Advice needed for speeding ticket

[Mike-san]

I got popped for a 51 MPH in a 35 MPH zone........This is my first speeding ticket since the 1980s ! My last moving violation was a crossing a double yellow line ticket in 1992. Should I just pay the bail and attend traffic school ? I'm toying w/ the idea of seeing the judge and doing the "Guilty, but I'd like to explain..." route, and hope that the judge is in a good enough mood to where he throws out the charge . Seriously, I was not maliciously giving the middle finger to the law.......I had just rounded a corner and gave the NSX a little gas. I wasn't looking at the speedometer, so I can't argue w/ the cop's speed assessment......I did not feel like I was going excessively fast......Anyway, I look up and there's a motorcycle cop w/ the radar gun on me........I tried to be polite as possible, but a black NSX w/ new shinny wheels doesn't help much......Traffic school isn't a problem, but ins. for the NSX is expensive enough....I need my car to let off some steam sometimes, and if I use my traffic school card once, I don't want to be so ticket shy in the future........

 

[ShiftyBob]

depends on what state you live in...

in CA, the "guilty with an explanation" still makes you guilty, and while you may get a reduced fine, you're still guilty and you will have the mark on your record. If you go to traffic school, the mark won't show up on your record, and your insurance co will never know. If you're a novice the whole system, but want to fight the ticket, my suggestion would be to pony up the few hundred bucks for a traffic lawyer and 9/10 times iy'll get dismissed...

 

[DEN598]

Get a lawyer or go early dressed like a human being find the corporate council ( prosecuter) tell him your story and see what his position is. The councils advise the judge on the penalty. If the council is planning to send you to the gallos call for continuence and get a lawyer.

 

[Mike-san]

Get a lawyer or go early dressed like a human being find the corporate council ( prosecuter) tell him your story and see what his position is. The councils advise the judge on the penalty. If the council is planning to send you to the gallos call for continuence and get a lawyer.

Last time I checked, California municipal courts do not have a prosecuter presenting misdemenor traffic cases to the bench......The ticketed drivers just present themselves to the judge and describe their scenarios.......Although the situation you're describing happened to my friend who got a speeding ticket in Utah.

 

[lrsudog]

It'll just be you, the Judge, and the cop, along with everyone else waiting their turn.

If you have any cop friends, they might be able to reach out to the motor cop if they know him. He can always drop the ticket "in the interest of justice" if he feels like it.

Otherwise, traffic school is the safe play probably.

 

[ef you]

cops never show up for court in louisiana. ive been to court at least a dozen times for various traffic offenses, and not once has the ticket writing cop been there. of course, two of those times i was already in handcuffs because i got pulled over with attachments. but both of those times, they were thrown out, once for time served and the other for a clerical mistake.

imagine how upset i was to hear "sorry you spent the night in jail, thats our fault, youre free to go" only to get cuffed again, escorted back to jail, and processed for release.

 

[ChopsJazz]

depends on what state you live in...

in CA, the "guilty with an explanation" still makes you guilty, and while you may get a reduced fine..

This is right, but the point is, the reduced fine. This exact strategy has worked for me with a greatly reduced fine. Give it a try, and then go to traffic shcool as well.

Good luck.

 

[coolnsx]

I got popped for a 51 MPH in a 35 MPH zone.....I tried to be polite as possible, but a black NSX w/ new shinny wheels doesn't help much......Traffic school isn't a problem, but ins. for the NSX is expensive enough....I need my car to let off some steam sometimes, and if I use my traffic school card once, I don't want to be so ticket shy in the future........

Mike, Don't be blaming those great wheels :biggrin: Sorry for the problem, unless things have changed you can attend traffic school more then once if I remember correctly. Hope it works out.

 

[SilverOne]

Hey Mike, sorry to hear. Depends on the county where you received the ticket, in LA county, you can even attend the traffic school online. In OC, you'll have to attend the session provided by national traffic safety school at one of five OC courts.

If you decide to fight, go through trial by declaration, it gives you 2 chances to fight off the ticket. Showing up to court gives you a 50/50 chance if the cop doesn't show. If the cop shows up, you have a 5% chance of winning the case. At best, you will receive reduced fine, but still walk away with a point. Some judges in OC will not allow you traffic school once you tried to fight the ticket and lose in court, which will be a gamble you have to take by choosing to go to court.

My experience, after fighting through 6+ tickets last 1 1/2 year in CA/AZ, and now 1 in PA Pay the fine and go through traffic school if you can. This saves the most time and energy on your part. It's just not worth the headache. Oh, ofcourse, drive like grandma anytime you're on the public road.

 

[drew]

Interesting how other parts of the US handle citations.

Generally in CA, if you plan to take traffic school you don't fight the citation. Actually, in most courts if you present your case: you have nullified your option to use the traffic school option.

The only benefit of Traffic School is that the citation does not appear on your record. You still pay all fees and fines associated with citation.

There are no lawyers involved...except for the Pro-Tem hearing your case. There is great pressure in CA to insure officers show up to court, it is a fairly rare occurrence for a no show.

Guilty with a valid reason will exonerate you. Invalid reasons are: inattention, traffic flow and stuff like that. Valid reasons are: avoiding a collision, leaving behind a dangerous situation and other emergencies.

You can fight a radar ticket on several grounds:
1. radar is out of calibration, you may ask for the service records.
2. radar picked up wrong car. Tough sell because the officer is to make an independent assessment of your speed and *verify* it with the radar.
3. The time and space involved is physically impossible. You can try an entrap the officer into making statements that can be proven wrong with a little math. Like "how long did you see me? How fast was I going? How far did I travel? and if the numbers don't add up: well you win. An experienced officer won't allow you to do it or give you enough information to pull it off...but it is worth a dry. This really requires you really know your stuff, do specific research and it has a high success rate.

And the most successful method to fight a ticket this way: Reschedule the court date on his vacation!

Yep. In CA officers get 4-6 weeks vacation, sometimes they indicate it on the citation....the court is supposed to note this and not allow this...but usually they don't (because it is a private contractor that processes the tickets and they don't care one bit). If you can't figure it out from the citation: a well placed phone call to the station might be able to get this extremely valuable information.

If it is many months in between your intended reschedule: tell them you will be out of country and can't possibly make it before [whenever].

The officer doesn't care because court missed on vacation time is not penalized at all.

If somehow you got it wrong and the officer is present: you can opt for traffic school right up to the point of going before the judge.

 

[SilverOne]

depends on what state you live in...

in CA, the "guilty with an explanation" still makes you guilty, and while you may get a reduced fine, you're still guilty and you will have the mark on your record. If you go to traffic school, the mark won't show up on your record, and your insurance co will never know. If you're a novice the whole system, but want to fight the ticket, my suggestion would be to pony up the few hundred bucks for a traffic lawyer and 9/10 times iy'll get dismissed...

I've been quoted average 1500+ for typical 1 point violation. I'd love the help if you know of someone that can get rid of the ticket 9/10 times for few hundred I gone through several sections of the CA traffic law, learned the subpeona process to get the cop's note, filing for appeal...etc. After my research, I'd definitely charage 1500+ too if i was doing it for a living.