I just got pulled over tonight doing 70 in a 55 and wondered if I have a chance if I would fight it in court.  The weird part was I looked down and saw my speed and slowed to 55 and seconds later I saw the lights and got pulled over expecting a warning.  Also can I go to some class and get out of it even if he didn't mention it.  If i go to court do i have to pay for court costs thanks a lot for the help.

Play the race card!!

Don't try to get out of it - just suck up that you were caught. Some (most?) states will allow you to have the citation expunged from your record if you don't contest the violation, pay the full bail plus some small penalties, and go to a driving school. At least in CA you can do this, however you may only do it once per 18 months (or is it 3 years now?), and if you get a ticket during the 18 months, it WILL go on your record.

You were busted,deal with it.

plead guilty to 10 over! in ky no points and you pay a little smaller fine.

I'm wondering how much my insurance will go up for this I just turned 19 yesterday when I got the ticket which cost fucking 105$.  I think I'm gonna fall asleep doing 55 though it feels so slow when you're going straight.

Quoted: I'm wondering how much my insurance will go up for this I just turned 19 yesterday when I got the ticket which cost fucking 105$.  I think I'm gonna fall asleep doing 55 though it feels so slow when you're going straight.

If you are able to do a deal where you pay the fine, penalties, and take a driving class, your insurance company shouldn't ever know about that speeding ticket, and your insurance won't go up.

It would be in your best interest (now knowing that you are 19) to see if such a deal is possible.

Depends on the state.

Most states are geared up for revenue generation, so either you get no trial, or a show trial infront of a judge.

A few states, Texas is one of them (dont actually know what others there are), allows you to have a trial by jury if you so choose.

In PA, depending on the situation, the judge will let you plead to +5 over the speed limit with a reduced fine and no points against your license.

In MN you can meet with the prosecutor/call the court and try and get a number of things.

1. Dismissal (Not likely)
2. Reduced Fine (Happens quite a bit but still goes to your record.)
3. Same or similar. (Meaning you pay the fine and court fees but the ticket does not go on your record if you do not have any same or similar violations in the next year. Get caught again and the new and old tickets both hit your record.
4. Contest it and go to trial. (Don't see many get this far. Even fewer win.)

Good luck, slow down, and remember your seatbelt.

The last time I got a ticket, the whole process was automated.

I called up, and got a "Thanks for calling the [whatever] District Circuit Court Customer Service!"  Customer service?  WTF, eh?  But sure enough, they were fully automated, found out how much my ticket was and felt more like I was buying a ticket than paying one.  Really bizzare.  In a few minutes and after a few menus I had it paid in full via credit card.

I was still pissed about it, however.

Last ticket I got was years ago.  I contested it and showed up in court.  The cop was too busy killing a dog somewhere and did not show up.  No cop to testify and the charge was dropped.

Another time I just took the defensive driving.  

If you were doing 70 in a 55, I suggest you do the defensive driving.  You need it.

Quoted: Last ticket I got was years ago.  I contested it and showed up in court.  The cop was too busy killing a dog somewhere and did not show up.  No cop to testify and the charge was dropped. Another time I just took the defensive driving.   If you were doing 70 in a 55, I suggest you do the defensive driving.  You need it.

70 in a 55 isn't bad.  We have lots of "Super 2's" that are only 55 mph.  In fact we have  4 lane divided highways that are only 55 mph.

Make a court date. Not to fight it, but to ask for a reduction in the penalties fo it. If you have a good record most courts and or LEOs take that into consideration.

I personally have no problems at all giving brakes at court to folks that have a decent record and didn't give me any crap.

...or just pay it & be done with it.

Quoted: plead guilty to 10 over! in ky no points and you pay a little smaller fine.

say what?

or

you could just get a buddy to write you up a receipt (buy them at walmart) that says you had faulty equipment (speedometer) and now its fixed.  Take it to the judges office ahead of time. It will work at least once (or so I am told). A little higher fine but no points in KY.

From what I understand, by the time you see the cop, they generally have you pegged on radar anyway.

just go pay it otherwise, its not worth the time.

You knew you were speeding.

You knew the penalties for speeding if caught.

Here's a thought:   Try taking responsibility for your actions.


From now on when you want to speed keep it at 9 mph over the speed limit and most cops won't bother with you.

Quoted: You knew you were speeding. You knew the penalties for speeding if caught. Here's a thought:   Try taking responsibility for your actions. From now on when you want to speed keep it at 9 mph over the speed limit and most cops won't bother with you.

LoL, so it OK to break the law a little?

Why is a cop picking who he should and shouldn't enforce the laws against?  You have basicly made my case the speeding laws are for revenue, and NOT saftey

Last ticket I got was a bad one.  It was a four lane highway so I thought it was 75, nope, not for another couple miles.  So I was doing about 30 over.  I took a defensive driving class and it was knocked down to defective vehicle.  I still payed a lot but don't have the record.  It was worth it.

Pay whatever you need to make sure that ticket stays off your record. Screw the cost! Once those tickets hit and your insurance jumps up in rates then you'll really be paying, year after year the insurance company's will bleed you out. Its a complete rip-off.

In the future just drive 5 over the limit like everyone else if you wana save megabucks. Then if you see a cop just let off the gas and your legal. I used to be young and nieve, and had over 34 moving violations thru the years, now I've learned to keep it low profile and haven't had a ticket in over 5 years

Heres some links I learned from, some maybe old, I haven't checked them lately.


Blackops_1.

http://www.motorists.org/issues/tickets/index.html
http://pages.quicksilver.net.nz/geoffm/radar/radar_frameset.html
http://www.radartest.com/
http://www.strongsignals.net/index.cgi
http://www.k5kj.net/bct12.htm
http://www.uniden.com/productsupport.cfm?product=BCT12
http://www.radar-guys.com/
http://www.lycos.com/wguide/wire/wire_969209_58064_3_1.html
big radar/speeding links page
http://www.speedzones.com/
http://www.copradar.com/index.html
http://www.toyota-mods.org/radar_info.html

Quoted: Quoted: You knew you were speeding. You knew the penalties for speeding if caught. Here's a thought:   Try taking responsibility for your actions. From now on when you want to speed keep it at 9 mph over the speed limit and most cops won't bother with you. LoL, so it OK to break the law a little?  It's usually okay with me. Why is a cop picking who he should and shouldn't enforce the laws against?  You have basicly made my case the speeding laws are for revenue, and NOT saftey  I agree their mainly for revenue, until you get 15 or so miles above the posted limit, then there may a strong argument you are being unsafe.

Some states allow you to take a driving class that keeps the ticket off your record - you might want to look into that.  Good luck.  I got a speeding ticket in Illinois years ago and discovered you could do that in Illinios.  Since then I just go 9 miles above the speed limit, and ignore police cars.

However - I don't believe in "fighting it in court" if you acknowledge that you were in fact driving faster than the speed limit.

 

I don't see how you're saying that doing 75 on a clear road on a straightaway is so unsafe considering you can do like 70-80 on a lot of highways and in foreign countries it's even higher.  I didn't really want to fight this in court soo much as I don't want insurance to rape me on my rate I will be more than happy to pay the 105$.  They gave me another paper with the ticket that showed other various charges and no seatbelt was 95$ I wear mine but I think its bullshi that it;s a law and 95$ is an ass raping.

Quoted: I don't see how you're saying that doing 75 on a clear road on a straightaway is so unsafe considering you can do like 70-80 on a lot of highways and in foreign countries it's even higher.  I didn't really want to fight this in court soo much as I don't want insurance to rape me on my rate I will be more than happy to pay the 105$.  They gave me another paper with the ticket that showed other various charges and no seatbelt was 95$ I wear mine but I think its bullshi that it;s a law and 95$ is an ass raping.

Not sure how the law works in your area, but I would contact the DA and see if he'll negotiate a deal.

Quoted: LoL, so it OK to break the law a little? Why is a cop picking who he should and shouldn't enforce the laws against?  You have basicly made my case the speeding laws are for revenue, and NOT saftey

Sir, you are my dream come true!!! I have waited for someone to say this!!!

It's called OFFICER DISCRETION

It is in place to allow us (Police) to be able to GIVE BREAKS to citizens who do not deserve a citation. How can officer discretion do anything but benefeit you as a citizen?????  If I go by the letter of the law...everyone gets a ticket for 1 m.p.h. over the limit!!!!

If I stop someone who is travelling 14 m.p.h. over the speed limit, and their wife is pregnant in the back seat with a freakin kids head poking out........according to you I should issue a citation right?

God bless the ignorant.

Quoted: Quoted: You knew you were speeding. You knew the penalties for speeding if caught. Here's a thought:   Try taking responsibility for your actions. From now on when you want to speed keep it at 9 mph over the speed limit and most cops won't bother with you. LoL, so it OK to break the law a little? Why is a cop picking who he should and shouldn't enforce the laws against?  You have basicly made my case the speeding laws are for revenue, and NOT saftey

You're missing the point entirely.  It has nothing to do with right or wrong, it has something to do with rules, with risk and with responsibility.

Anyone is free to drive as fast as they want - but they need to be aware of, and accept the risk that comes with it.

Like everything else, there is a risk-reward tradeoff.

Driving at 9 miles above the speed limit on the highway is a good compromise for most people, because you get where you are going a little faster, but the risk is very low.  But, you can certainly get a ticket - and I'd pay it without hesitation if I did.

Quoted: Quoted: LoL, so it OK to break the law a little? Why is a cop picking who he should and shouldn't enforce the laws against?  You have basicly made my case the speeding laws are for revenue, and NOT saftey Sir, you are my dream come true!!! I have waited for someone to say this!!! It's called OFFICER DISCRETION It is in place to allow us (Police) to be able to GIVE BREAKS to citizens who do not deserve a citation. How can officer discretion do anything but benefeit you as a citizen?????  If I go by the letter of the law...everyone gets a ticket for 1 m.p.h. over the limit!!!! If I stop someone who is travelling 14 m.p.h. over the speed limit, and their wife is pregnant in the back seat with a freakin kids head poking out........according to you I should issue a citation right? God bless the ignorant.

Well stated.

TXL

Quoted: Quoted: I personally have no problems at all giving brakes at court to folks that have a decent record and didn't give me any crap. He already had brakes, he just didnt use them!

Plead not guilty.
subpoena all the ticketing officers tickets.
Search through tickets for similar cases. (age of driver, color of car, make of car so on)
Plead case as the officer is biased against red (whatever color your car is) cars and cars driven by young males.  

Show number of tickets given out vs. percentage of color and age.  

If the percentage is in your favor the Judge just might throw it out.  ETA becase he does not want to waste his or the DAs time.

Quoted: Plead not guilty. subpoena all the ticketing officers tickets. Search through tickets for similar cases. (age of driver, color of car, make of car so on) Plead case as the officer is biased against red (whatever color your car is) cars and cars driven by young males.   Show number of tickets given out vs. percentage of color and age.   If the percentage is in your favor the Judge just might throw it out.  ETA becase he does not want to waste his or the DAs time.

Or he might invite you to take his class at the local college and let you use it for a research project.  When you get out.

Quoted: I'm wondering how much my insurance will go up for this I just turned 19 yesterday when I got the ticket which cost fucking 105$.  I think I'm gonna fall asleep doing 55 though it feels so slow when you're going straight.

Just don't fall asleep and not wake up.  I hate to say it, but it appears to me that you are aching to be the poster boy for the "This is why teenage boys have high insurance rates." crowd.

Maybe you better look at that ticket as a wake-up call before you really get in over your head driving too fast and kill somebody.

You play you pay.

How did he measure your speed? Radar/Lidar, Mk2 Mod 1 eyeball, Pacing? It sounds like he was pacing you. But if he was guessing, than my recommendation would be to contest to ticket. Most places if the cop does not show you get out of the ticket. If he shows up than this is the defense I would use. First never claim to be innocent it will fall on deaf ears. Speed is nothing but distanc over time. Since time is constant and is easily measured. Go with the distance part. Bring a tape measure with you to court. Take two chairs and place them at a random distance apart, but not so close that the distance is easily judged. Then ask the officer to estimate the distance. If he is close you are screwed. IF not you could very well get out of the ticket. The question really is How much is your time worth to you. Do you have to take time off of work to go to court? If so than factor in your lost wages. In the end the least hassle way of doing this is probably to pay the ticket and go to drivers ed course. ohh and pay more attention to how fast you are going.

Well I went to the courthouse and paid the fine and they said there was no classes i could take to help me out in their county so it was fight it or pay it so I paid.  I don't get tired so much as I get really bored going 55mph.  So you guys are telling me that you think 55 on a straight road is plenty fast and some of you never go much over I mean it's 65-70 on a 2 lane with curves why cant it be more like that on the road I was on.  Oh yeah there was one thing I could do to get points off but I would have to had at least 6 points and I have none.

Quoted: Quoted: LoL, so it OK to break the law a little? Why is a cop picking who he should and shouldn't enforce the laws against?  You have basicly made my case the speeding laws are for revenue, and NOT saftey Sir, you are my dream come true!!! I have waited for someone to say this!!! It's called OFFICER DISCRETION It is in place to allow us (Police) to be able to GIVE BREAKS to citizens who do not deserve a citation. How can officer discretion do anything but benefeit you as a citizen?????  If I go by the letter of the law...everyone gets a ticket for 1 m.p.h. over the limit!!!! If I stop someone who is travelling 14 m.p.h. over the speed limit, and their wife is pregnant in the back seat with a freakin kids head poking out........according to you I should issue a citation right? God bless the ignorant.

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Sorry to jump in but,  Wrong.  If you had to issue tickets to everybody, then everybody would see to it that the speed limits are raised.  The "officer discretion" is attractive to you because it gives you Godlike powers.

You love to hear the "Thank you officer, das mighty white of ya!"

It also gives you an excuse to exercise "Professional Courtesy"      Yep, we all know about that one.
In Some states, it's even semi official.  Get a PBA card, and it's an automatic Get Outa Jail Free Card.  (Except for Murder, Rape, Arson, and Bank Robbery)  

You should issue tickets to everybody who speeds.  Starting with yourself.  Anything less is hypocrisy.

It's mostly about the money and job security anyway.  Not like that's any big secret.  
It's one of the last solid industries left in America.  

Quoted: How did he measure your speed? Radar/Lidar, Mk2 Mod 1 eyeball, Pacing? It sounds like he was pacing you. But if he was guessing, than my recommendation would be to contest to ticket. Most places if the cop does not show you get out of the ticket. If he shows up than this is the defense I would use. First never claim to be innocent it will fall on deaf ears. Speed is nothing but distanc over time. Since time is constant and is easily measured. Go with the distance part. Bring a tape measure with you to court. Take two chairs and place them at a random distance apart, but not so close that the distance is easily judged. Then ask the officer to estimate the distance. If he is close you are screwed. IF not you could very well get out of the ticket. The question really is How much is your time worth to you. Do you have to take time off of work to go to court? If so than factor in your lost wages. In the end the least hassle way of doing this is probably to pay the ticket and go to drivers ed course. ohh and pay more attention to how fast you are going.

LOL, what does quessing the distance between two chairs have to do with anything??? LOL

Distance means nothing if he used RADAR or something similar.

Distance means nothing is he paced you, because he was probably using VASCAR and all he has to do is maintain the distance behind you, flip the distance/time switches, count to five then switch them off. You get distance travelled, time travelled and speed.

If he is following you, the time is on when you get to point A, distance is on when his vehicle gets to point A. Time is off when you get to point B, distance is off when he gets to pont B. Speed of your vehicle is displayed.

If he's sitting watching you then he is timing you between two points, the distance of which has been set into the VASCAR. All he has to do is flip the time switch when you hit point A, off when you hit point B.

Some departments train their officer to estimate the speed of a vehicle within a certain +/- mph.

Quoted:

First off, I can't believe I am going to respond to this....but here goes..........

Sorry to jump in but,  Wrong.  If you had to issue tickets to everybody, then everybody would see to it that the speed limits are raised.  The "officer discretion" is attractive to you because it gives you Godlike powers.

O.K., Lets say the speed limit on any given road is raised to whatever the traffic normally travels.....say 60 m.ph. Now lets say that you are driving your vehicle at what you think is the exact speed limit......the problem is your speedometer is off by 3 m.ph. and your actually doing 63 m.p.h. Do you deserve a ticket? NO. That is another reason we have discretion, and most officers don't start stopping people until they are at least 10 m.p.h. over. It pretty much eliminates any accidental speeders or mechanical error (speedometer not calibrated).

If I had godlike powers I would turn you into a Donkey...........wait...............

You love to hear the "Thank you officer, das mighty white of ya!"

9 times out of 10 I get, "Thank you officer." even when I issue a citation......it's called being professional. People will thank you for treating them with respect.

It also gives you an excuse to exercise "Professional Courtesy"      Yep, we all know about that one.

Yep, we give other officers breaks. People who work at Mcdonalds get free hamburgers..........whats your point? Every place you work gives it's employee's discounts or some type of incentive that the general public does not get.

In Some states, it's even semi official.  Get a PBA card, and it's an automatic Get Outa Jail Free Card.  (Except for Murder, Rape, Arson, and Bank Robbery)

Professional Bull Riding Association??????? I don't understand this one.

You should issue tickets to everybody who speeds.  Starting with yourself.  Anything less is hypocrisy.

There is something called "Criminal Intent" that is a part of the states criteria on prosecuting criminal cases. What it means is, someone who commits a crime must have criminal intent in order to be prosecuted for the offense. For example, If two guys agree to a "Ultimate Fighting" style fight in their back yard, and one guy gets seriously injured.......the first guy cannot be prosecuted for assault because it was an arranged "sporting contest" between two individuals.

Therefore, myself and many other officers look for criminal intent when stopping traffic offenders.....my personal favorite is aggressive drivers.....you know, the ones who tailgate, switch lanes back and forth jockeying for position, etc. etc.  These guys and gals deserve a citation.
There are many other instances where the offender does not deserve a citation.

It's mostly about the money and job security anyway.  Not like that's any big secret.   It's one of the last solid industries left in America.

Stupid people are my job security................and I thank you for your support!!

If I can go a million miles without a ticket, so can you.

Quoted: If I can go a million miles without a ticket, so can you.

But whats the fun in that?

Where I am from (Fairbanks, AK) there are not very many LEOs.  If you go to court with the ticket, they usually cut the fine in half instantly.  If you challenge it, in most cases the issuing officer will not have to time to make court and the judge will dismiss it.  At least this has been my personal experience.

These days I don't even speed, no need for it.  I like being the jerk who is driving the speed limit.  If I am on a highway/out of town, I let them pass though.

Call the County/District Attorney and ask for a diversion.  You basically agree to pay a little higher fine, don't get caught speeding for 6 months or so and the ticket is dropped altogether.  Lot's of OTR truck driver's do this in order to keep from losing any points off of their DL's.  And the Attorney's love to build their "diversion funds" up...LL

The easiest part of a ticket for me is sending my wife into court for me (she's an attorney) She's able to cop a deal with the traffic court "prosecutor" for reduced fine and supervision. I think I paid like $10 fine for my last one with 3 mos. of supervision. (supervision here means if I don't get another ticket within the 3 mos. it's wiped off my record.) No traffic school no other b.s.  That being said I've been with my wife 12 years and she's only had to go 2x for me. I don't tend to get pulled over very often.