So I got my first speeding ticket, I need advice

[EndLeSS]

As title says, I need advice.

Freeway, going 85 to pass, when speed is 65


What do I do?

How much is it going to be?

Is there any way out of this?

What is the cheapest way out of this?

Has anyone here disputed their ticket?

Any advice is useful advice is GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[GOTTSPD]

You're going to get nailed with answers that say something to the effect of, you got caught, you were speeding, assuming that there were not extenuating circumstances such as your wife was about to give birth in the car, then pay the darn ticket.

I, however, would take a different tact. First things first, call a lawyer. Don't waste time stressing over this. Get a lawyer and see what he/she can do to get this to go away.

 

[EndLeSS]

hmmm, I'm not too stressed anymore (I'm actually ok now, I was bothered for the first day though)

The thing is, i'm 25, I have no lawyer, and I just moved to Sunnyvale last year. I don't know how much it will cost, but i've gotten a lot of varied answers.

People on my RX7 forum have been generally useful, and have put up actual prices of their tickets (ranges from $139 to $250), but my coworkers here keep saying that it will cost +$350

I am not sure if I can take traffic school, because I was 20mph over the limit.

 

[llf51]

Go to court. Give the judge a sob story, usually they will reduce your fine. Go to traffic school and the point for the ticket will be erased from your records.

How do i know? I was young and stupid once. Had 3 suspensions and 1 revokation.

Havent had a ticket in the last 5 years besides the stupid seat belt ticket which I incurred in a sting three years ago.

 

[Gerard van Santen]

Wauw... 20mph over the speed limit on the freeway:wink:
It is obvious that exceeding the speed limit is something you have to avoid. But we are talking about speeding on the freeway with no more than 20mph. I should take the fine. You know what you've done and have to take the consequences.
What I don't understand is the frightness about this sort of speeding. Are the penalties in your country that high that you have reason to be afraid?

In The Netherlands it works like this:
If you exceed the speed limit no more than 19 mph you will only get a fine and it will be an administrative handling. That means, that there will be no consequences but another fine if you do it again and again....
If you exceed the speed limit between 19mph and 31mph and no more than two times in 1/2 year it becomes a criminal offence and the prosecutor can decide if you have to go to court or let you pay a fine depending on the circumstances. If you have to go to court you will probably loose your drivers license for three months.
It is a criminal offence if you exceed the speed limit with more than 31mph. The police officer will take in your drivers license. But you will get it back within 10 days. You probably have to go to court and will be fined for a lot of money if it is the first time. The second time you will certainly loose your licence for at least 3 months.

 

[DocL]

Here is your answer. I'm not affliated with the author, nor have I used the advice given.

http://www.beatmyspeedingticket.com/

 

[NSXDreamer2]

Generally in US, the speeding ticket stay in your driving record for 7 years. It also gives the insurance company an excuse to jack up your premium, depends on your age and your coverage. In some states in US, they actually have a point system (simular to your country,) that if the offender keep having tickets in certain period of time, gov't could suspend your driver's license.

 

[NSXER119]

I think most (or all) counties will let you go to traffic school if you were less than 25 mph above the speed limit. However, some counties will still allow you to go to traffic school if you haven't gotten any tickets in 3 years. How do I know? I got a ticket for 91 mph on a freeway about two years ago, and I paid about $400 for the fine, including traffic school.:frown:

 

[NSFRBLX]

Tickets like any other criminal act will be judicated in the County Court where the offence took place. Each jurisdiction has their own "way" (for lack of a better term) to deal with traffic violations. In most counties there is a court dedicated to handle strictly traffic issues. Most traffic violations fall under the "infraction" classification.

If this infraction took place in Santa Clara County you have the choice to attend traffic school. After succefully attending Traffic School the case will be dismissed and no mention of the infraction will be sent to DMV. If you choose to plead guilty and pay the fine + penalties(which usually multipies the amount by 50% or more) DMV will be notified and a point against your drivers record will be recorded. Points will remain for 3 years + 1 month from the time of conviction before they drop off. (California)

In Santa Clara County you will not be allowed to choose Traffic School if you decide to go to trial for this. So If you are eligible to attend TS and choose this option you will have to post and forfeit the bail amount plus you will have to pay the school seperately their fee to attend.

Take a look at the Santa Clara County self help site for more info. Or feel free to PM me if you have further questions.

http://www.sccsuperiorcourt.org/traffic/
http://www.scselfservice.org/traffic/default.htm

 

[NRG]

I have been pretty good citizin for awhile...but I'll let you know from my past experience with tickets.

1) They'll be sending you information about court and school in the mail. If you can attend school to avoid a point in your dmv record, then you should go that path. Also, this is for insurance purpose too if you don't want your insurance rates to go up next renewal. It's either online class or Saturday school.

2) If you can't go to school, then you should go to court. You might as well go to court.
a) Why? Either way, you're getting a point in your record.
b) If he doesn't show up the first time, then they'll ask you to re-schedule it for another time. Try to reschedule it during a holiday/long weekend. If he doesn't show up the second time, then the case is dropped and you paying nothing.

If you got caught speeding by CHP, then the chances of him not showing up is greater. Why? Personally, I think because they can make more money by being on the freeway and giving out several more tickets than attending 1-2 hours in court with you.

If he does show up, then ask the judge to reduce the fine, etc.

good luck

 

[Malibu Rapper]

Just so you know, if it is your very first ticket, there is a maximum fine they can charge you. My first ticket was for going very fast on the 80 freeway in Fairfield. It would have been very expensive but since it was my first one, I am pretty sure the max fine was set at $299. But it cost me 2 points, 5 years on my record, and no traffic school.

 

[steveny]

hmmm, I'm not too stressed anymore (I'm actually ok now, I was bothered for the first day though)

The thing is, i'm 25, I have no lawyer, and I just moved to Sunnyvale last year. I don't know how much it will cost, but i've gotten a lot of varied answers.

People on my RX7 forum have been generally useful, and have put up actual prices of their tickets (ranges from $139 to $250), but my coworkers here keep saying that it will cost +$350

I am not sure if I can take traffic school, because I was 20mph over the limit.

The cost of the fine is nothing compared to the increase of your insurance rates. Figure that out over the next 3 to 4 years. It can be as high as 20-30% increase.

 

[EndLeSS]

Has anyone here tried any of those "fight your ticket things"?

I'm looking into ticket assassin and beatmyspeedingticket.com but i'm hesitant

Are there any court fees if I do indeed have a trial?

I'm a bit scared about having the fees kill me, and the insurance killing me after. If i'm allowed to do traffic school, most likely I will do it.

 

[titaniumdave]

I got a ticket for 19 over in a 45. I was hard on the brakes when he locked on me , so lucky to be less than 20 over, but he knew...

I had not had a moving violation in 15 years(thank god for the track!), so the cop suggested traffic school. I took the class, which was actually quite good, contested the ticket, saw the judge and the officer at court. The officer dismissed the ticket and there were no fees or fines, plus I still have a clean record.

Total cost $40 and 4 hours.

When you go to court, you should have a chance to make a deal with the officer before the trial. On your ticket there should be an officer's badge number, there might be a way to make contact with him and see if there is a way he can recommend the traffic class for you?

 

[NSFRBLX]

A good way that will educate yourself on the trial process and help you decide which direction to go in would be for you to attend a "TRIAL SESSION" at the Traffic court that will be hearing your case. Not a preliminary hearing.

Lookup the section of the vehicle code http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/vc/vc.htm you where cited for and judge for yourself if you think it does not apply. If you believe your were falsely accused or the citation does not fit the charge then I would go to trial.

The courses you mentioned will teach you stratrgies that you could use to help you beat the ticket. You better hope that you can prove one of these points to be true in the mind of the judge. Judges or Traffic Commisioners know how agencies due their job.

At trial they will hear the "sworn" testimony of the officer and any evidence he may have against you. You then will be given the oppurtunity to rebut this version of the event and any evidence presented.

This is where you would be using the strategies that these courses teach.

I hope you can think fast on your feet and that you know how to argue a point and not the individual. Have no fear of public speaking as you will have an audience sitting in chairs. And have a good understanding of the trail process.

I know for a fact that officers do make mistakes and I have had citations dismissed in the past because of this. Officers don't like when that happens because it reflects poorly on their ability to do their job.

With the limited description of the offence you've provided it sounds like trail would not be the way to go..!

You shouldn't have a problem qualifying for Traffic School for this offence.

 

[NSFRBLX]

I got a ticket for 19 over in a 45. I was hard on the brakes when he locked on me , so lucky to be less than 20 over, but he knew...

I had not had a moving violation in 15 years(thank god for the track!), so the cop suggested traffic school. I took the class, which was actually quite good, contested the ticket, saw the judge and the officer at court. The officer dismissed the ticket and there were no fees or fines, plus I still have a clean record.

Total cost $40 and 4 hours.

When you go to court, you should have a chance to make a deal with the officer before the trial. On your ticket there should be an officer's badge number, there might be a way to make contact with him and see if there is a way he can recommend the traffic class for you?

That might work in Oregon but not in the Bay Area, EndLeSS mentioned he moved to Sunnyvale within the last year and I know for a fact that in Santa Clara County you can not choose to go to school if you choose trail. Plus he will post and forfeit bail on top of the school fee here if he chooses school.

 

[D'Ecosse]

85 is not eligible in most N CA counties for defensive driver class while 84 is!
You are probably stuck with a large fine but I would go to the court date & plead with the judge to commute to 84 for which you are prepared to accept guilt and for him to allow you to take defensive driving to have it expunged from your record, to save your insurance from the big hit. I think this is going to be accepted by most judges without the need for a lawyer - he's just going to want to move it off his docket and doesn't want a trial any more than you do.
You're still going to be into >$300 with the fine & school fees etc but a whole lot better than the alternative.

 

[Joshs]

That might work in Oregon but not in the Bay Area, EndLeSS mentioned he moved to Sunnyvale within the last year and I know for a fact that in Santa Clara County you can not choose to go to school if you choose trail. Plus he will post and forfeit bail on top of the school fee here if he chooses school.

Oregon. Yeah. The only pull-over I've had in the last 8 years was in Ashland, Oregon in my ITR. Hit with laser (detected with my V1) going 45 in a 35, was issued a 45 in a 25, which was odd but I wasn't going to complain. They had some sort of deal where if you don't get another ticket within 6 months, it just disappears! This was about 5 years ago.

California isn't as friendly, I went to traffic school in Santa Ana once when I was 18, ends up costing as much as the ticket but at least no points go on the record.

-Josh