Speeding ticket questions v. 1st one

[MrFanel]

My dumbass self was driving my dad's car and a bit of preoccupied while taking to my gf, didn't notice I was doing 51 in a 35 zone. Cop pulls behind me and pulls me over; was all nice and what not, but wrote me a ticket for 51 in a 35 zone - this is in Fremont, California.

So - does anyone know what this would amount to? In January of 2005, I got a ticket for a sign violation and did traffic school. Now its July 06, 18 months after - am I elgible for traffic school? Or is eligibility accounted for after I have completed my previous traffic school course?

Should I take this to court and hope he doesn't show up? Will the judge be lenient and lower the fine? Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[jadinolf]

The guardhouse lawyers should be here soon. Stand by.

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

In Washington it isn't required for the police officer to be at the courthouse, which I found out when I got my last ticket At first I was stoked that he didn't arrive until the judge read me the new revised law.

 

[ruffilb]

I've never done this, but I've heard that this is effective.

Text

 

[bignateyk]

bleh.. I just got one today as well. Last summer I got one for going 83 in a 55. I took it to court and got it reduced to 10 over and 2 points.

Today I got one for going 43 in a 25 in a bullshit trap. Literally 100 feet down the road the speed limit changes to 35. What a load of ******. Im hoping since its from the locals I can get them to drop the points and just give me the fine.

You should ALWAYS plead not guilty in the slim chance the officer cant make the hearing.

 

[nboy22]

Originally posted by: bignateyk
bleh.. I just got one today as well. Last summer I got one for going 83 in a 55. I took it to court and got it reduced to 10 over and 2 points.

Today I got one for going 43 in a 25 in a bullshit trap. Literally 100 feet down the road the speed limit changes to 35. What a load of ******. Im hoping since its from the locals I can get them to drop the points and just give me the fine.

You should ALWAYS plead not guilty in the slim chance the officer cant make the hearing.

but that doesn't make sense, at 100 feet you would be still going 43 mph, which is still 8 over the speed limit.

 

[bignateyk]

yeah no ******.. my point is that its a speed trap, and 43 in a 25 seems alot worse than it actually was. Usually they use the speed traps to generate revenue, so you have a better chance of getting the points dropped if you are willing to pay the full fine.

 

[nboy22]

Originally posted by: bignateyk
yeah no ******.. my point is that its a speed trap, and 43 in a 25 seems alot worse than it actually was. Usually they use the speed traps to generate revenue, so you have a better chance of getting the points dropped if you are willing to pay the full fine.

Yeah, but all 3 tickets I've received were for the same amount of money, regardless of it being 10 over or 21 over (which was my worst)... thank god my insurance company hasn't caught on.. I'm 19 with 3 tickets and it's been over a year and a half since I've had one and my insurance hasn't raised at all.

 

[waggy]

1st ticket? get court supervision and don't worry about it.

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

Originally posted by: nboy22

Originally posted by: bignateyk
yeah no ******.. my point is that its a speed trap, and 43 in a 25 seems alot worse than it actually was. Usually they use the speed traps to generate revenue, so you have a better chance of getting the points dropped if you are willing to pay the full fine.

Yeah, but all 3 tickets I've received were for the same amount of money, regardless of it being 10 over or 21 over (which was my worst)... thank god my insurance company hasn't caught on.. I'm 19 with 3 tickets and it's been over a year and a half since I've had one and my insurance hasn't raised at all.

Wait until they do their audit. You'll see your insurance increase considerably.

 

[Baked]

Originally posted by: waggy
1st ticket? get court supervision and don't worry about it.

2nd moving violation. He's fvcked. I hope they take another cell phone while driving noob off the road.

 

[nboy22]

Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal

Originally posted by: nboy22

Originally posted by: bignateyk
yeah no ******.. my point is that its a speed trap, and 43 in a 25 seems alot worse than it actually was. Usually they use the speed traps to generate revenue, so you have a better chance of getting the points dropped if you are willing to pay the full fine.

Yeah, but all 3 tickets I've received were for the same amount of money, regardless of it being 10 over or 21 over (which was my worst)... thank god my insurance company hasn't caught on.. I'm 19 with 3 tickets and it's been over a year and a half since I've had one and my insurance hasn't raised at all.

Wait until they do their audit. You'll see your insurance increase considerably.

yeah but the question is when the hell are they actually gonna do the audit? it's been easily over a year and a half since I got my last one, and the others were 2 years ago.

 

[MrFanel]

Originally posted by: Baked

Originally posted by: waggy
1st ticket? get court supervision and don't worry about it.

2nd moving violation. He's fvcked. I hope they take another cell phone while driving noob off the road.

I wasn't talking on the phone; my girlfriend was in the car with me.

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

Originally posted by: nboy22

Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal

Originally posted by: nboy22

Originally posted by: bignateyk
yeah no ******.. my point is that its a speed trap, and 43 in a 25 seems alot worse than it actually was. Usually they use the speed traps to generate revenue, so you have a better chance of getting the points dropped if you are willing to pay the full fine.

Yeah, but all 3 tickets I've received were for the same amount of money, regardless of it being 10 over or 21 over (which was my worst)... thank god my insurance company hasn't caught on.. I'm 19 with 3 tickets and it's been over a year and a half since I've had one and my insurance hasn't raised at all.

Wait until they do their audit. You'll see your insurance increase considerably.

yeah but the question is when the hell are they actually gonna do the audit? it's been easily over a year and a half since I got my last one, and the others were 2 years ago.

Who's your insurance company?

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: Baked

Originally posted by: waggy
1st ticket? get court supervision and don't worry about it.

2nd moving violation. He's fvcked. I hope they take another cell phone while driving noob off the road.

oh yeah.

i just scanned the op. well 2nd one is still bad.

 

[MrFanel]

bump for more suggestions

 

[Demon-Xanth]

About $150, yes you can take traffic school.

 

[bignateyk]

What exactly does traffic school entail? I've never done it. Would it get the points removed if I failed to do so in court? Could I request it after my court hearing if I couldnt get the points dropped?

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Taking traffic school basically removes the ticket from the record. Depending on the county you might be able to take it online or not. If not, it's an 8 hour class that costs about $30 or so.

 

[bignateyk]

Interesting... at what point do you request it? After the court hearing?

edit: and how often can you take it? Once a year, once a lifetime?

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Once every 18 months, there's usually a counter you can go to if you're not contesting it.

 

[bignateyk]

What if I do contest the ticket? Can I still request traffic school after the court hearing if I cant get the points removed that way?

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Originally posted by: bignateyk
What if I do contest the ticket? Can I still request traffic school after the court hearing if I cant get the points removed that way?

That's upto the judge.

But there's a fair chance that the judge will do a blanket "If you would like to plead guilty pay 25% of the fine and you can take traffic school" statement if you do appear.

 

[CrazyDe1]

Originally posted by: nboy22

Originally posted by: bignateyk
yeah no ******.. my point is that its a speed trap, and 43 in a 25 seems alot worse than it actually was. Usually they use the speed traps to generate revenue, so you have a better chance of getting the points dropped if you are willing to pay the full fine.

Yeah, but all 3 tickets I've received were for the same amount of money, regardless of it being 10 over or 21 over (which was my worst)... thank god my insurance company hasn't caught on.. I'm 19 with 3 tickets and it's been over a year and a half since I've had one and my insurance hasn't raised at all.

They usually won't catch on unless you call them or you own your own vehicle and go to renew your plates (at which point they ask for proof of insurance) and a copy of your updated driving record gets sent to the insurance company.

 

[MrFanel]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth

Originally posted by: bignateyk
What if I do contest the ticket? Can I still request traffic school after the court hearing if I cant get the points removed that way?

That's upto the judge.

But there's a fair chance that the judge will do a blanket "If you would like to plead guilty pay 25% of the fine and you can take traffic school" statement if you do appear.

hmmmm to risk it or not to risk it...