Has anyone had a ticket like this one? It is my first ticket. Should I take it to court and represent myself or should I hire an attorney. What should I plead. It just so happens that it was raining pretty bad and I was in a hurry to get to my Ortho because of a tooth ache. Does that matter? Any advice?
Speeding ticket.
- Thread starter CasioTech
- Start date
rivan
Diamond Member
- Jul 8, 2003
- 9,677
- 3
- 81
Attorney. They'll get it reduced to a non-moving violation with a hefty fine. It'll end up worth it to keep your insurance rates unchanged.
A judge won't give a flying poop why you were speeding. You'll be saying blah, blah, toothache and he'll be thinking "you should have left 5 minutes earlier, then."
A judge won't give a flying poop why you were speeding. You'll be saying blah, blah, toothache and he'll be thinking "you should have left 5 minutes earlier, then."
Don't hire an attorney yet. Go to court and talk with the prosecutor. If they don't plea bargin with you, and you want to fight the ticket then get a lawyer. Most cases the prosecutor will work with you especialy if you have a clean record.
The reason doesn't matter. There is no valid excuse to be speeding in a school zone.
Since it's your first ticket, what you do is find out how you can file for "Deferred Adjudication" in your state/county. Then follow that process, which will include paying the full speeding fine as a "processing fee". This will prevent the ticket from ever showing up on your record, and your insurance agency won't even know it existed. Also, any attempt to dispute or delay judgement will make it impossible to be approved for Adjudication.
Then, don't get caught speeding again for at least one full year, because you can't adjudicate more than once every 12 months
I imagine if the excuse were "I had to get to my dealer's house before he left for his probation hearing", the judge would care =)
Speeding in a school zone while it's raining. Sounds like a good idea. Pay your fine and chalk it up to a life lesson.
Dont' people get away with these things all the time. An attorney told me that it's $70 and court costs and I would get no points. Is that a good deal?
I was trying to beat the rain and i'm not from that area... Are those things the judge would be interested in?
Sure, if you want insurance hikes. You may not need a lawyer, but just paying tickets is the worst advice EVER. At the very least you can bargain them down or take traffic school. Still, I guess they need suckers who pay the full amount to keep the state funded
Check the signs to see if you have a case. Is the limit always 20MPH? Or is it only "when children present"? Were children present?
Dump the raining and toothache excuse, they won't fly in court. If you don't have a case (in other words, you were going 28 in a valid 20MPH school zone), plead for clemency, and ask to go to traffic school, get a deferred finding, reduce it to non-moving, anything to keep it off your record.
Not in the least. If you had a medical emergency, maybe. But you didn't.
Originally posted by: jagec
Sure, if you want insurance hikes. You may not need a lawyer, but just paying tickets is the worst advice EVER. At the very least you can bargain them down or take traffic school. Still, I guess they need suckers who pay the full amount to keep the state funded
Check the signs to see if you have a case. Is the limit always 20MPH? Or is it only "when children present"? Were children present?
Dump the raining and toothache excuse, they won't fly in court. If you don't have a case (in other words, you were going 28 in a valid 20MPH school zone), plead for clemency, and ask to go to traffic school, get a deferred finding, reduce it to non-moving, anything to keep it off your record.
Not in the least. If you had a medical emergency, maybe. But you didn't.
I have documentation from my ortho for that date? Could that be a medical emergency? Also, do I plead not guilty or no contest? There were no children. But it says school zone until 3:30. It was 3:10. I didn't see kids and it was a small school I don't know about.
Plead not guilty, fight the ticket the whole way. You're from out of town, they'll probably just let you off the hook with a slap on the wrist.
- M4H
- M4H
Originally posted by: CasioTech
Originally posted by: jagec
Sure, if you want insurance hikes. You may not need a lawyer, but just paying tickets is the worst advice EVER. At the very least you can bargain them down or take traffic school. Still, I guess they need suckers who pay the full amount to keep the state funded
Check the signs to see if you have a case. Is the limit always 20MPH? Or is it only "when children present"? Were children present?
Dump the raining and toothache excuse, they won't fly in court. If you don't have a case (in other words, you were going 28 in a valid 20MPH school zone), plead for clemency, and ask to go to traffic school, get a deferred finding, reduce it to non-moving, anything to keep it off your record.
Not in the least. If you had a medical emergency, maybe. But you didn't.
I have documentation from my ortho for that date? Could that be a medical emergency? Also, do I plead not guilty or no contest? There were no children. But it says school zone until 3:30. It was 3:10. I didn't see kids and it was a small school I don't know about.
Don't offer any excuse, it will only make things worse. Do not plead "quilty", "not quilty", or "no contest" yet. Do not enter any plea or comment whatsoever until you find out if you can request Deferred Adjudication.
Krazy4Real
Lifer
- Oct 3, 2003
- 12,222
- 55
- 91
Wow, I've never seen a school speed limit that low. Everywhere around here it's 25. I thought the cop gave you ticket for going 3 over, which would be crazy. If it really was only 15 and it's your first offense, just go to traffic school or get court supervision.
Originally posted by: Nyati13
Originally posted by: CasioTech
Originally posted by: jagec
Sure, if you want insurance hikes. You may not need a lawyer, but just paying tickets is the worst advice EVER. At the very least you can bargain them down or take traffic school. Still, I guess they need suckers who pay the full amount to keep the state funded
Check the signs to see if you have a case. Is the limit always 20MPH? Or is it only "when children present"? Were children present?
Dump the raining and toothache excuse, they won't fly in court. If you don't have a case (in other words, you were going 28 in a valid 20MPH school zone), plead for clemency, and ask to go to traffic school, get a deferred finding, reduce it to non-moving, anything to keep it off your record.
Not in the least. If you had a medical emergency, maybe. But you didn't.
I have documentation from my ortho for that date? Could that be a medical emergency? Also, do I plead not guilty or no contest? There were no children. But it says school zone until 3:30. It was 3:10. I didn't see kids and it was a small school I don't know about.
Don't offer any excuse, it will only make things worse. Do not plead "quilty", "not quilty", or "no contest" yet. Do not enter any plea or comment whatsoever until you find out if you can request Deferred Adjudication.
I'm from Fl. Do we have Deferred Adjudication?
you are 22 years old, be a man and stand up for your poor decisions. You messed up, You got caught, You pay the fine. Unless you can prove that there were no signs in the area, or your speado is off you have no case.
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