all you people get off on these technicalities.. my brother was going the speed limit when a car pulled behind him with its high beams on. It follows him for a long time, so he eventually speeds so maybe it will turn its high beams off and stop following him so closely. It turns out to be a cop, and I personally think that is quite a stupid way to catch "speeders". My brother did as well, and so he told his story to a judge who immediately turned him down and didn't even really listen to his story. Fighting tickets seems pretty useless to me, especially when you were actually speeding for no good reason. You were speeding and you knew it... going over the speed limit is always worse than not if something abnormal happens. I'm not telling you not to speed, because I speed horribly all the time... I'm saying that the cop wasn't wrong in giving you a ticket.


Easy answer to this one... make sure you have plenty of insurance and are buckled in properly, make certain the headrest is in optimum position. If they are tailgating and using high beams, slam on the brakes as hard as you can. Then sue their every loving asses off even if they nick you. If they are a police officer, get four or five attorneys involved, one for estate planning, three minimum for the civil suits against the local city, the cop and his family, and his insurance carrier, and make a call to Johnny Cochran, he hates cops.

This happens repeatedly and there is no law against hitting the brakes for any reason whatsoever. Who's to say you weren't trying to avoid that bunny playing in traffic and his dumb butt was too involved trying to make a quota.

Oh yeah, if you can't tell, I hate traffic cops. Complete and total waste of tax payer money and the funds would be better spent on real crimes...

[0takuPryd3]

Steve - Giving into peer pressure isn't always bad. Like, say if you were trying to waste your time, the court's time, and the taxpayer's money and your peers talked you out of it. That would be a good thing, rather than you thinking "Oh wow man, I'm going against the grain and doing my own thing! I am my own person and I don't care what anyone else says!" Accept you were and are wrong, and learn your lesson. And I know I'm repeating what everyone else says, but I think we all should until you get the point.

Baalos - America, as you can see from the many posts from foreigners in this thread, is not the only country in which you can contest a speeding ticket. Just because he has the right as an American doesn't mean he should do it. It's a waste of time and effort and the only reason people are allowed to contest tickets in America is to attempt to remove power from cops who are corrupt, *heads or both. If a black man is going 51 in a 50 and he gets a 150$ ticket and 3 points on his license, then he should contest the ticket. If a white young male gets a ticket for going 73 in a 55, he should have to pay triple in taxes for the rest of his life for even thinking about contesting his ticket.

Conner - Yeah, but my brother hasn't had such luck with messing around with people who have their high beams on behind him. He once flipped such a driver off, who turned out to be a drunk, angry redneck who beat the * out of my brother. My brother is quite a strong person, but he was a pacifist at the time or something and thought fighting was stupid, so he just let himself get beat up. As for traffic cops... I don't mind those who teach people to slow down with a fine and a couple of points, or remove the license of those who are endangering lives, but the cops who follow people with their high beams on or the ones who pull over teenagers for no reason (yes lady, you pulled me over for going 30 in a 30 and asked if I had anything to drink tonight. Thank you. You also took my brother to the police station for having a dull switchblade, making him have to either get a lawyer or face 90 days in prison + a 100$ fine. Off topic story, but it really angered me). gogo Vermont cops with nothing better to do and quotas to fill.

[baalos]

People passing judgement? He speeded, got caught, got a fine for speeding. The first thing he does is to try and get away from paying, to run away from the consequences of his own actions.

I don't know what I feel is worse... Steve running from his responsability, or people telling him how to run from it. One is cheating, the other is teaching to cheat. Bah...
Toli, In the US you are innocent until proven guilty. There could have been error on the traffic officers part. That is not cheating. That is the "rules" of this country. I gave him points to consider.

BTW - he got caught for allegedly speeding. No judgement has been passed.

The color thingie is not working, for those that wonder and know me.

[baalos]

Baalos - America, as you can see from the many posts from foreigners in this thread, is not the only country in which you can contest a speeding ticket. Just because he has the right as an American doesn't mean he should do it. It's a waste of time and effort and the only reason people are allowed to contest tickets in America is to attempt to remove power from cops who are corrupt, *heads or both. If a black man is going 51 in a 50 and he gets a 150$ ticket and 3 points on his license, then he should contest the ticket. If a white young male gets a ticket for going 73 in a 55, he should have to pay triple in taxes for the rest of his life for even thinking about contesting his ticket.



I didnt see the here, but hoping its there. Laws should pertain to everyone, regardless of race.

[baalos]

In your case, limit 55miles/hr, the radar was probably set to catch over 65miles/hour, so they only get the bigger fines for their coffers. Sending out notices and stuff isn't really worth it for them in the long run - paperwork, time, etc for the more miniscule fines.

So, basically, if you were in Australia, your chances would be slim indeed trying to get off.

*whistles for high horse again*... :)

This is a pet peeve of mine so here i go again...

You are speaking of generalizations. Of course income to the city/state is of issue, but how do we know Hawaii's finest just has a thing for guys like Steve's profile? Maybe his plates say w rlm pkr and the officer just got nailed by him? I know that sounds dumb, but stuff like that happens. Suppose Steve has long hair and a really nice car? Has nothing to do with the amount of speed hes doing.

I am much older than most of you. In fact, I am older than zappa who is pretty old himself. My driving habits havent changed, but the cars I drive sure have and the frequency of traffic tickets have gone way down over the past 20 years. The youth is a targeted group folks.

I am way more likely to get a ticket on my harley than in my mercedes. Its just the way it is. There are defences one should exercise if one has the right to do so. If the officer was right, (see my post on defenses) then fine. But to roll over is dumb, IMO.

[stevethatsmyname]

OK OK OK... I really wasn't expecting this thread to get so long.

Let me just clear something up really quick. I am not going to 'fight' this ticket. There is a clear option on the ticket that i can check that says 'request a trial'. I see nothing wrong with checking that box, which is within the allowed rules. Is that 'cheating'?

And, since I did not actually look at my speedometer at the exact moment that i was clocked, i cannot be sure that i was going 73 miles per hour. I slowed significantly when i saw the police officer pointing a radar at me, and slowed even more when i saw him getting onto his motorcycle. So i see nothing wrong with pleading 'not guilty' to a charge that i was driving at 73 miles per hour, because i do not know if this is true.

I will let the judge decide who is in the right. But i plan on doing nothing outside of the allowed, even encouraged practice within the law, (most people just happen to take the 'easy' way out and just mail a check). They even did me a favor and set a court date on the ticket.

[The big "T"]

I am way more likely to get a ticket on my harley than in my mercedes. Its just the way it is. There are defences one should exercise if one has the right to do so. If the officer was right, (see my post on defenses) then fine. But to roll over is dumb, IMO.

Amen to that!

[jsteel]

OK OK OK... I really wasn't expecting this thread to get so long.

Let me just clear something up really quick. I am not going to 'fight' this ticket. There is a clear option on the ticket that i can check that says 'request a trial'. I see nothing wrong with checking that box, which is within the allowed rules. Is that 'cheating'?

And, since I did not actually look at my speedometer at the exact moment that i was clocked, i cannot be sure that i was going 73 miles per hour. I slowed significantly when i saw the police officer pointing a radar at me, and slowed even more when i saw him getting onto his motorcycle. So i see nothing wrong with pleading 'not guilty' to a charge that i was driving at 73 miles per hour, because i do not know if this is true.

I will let the judge decide who is in the right. But i plan on doing nothing outside of the allowed, even encouraged practice within the law, (most people just happen to take the 'easy' way out and just mail a check). They even did me a favor and set a court date on the ticket.

Um, Steve, would you allow me to save you some time and money? Checking the box for "requesting a trial" sets you up for paying court costs plus anything else deemed by the judge.

There is a possibility that you are found "Not Guilty" and then the fines and court costs are waived.

With your defense that you have stated above, you not only set yourself up for being found guilty of speeding but you also set yourself up to be charged with "Failure to Pay Full Time Attention" which is one step short of "Reckless Driving" which is an area that you don't want to be... many points and higher fines there... but it is your choice. If you make the wrong one you pay more $$$, good luck on making the right choice.

[baalos]

Two points here. First, court costs for minor traffic violations is minimal. Second, the fact he did not see the speedometor reading at the exact moment the officer hit him is hardly reckless driving. He was paying close attention to road conditions.

Regardless, the worse that could happen is Steve pays the maximum penality for the infraction he was charged with. And nothing more. This is guaranteed by the Constitution.

The best thing that could happen is the officer did not do his homework and fail to bring calibration certificates or even more likely, fail to show up (cops have days off too).

[Prez]

Ok, I've been lurking on this thread but I'll throw my two cents in because i have some knowledge of this issue.

You have several options. The worst option is the "Check the box for trial" option.

1. Request "Deferred Adjudication". Someone in an earlier thread mentioned this although the didn't use the correct terminolgy. You end up paying the fine, but then you go on probation for some length of time. As long as you don't get another ticket during the probation period, the first ticket will not show up on your record, therefore your insurance won't be affected. This is a privelage, not a right, therefore the judge doesn't have to grant this, but normally will as long as your driving history is relatively good.

2. Take the defensive driving course. Ticket will be erased from your record. Still have to pay the fine (sometimes they call it court costs, but same difference). Usually you can only do this once every two years to erase a ticket.

3. Pay the fine. You "did the crime, now pay your fine". Accept responsibility. You were speeding af you know it.

4. Trial. As previously mentioned by others, if you go in with some BS story the judge is going to know it. He WILL take the word of the officer. In the end he'll simply be pissed that you wasted his time, you'll end up paying the ticket + court costs + anything else he can think of based on your testimony. I'd only do this option if you were facing suspension due to an excessive number of tickets, etc. Odds of the cop not showing makes this a big time gamble and not worth it.

goodluck,

Prez