I got my first ticket this weekend :( Legal help!!!

[Psyber]

After 7 years of driving I got my first ticket. It was late on Saturday night and I was lost in Southern New Jersey. I made a wrong turn into a residential area (I did not know it was a residential area at the time) and got pulled over for for going 44 in a 25 mile zone. SUV (I actually didn't even know it was a cop since it was a SUV) cop car pulls up behind me and puts on his flashers. I had no idea that it was me that was being pulled over. But when I did realize it was me being pulled over I was thinking in my head, were my tags expired? I don't think I ran any stop signs? I definately didn't run any lights...

Well cop comes up and tells me that I was clocked going 44 in a 25 mph zone. He asks me if I have any legal reason to be speeding. I tell him I was lost and show him my Yahoo directions I was trying to follow. He takes my license, registration and insurance and goes back to his SUV for about 20 minutes, talking on his radio and doing stuff. Comes back and gives me a ticket - he says "I have given you a ticket for careless driving rather than speeding it is 2 points rather than 3 and the fee is less. The implication is that if you are lost you would go slower".

In my head, I was thinking, but I wasn't going that fast (44 mph), I just got off the highway a mile back, don't know the speed limit since I'm not familiar with the area and had been lost for over an hour, but I figured it wouldn't help since he already wrote the ticket. All I said was that "I had been lost for over an hour now". So he asks me where I was trying to get to and I hand him my Yahoo instructions. He looks at them for a few minutes and says these directions aren't clear. He goes back to his SUV and uses his radio again. 10 minutes later. He has some directions written on the back of the Yahoo directions, explains them to me, and leaves.

So now... a couple days later I have to think about going to court. I never had to do this type of thing and was hoping someone could give me some advice in court. Should I show the judge my Yahoo instructions for evidence that I was lost and didn't know what the speed limit was, should I show remorse for my actions, deny them, or focus on the fact I was not carelessly driving (which I wasn't) and not even mention the fact I was going faster than 25. I don't care as much about the fine, but I care much more about the points. I have a spotless driving record and it PO me since I wasn't intentionally doing anything wrong. Hopefully someone has some legal background or has gone through this experiance could help me.
Thanks in advance,
Psyber

Additional info- I am not from NJ, I am from PA. I had driven about 2 hours (one hour knowing where I was going and 1 hour lost) when I got pulled over. Also, I DID NOT know what the speed limit was, I have no ill will toward police officers, and I just think the the whole thing was a mistake ( I admit, my mistake - but it was not intentional).

Does anyone know if they have probation before judgement in NJ?

 

[ThaGrandCow]

You shouldn't have a problem. Take it to court, tell the judge your story, and let him know that you've been driving for 7 years and are requesting probation before judgement. Ticket dissappears and as long as you don't get another one in the next year it's not even kept on your record.

 

[onza]

SORRY MAN, Good luck on this..

reckless driving though, come on..

 

[Psyber]

Originally posted by: ThaGrandCow
requesting probation before judgement. .

What exactly does that mean? Is it a legal term?

 

[rgwalt]

Well, you WERE doing something wrong. You were going 44 in a 25, which is almost 20mph over the limit. Now, I've gone much faster in the past, so I can't really talk, but you need to face the fact that you were breaking the law. Being lost is no excuse. If you are driving through an area that has houses lining the streets, you should know that you are in a residential zone and slow down.

That being said, you can ask the court if they would ammend the ticket if you doubled the fine. I don't think you can get out of this one without buying your way out.

Ryan

 

[Anubis]

just pay the damn thing

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

If you showed up to court with the instructions that I wrote trying to help you out, and used them to "prove" that you really were lost, I'd wait outside the courthouse and kick your ass.

 

[Evadman]

Notice how he is not trying to get out of it, just asking for help. Good. he is just pissed. You proke the law, knowing or not. The officer was nice enough to give you a lesser point, and EVEN spent time getting you directions. This Officer was top notch.

Probation is where the judge says you have to be "good" for a certain amount of time. ( 6 mo to a year) in return, this ticket will not go on your record. At least that is how it works in IL. we are not on a point system. I assume it is the same there. You still pay a fine.

If you bitch about this, I will fly to your house and kick your ass myself.

 

[Mallow]

Umm... sounds like you don't know exactly how fast you were going but it sounds like you were unaware of the speed limit and were most likely going over it, although maybe not 44 in a 25. I think you should give thanks you got a lesser ticket/fine, accept that you were breaking the law and pay the ticket.

Also, I think you should be happy you ran into a nice police officer that actually took the time to care about you and you being lost and then proceeded to write you directions to help you out! That is fvckin' unheard of where I'm from.

 

[DrumminBoy]

I thought reckless driving was alot more serious that speeding...guess not. I say it cant hurt if you go to court and fight it. The worst that can happen is that you'll have to pay the ticket. It'll be a good experience and you'll get to exercise the use of our judicial system. Good luck w/ your ticket...i have to appear in court in 3 days to fight one of my speeding tickets also...

 

[Angrymarshmello]

"Hey I'm lost...I could have to turn at any of these upcoming streets...so I think I'll speed up and go faster! Yea that will help me find this place better!"

Can't say I feel sorry for you. Legal help? What, you want to squirm your way out of this ticket through a loophole? You can plead your case but that's about all you can do - it's up to the judge.

 

[HappyPuppy]

Dude, you're going to pay the fine and get the points no matter what you tell the judge. You did wrong, knowingly or not, so just pay up and get on with your life.

 

[4Lclovergirl]

Here's the deal with traffic court in NJ. You go, plead not guilty. The prosocuter will bargin with you for an evern lesser sentance (note, sometimes you may get no pooints, but a higher fine) then you plead gilty to the lesser charge.

Bare in mind again, they want your money, they don't care about insurance companies etc, so they will most likely give you a higher fine, and you'll have to pay court fees. Depending on where you are from, that can mean it's worth the day off, or not.

Good lcuk.

 

[cressida]

We always get these once in a while. Just go to school, pay the ticket, don't freak out.

 

[ThaGrandCow]

Probation before judgement - you have a great driving record so they should cut you some slack. It means that if he gives you probation before judgement the ticket doesn't go on your record so the insurance companies don't ever find out that you had a ticket and so they don't raise your rates.

What happens is you pay court costs, but the fine from the ticket and the points get held off. If you get another ticket within the time they say (6 months to a year) you get the fine and points from the new ticket, but also at the same time you have to pay the fine for the old ticket and get those points too. It's basically double or nothing.

With a 7 year good record you should be fine. Tell the judge your story, and ask him to grant you probation before judgement. You'll get it and your driving record is saved. The only downside is you can usually only get it one time, your first ticket obviously.

Good luck

 

[Psyber]

Few things.

First of all, I admit that I was speeding, but had no idea what the speed limt was so I wasn't doing it on purpose (as I said before, I had just gotten off a highway and made a wrong turn). rgwalt, you are right I should've known I was in a residential area, but it was 1:00AM, unlighted dark street, I am not from New Jersey (I am from PA), and I was tired.

I definately was not recklessly driving (I stopped at all the lights, slowed down on yellow, stopped at all the stop signs). I don't mind paying the fine as much since I admit I was wrong, just don't want the points which will raise my insurance since I did not speed intentionally ( I seriously did not know the speed limit and in my opinion under 45 is not fast and it was 1:00AM for crying out loud).

BrunoPuntzJones, why do you say that. I would say something like "the officer was nice enough to write out instructions for me to find my way, but did seem to have some trouble determining where I was going from what I had which is why I was so lost" I was drivng for about 2 hours at that point.

Angrymarshmello, I was trying to get out of the area since it was dark and unlighted and I live 1 hour away I was slowing down at the intersections which were far apart and as I said I didn't o over 45.

I throw myself at the mercy of the forum. I admit I was wrong, but I'm hoping that since it was unintentional I could at least not get points. Please people if you could stop neffing and give advice that would be great.

 

[rgwalt]

Hey, as long as you understand the situation, you should be OK. The best you can do now is get in touch with the court and the prosecutor and see what you can do about the situation. Tickets suck, and I've been where you are now more times that I would have liked. Best thing you can do is be nice about the situation and see what they will let you do about the ticket. You may have to pay out the nose, but it will be worth it to avoid the insurance hike.

Ryan

 

[dethman]

unfortunately ignorance of the law (speed limit) is not a defense. whether you were lost or not it is your responsibility to know the speed limit where you are driving.


however you could try to pity plea the judge into lessening your fine. depends on what kind of judge you get. if you can cry on the spot, it would help.

 

[HannibalX]

Dude LOL 44 in a 25??? That is reckless driving. You yourself said you were in a residential area - you could have hit a kid or something. You deserve the ticket, pay for it and move on. If there is no posted speed sign then you should know max speed in residential is 30 mph, commercial 2 lane is 35 mph, commercial 4 lane is 45 mp, rural 2 lane is 50 mph, rural 4 lane is 55 mph. They teach you this stuff in driving school - if there is no posted sign you SHOULD know anyway.

 

[RU482]

looking for a way out of something you've done wrong....it's the American Way!!

Personally, I'd have to agree with the folks that say pay the ticket. Black and white, you broke the law. You knew it was a residential area, yet you were traveling at almost highway speeds. You were tired (in many cases that is as bad as being intoxicated), yet driving that fast in an unknown area...c'mon, why should any mercy be given to you?

 

[mpitts]

So your excuse is that you didn't know where you were going and that you didn't know the speed limit.

That is pretty weak. Like others have said, ignorance is not a defense. Just suck it up and pay the ticket. You were the one who made the mistake.

 

[Pepsi90919]

i almost felt sorry for you. then i remembered you were doing 20 mph over the speed limit in a residential area at night. how the hell do you do that by accident?

 

[Psyber]

You know what forget about it. Thank You ThaGrandCow, you seemed like the only one that is actually trying to answer my question. Most of you are just are happy attacking me. Even humbling myself did not stop the neffing. I cannot spend this whole thread trying to defend myself. I am not asking for sympathy or to be told that I am a BAD BAD person just wanted some advice. I was expecting to run this thread until the court date, but hopefully I'll get a couple more suggestions by tomorrow then I'm closing thread. I should've expected this reaction by the community though after what happened to the guy that said guys were hitting on his girlfriend and he posted her pic. You know, some people forget there are people at the recieving end of their comments. That guy was probably brought to tears.

For those of you that really want to give me advicerather than attack me repeatedly, I clarified some of my statement that some people were misunderstanding.

ADDED with edit
Initially I was going to remove my first message (topic starter), but some of the neffing has stopped and some people seem truly interested so I'll keep it up and let the thread die on its own. I'll probably start a new thread after I go to court to compile some of the stuff I learned here. Thanks so far for the good info I've recieved so far.

 

[Fiveohhh]

I'd just go and see if they'll give you a one year stay of adjudication, with a good record you can almost always get it, unless the judge or DA is in a real pissy mood. Than just plea not guilty and take it to trial, worst that happens is you pay the fine and miss out on some work.

 

[Fiveohhh]

also check out the NMA lots of good stuff on there