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Speeding ticket question

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EagleKeeper said:
They dropped the speeding charge, but still hit me with court costs.- Total savings of $35.
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Too bad we don't get tort laws for traffic violations. 🙁

At least it was still a moral victory and not anything that goes on your record.
 
Svnla said:
Bingo.

As I said, unlike other courts in our justice system, traffic court = guilty until proven otherwise by the defender. And it is a HUGE money making machine, don't believe in all the craps of "we only do this for public safety".
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Not true.

When given the ticket you have to sign the ticket to acknowledge that an officer believes you are infraction of something. (Still innocent at this time).

If you just pay the fine, you acknowledge that you agree you were guilty and that's that. You admitted to being guilty. Skip the court case, pay the fine. Move on with your life.

If you go to court, (still innocent) the officer will give whatever records he has [radar gun, etc. etc. etc.] then you have your chance to defend yourself. Proof that he was wrong. If your proof isn't enough then you are found guilty.

It is the same with every other court. If someone is suing you, or you were arrested for (something) you have to sign things acknowledging that you have to be in court X day for your hearing, and that you agree to be there. But you are still innocent until proven guilty.

A traffic ticket just has a shortcut if you admit your guilty (just paying the ticket) so you don't even have to go to court. You can go to court and fight it. Thus staying innocent until the officer proves your guilty. He doesn't have to do much to prove your guilty unless you can prove he is wrong. And usually the officer will have evidence of the means how he knew you were speeding, and the calibration results of the gun on said day. Him just saying "you were speeding" is also "witness testimony" for the prosecution. And yes, his word is powerful, because it is his job to uphold the law of truth and justice. (Whether or not they actually do is a whole debate itself). His position has authority to it. So his word will always be better than your word.
 
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EagleKeeper said:
They dropped the speeding charge, but still hit me with court costs.- Total savings of $35. 🙁
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That just boggles my mind. It's like getting sued, proving you were innocent/in the right, and basically getting a "Hey, sorry we wasted your time. You were right all along...Now can we please have some money for wasting your time?"
 
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I got lucky, too. I showed up looking presentable, spoke properly, and basically got let off.

There were about 20-30 of us in there, most looking like they just came in from living under a bridge. This was a lot for a small town courthouse.

The DA asked who would plead guilty and who had cash to pay right now. That group was dealt with first.

I got no points and no fine. Court costs only. Just for showing up on a very busy day, admitting I was speeding, looking presentable, and being able to pay cash.

The DA dropped my speed by 6mph because it had been a while since I had a ticket, which allowed the judge to let me off.
 
BlitzPuppet said:
That just boggles my mind. It's like getting sued, proving you were innocent/in the right, and basically getting a "Hey, sorry we wasted your time. You were right all along. Now can we please have some money for wasting your time?"
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Counter sue for being incorrectly sued for the cost of the court, your lawyer and your time.

98/100 they will settle for the court and lawyer.
 
LTC8K6 said:
You should always go if you can, though. You never know. You can get off on several technicalities, depending on how the cop got your speed.

Like the poster a few above where the radar gun was out of cal.
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I did want to fight because I knew I did not speed 15 MPH over the speed limit. But the old saying "know when to fight the batte and when to withdraw".

I could fight and risk a big fine, court cost, other fees, PLUS higher insurance rate for a few years or I can just pick traffic school and the problem would go away. I pick the lesser of two evils. I did wish I have a camcorder on at that time.

diesbudt said:
Not true.

When given the ticket you have to sign the ticket to acknowledge that an officer believes you are infraction of something. (Still innocent at this time).

If you just pay the fine, you acknowledge that you agree you were guilty and that's that. You admitted to being guilty. Skip the court case, pay the fine. Move on with your life.

If you go to court, (still innocent) the officer will give whatever records he has [radar gun, etc. etc. etc.] then you have your chance to defend yourself. Proof that he was wrong. If your proof isn't enough then you are found guilty.

It is the same with every other court. If someone is suing you, or you were arrested for (something) you have to sign things acknowledging that you have to be in court X day for your hearing, and that you agree to be there. But you are still innocent until proven guilty.

A traffic ticket just has a shortcut if you admit your guilty (just paying the ticket) so you don't even have to go to court. You can go to court and fight it. Thus staying innocent until the officer proves your guilty. He doesn't have to do much to prove your guilty unless you can prove he is wrong. And usually the officer will have evidence of the means how he knew you were speeding, and the calibration results of the gun on said day. Him just saying "you were speeding" is also "witness testimony" for the prosecution. And yes, his word is powerful, because it is his job to uphold the law of truth and justice. (Whether or not they actually do is a whole debate itself). His position has authority to it. So his word will always be better than your word.
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See my reply above. I did want to fight but rather not to risk it. Not worth the big fine and other fees AND higher insurance cost for at least 3 years. IMO traffic court = the burden is much heavy on the defender. See the bolded and underlined part of your post.

Let see: (in traffic court)

Svnla: "Your honor, I was not speeding 15 MPH over the speed limit as the officer said and I strongly believe so"

Officer: "Your honor, he did and I saw he did it because I paced him" (even he did not do that - he was in the opposite lane, turned his car around and pulled me over immediately. And this was around mid night, clear night, a few vehicles around).

Judge: (very sure he would more than likely side with the officer)

(in other court(s)): the officer/the state/government would have to have much more to convict the accused, not just the officer's words as evidences.


A lot of money is made from speed traps = http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/high-price-speed-traps-20011923 (so much for public safety bullcrap)

Anyhow, enough of my rant. What done is done. Waste of time (traffic school for several boring hours) and money (did have to pay a reduced fine but no other cost).
 
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Speeding tickets have increased in the last few years but in 2010 I got a 74 in a 55 in Dekalb Co IL and it cost about $180 and a 4 hour online course for court supervision. No more ticket on record.

Would cost more time and effort to fight.
 
EMPshockwave82 said:
Speeding tickets have increased in the last few years but in 2010 I got a 74 in a 55 in Dekalb Co IL and it cost about $180 and a 4 hour online course for court supervision. No more ticket on record.

Would cost more time and effort to fight.
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I live in Dekalb co. You have to watch where you drive
 
EMPshockwave82 said:
Speeding tickets have increased in the last few years but in 2010 I got a 74 in a 55 in Dekalb Co IL and it cost about $180 and a 4 hour online course for court supervision. No more ticket on record.

Would cost more time and effort to fight.
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Good to know. Thanks! How's the online course?
 
OP, it is always worth it to fight the ticket. At the very least you can hope for, is that you pay court fees et al, but end up with no insurance points, which can add up to your costs pretty fast!

I've had a number of run-ins with traffic cops (9 in the last 20 years) that I totally believe your wife - that she was not doing that speed but has no way to prove it. Happened to me 3 of the 9 times. 5 other times they were right, but I knew it too; and one time I don't even agree with the premise (was ticketed for driving over a little bit of yellow-striped road while trying to avoid debris).

But I've found that I've been really screwed when I was lazy and mailed in a check : always ends up with increased points that keeps 'giving' - from you to the insurance guy!

Your wife could appear in court, and some of the times she'd just be asked to pay the fine and not have any points assigned. I did it only once, but the clerk there told me exactly that. I didn't even have to say anything - they just bunched a few of us in a batch and told us to pay the court fees and leave. (This was in New Jersey)

You could get a traffic lawyer for $50, and get to pay only the county fees (could range from $80 to $200), but definitely no insurance points. These lawyers somehow seem to know the lay of the land - I've never gotten points when I used them.

Or you could take the online course - again, no insurance points, but you don't get to use this option for the next 2 years or so.

Just don't mail the check in - you pay the fine, and then pay the hiked insurance premium for the next few years!
 
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Go to court, especially if your driving record is clean (the longer, the better). You will get a chance to speak with the prosecutor before court begins. He will have your DMV record and if it is clean, there is a good chance of a plead down to a Fine but No Points Offense. Unless you are being accused of a very serious violation, like reckless or 20MPH or more over the limit. And even then, with a clean record it might get reduced a little. If it is very serious, then get an attorney.

More help is here: http://www.motorists.org/fightticket/
Worth it to join, if you are not a member. They also have
attorneys who are very good they can refer you to.
 
rudeguy said:
hey you can do something besides take pictures of an engine inside your house!


When a cop pulls up behind someone they already know they are going to pull over, what is the process they go through?

In my mind its run the plate, then run the registered owner for warrants/criminal history/concealed carry permits. But I'm sure its more than just that.

Can you please clarify?
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Totally depends on the situation. Most of the time it just involves running a plate to get an idea of who I may be dealing with. However a large number of times the registered owner(s) is not the one driving the vehicle (kid driving parents vehicle, person using friend's car, etc.).

I may follow you a bit to see if alcohol/drugs are a factor in your driving (meaning I'm looking for other violations you make). Generally this is more often towards night time but I've had people blow a .23 during the middle of a weekday as well. Those instances are rarer though.

Lastly, I typically wait until I can find a spot thats relatively safe for both of us. Why pull to the side of a highway when I know a gas station is a 1/2 mile up the road? While its for both of us, I primarily do this for MY safety as I'm the one getting in and out of my car and do not want to get hit by a motorist not paying attention.

There's no rule/law out there that says we immediately have to enact a traffic stop the second we see a violation. Hope this answers some questions.
 
vi edit said:
And for what it's worth...if she's anything like my wife...she has no clue what speed she was going now or even then.

My wife is clueless to her speed unless I tell her "hey speedy...it's 55...you're doing almost 70". Her response "Oh sorry, didn't realize I was going that fast".

*sigh*
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x2

There's a stretch of road in Lawrence near a sports complex that for some reason is easy for my wife to speed on. We'll leave a baseball game or basketball game with her driving and I'll comment that she needs to slow down because she's doing 50 in a 30. Last time this happened she bitched at me, slowed down a bit, crested the hill, and there was a cop waiting with the radar gun.

She still bitched at me about leaving her alone... sigh
 
radhak said:
OP, it is always worth it to fight the ticket. At the very least you can hope for, is that you pay court fees et al, but end up with no insurance points, which can add up to your costs pretty fast!
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If you can get traffic school and, thus, the ticket does not result in any points, it is NOT worth fighting the ticket. In California, if you fight the ticket and lose, you cannot then go to traffic school and thus, it will result in points.

MotionMan
 
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