Got a speeding ticket...advice?
 

Yesterday I was coming home from school (but before school I was camping), and I was about 3 blocks away from home when a cop pulled me over. Said I was doing 57 in a 45 zone (probably was, wasn't really paying attention - I had to go to the bathroom really bad so I was focused on getting home).

The cop came up and did the whole license, insurance, registration thing and I was honest with him and told him I was going a bit fast cause my stomach hurt a lot and I wanted to get home to relieve myself. He totally ignored this (no sympathy at all) and promptly wrote me up. :whip:

Now, seeing how I got a ticket 6 months ago and just finished the traffic school for that, I can't take traffic school for this, so I'm screwed. I really would rather not have that point on my license.

Can anyone offer advice as to help me try to get out of this one (I know that sounds really bad LOL)? Normally I'd say I deserve whatever tickets I get cause I drive a bit on the faster side but in this case I had a decent, honest reason and I think anyone with half a heart would have understood (you gotta go if you gotta go). :neutral:

Unfortunately he got me with a laser (which is more accurate than radar, so harder to really refute), but on the plus side he clocked me when I was over 500ft away.

I did a simple calculation with geometry and for him to "miss" and aim at the car in the other lane would have required just 1.1 degrees of error in whatever direction he was pointing his laser.

Also, I don't know if this matters, but on the ticket he wrote that the car is registered as "same as driver" but it is actually owned by my dad. It's a technicality but murderers even get let off on stupid technicalities like that - is there something I can do about this?

I'm going to do trial by declaration and hope he doesn't respond, but if he responds and I lose I'm gonna take it to court and fight it and every little tactic helps I guess.

So...bring on the advice?

Thanks

1.) Slow down
2.) Hire a lawyer, go to the intial hearing and hope for a plea deal to drop to defective vehicle or whatever BS your state has
3.) Slow down

I would go to court. Just making an appearance shows you somewhat care about your record.FYI,Make sure you take care of buisness before you confront the judge:lol:

1 and 3 were already done after the last ticket. Guess even more so now...

Lawyer up seems...expensive...was hoping to achieve this without a lawyer.

LOL will do. :oops:

I think trial by declaration first, no? I'm still allowed a court appearance even if I lose the trial by declaration.

Just go to court and meet the prosecutor - Be nice and plead it down...

I was stopped for 80 in a 65 'safety zone' and changing across 2 lanes without indicating - I saw the cop...

The cop let me off the 80 and just gave me a 2 point + $280 ticket for changing lanes without indicating.

I went to court was polite and chatted to prosecutor - walked away with a zero point obstructing traffic ticket with a $83 fine including court costs...

Lesson is brush up on ticket fines and points, dress smart, be polite and plead down...

Isn't the prosecutor the officer in this case?

No... There is a court appointed persecutor - The officer would give evidence but that doesn't happen as you a pleading guilty - just to a lower offense :)

not sure if this still works, but reschedule the court appearance as last minute as you can.
most of the time, the cop will not show up for the rescheduled hearing.
plead not guilty, and if the cop doesnt show up, you should be good.
worse comes to worse, dress nice, at least a dress shirt and tie and slacks. and be veeerrry polite. tell judge your still in school, with no job. he may lower your ticket price

It's not the ticket price I'm worried about, it's the point on my license.

I would gladly pay the ticket twice over if I didn't get the point.

Confusing
 

Although confusing all good advice. First thing is to slow down and understand that officers hear every excuse in the book all day long, so none of them really count no matter how relivant you may feel it is. Speeding is speeding period.

As stated previously dress neat, shave, and be totally respectful even if it does not work out to your benefit. Judges hate shabby dress in their court rooms as a point of disrespect.

Try to discus it with the officer if you can, asking for his mercy for the reasons mentioned(school, no job, no money) and let him know that you are going to be a more defensive driver from now on. If he ignores you move on and don't push it.

Then speak with the prosicutor if possible to plea down to a lower offense or maybe a warning if you are lucky noting it is to save time and give you a second chance.

No matter how it turns out at least you know you tried your best. Don't go in there expecting anything good to come of it, and feel lucky to get out of there with your license in tact and good health.

The bottom line is, slow down and stop getting tickets. It is a lesson that we have all had to learn over the years of growing up. Trying to use charm, good looks, or kissing a$$ just pisses the officers off, so stick to the facts. Your an idiot and you are working hard to change plain and simple.

Story
 

A young man is driving down the street two blocks from his house and approaches a stop sign. He slows down to a crawl, looks both ways and accelerates through the intersection within the speed limit.

An officer watching from around the corner pulls up behind teh driver and pulls him over.

The officer approaches the driver and asks if he knows why he was being stopped.

The driver says no I have no idea.

The officer informs the driver that he did not stop at the stop sign, and still continued through the intersection.

The driver insists that he slowed to a crawl and looked both ways carefully moving through the intersection.

The officer takes out his baton and begins to beat the man over the head continuously saying the sign says STOP.

The driver yells out stop, stop, please stop, stop.

The officer begins to ask the driver, does that mean stop, or does it mean slow down.

I'm sure you get the point.

Wear DIAPERS ?

You can ask to see the calibration records for the laser used. also ask to see the officers training record for use of speed laser. also, your angle of error (if other traffic on the road) is a good argument as well. Good luck!

For such a minor ticket this will just piss them off - you're likely to just put a big target on you...

In NJ at least you just see the prosecutor and generally if you only have a couple of offenses it will be reduced...

Talking to the prosecutor, usualy an assistant DA, is a good start. If thats not possible ask to get the date postponed. You'd be surprised how little a lawyer may cost, esspecially in comparisson to the increased insurance rate. Lawyer I have used a few times has been $150 plus the fine which is usually less than $100. I even had one real bad ticket of 76 in a 35, I think he made a mathematical error subtracting his speed from the radar as he was coming at me cause I will admit to 66MPH. That ticket cost me $500 for a lawyer that took care of everything, non moving no point violation and the $500 covered the reduced fine. That was far better than potentially losing my license. So maybe try calling a lawyer first and ask what his rates are.

Based on the car you drive I highly doubt trying to make yourself out to be a "poor" student will work too well.

In Texas we have attorney's offices that strictly handle traffic violations. You pay them $100.00 and they go to court with you and get the ticket dismissed and/or similar. It's kind of shady to me but works.

Maybe California has similar unless it's "known to the state of California to be hazardous to your health".

It could be worse.You could be this guy in Switzerland.

(fast forward to 1:35)
million dollar speeding ticket

Minor or not it's one point. As I said, the cost isn't the issue, it's the point on my license.

If anything I think the fact that I'm 12 over the speed limit rather than 30 over makes it more sensible to check the laser calibration. Say the laser is off by 10mph due to non-calibration and the angle error, that would put me only 2mph over the limit.

But if I'm going 30 over even if the thing is 15mph off I'm still way the heck over the limit.

I'll look into the lawyers, could be worth it I guess.

On the plus side, I was driving my dad's truck - not my car so claiming poor college student could possibly work.

Seems like right now the best course is trial by declaration and pray he doesn't respond. If he does and I lose, then set a court date, delay delay delay, and then talk to officer then prosecutor to beg for mercy?

Calibration
 

Challenging the callibration of radar or lazer guns, which only have a variance of about 5mph in either direction is pretty much futile. So going that route would only do you good if you were 5mph over the speed limit. Sometimes it works, but most of the time the judge just gets pissed off at the effort and levies the max fine on the violation just for wasting his or her time having to discuss it in their courtroom. You have to remember that this type of issue is what goes on in their courtroom all day long, every single day, every week of their miserable job. They have heard every excuse in the book and the bottom line is slow down and stop getting pulled over.

The best advice here so far is for you to approach the prosicutor prior to the hearing/pleeding and try to get it reduced or at least elliminate the points. This will save him/her time and get them out of the courtroom sooner so they can go home for the day. Anything else is just going to cause you even more trouble.

The advice we used to get as kids was take your lumps and move on with your life, and stop making stupid mistakes. We all come to realize as we age that following the rules of the road is the best route. The rules apply to everyone without exception. The sooner you learn this the easier your life will be.

Personally I disagree with your approach - It was a fair bust...

Just got face the music be polite and you'll get no points - as I said I had 80 in 65 and changing lanes without indicating & a 48 in a 25 both dropped to zero points by just being polite with the prosecutor...

The errors were mine though last thing I would have ever done was drag the cop into court or question the radar etc. You might duck a ticket but trust me your card would be marked for much more grief down the line.

You are basically questioning the integrity of the cop - That would not seem like a smart approach.

So I just walk up to the prosecutor and nicely ask him if we can settle for something that doesn't result in a point on my license?

Yes
 

YES. What have you got to lose at this point. The worst thing they may say is NO, and then you are back to square one. If you get their attention and stay on their good side who knows what may come of it.

Chris and Jerry are right. Don't walk in there challenging the cop and calibrations and nonsense like that. Even if you could prove it (highly doubtful,) you have to remember these guys know and work with all these same cops. You'll come off as some smartass kid questioning all of their integrity. Plus who's to say its not 10mph over, and they should write you a bigger ticket? It happens...

Reminds me of this coworker (african guy) who got busted doing 25 over in Newark, and tried going in there claiming the cop was racist.
We told him not to do it, my other coworker's bro was a Newark cop telling him not to do it, and he did it anyway. Did not go well. lol

As far as lawyers go, depends what its worth to you. There are cheap traffic lawyers, but prolly not too warranted here. They can help talk the DA down. When in my bro was in HS, he ended up getting a 25 pt ticket (you lose it @ 4pts in CO) where a cop eventually ended up splayed on his hood screaming Asshole! Stop! Asshole! Lawyer got it down to 2pts and defective vehicle and he kept his license (and luckily my parents let him keep his head.)

So yes, you are best off just talking to them politely and respectively. Don't make demands, don't be cute, don't cop a bunch of sad stories (they've heard them all), admit you were being an idiot, and hope for some leniency. Basically show you'll take responsibility for your actions and recognize your mistake. If they figure you're someone they will not likely see back there again, they'll cut you some slack.

Thats how it works in Jersey!

If only it was so.

One thing that I learned is that if you get pulled over, when the officer asks for your license, registration, and insurance, hand him an expired proof of insurance card instead of a new card. Most times the officer will come back and write you a ticket for the insurance, and ignore whatever else you were pulled over for, which is nice, since it's cheaper and 0 points. If, the cop decides to write you up for insurance AND your other violation, be ready to hand him your current insurance, and say you handed him the old one by mistake. By law he would have to remove the insurance offense.

Of course, this won't help you now, but since we were on the topic...

Toughts??
 

Never thought of that one. Sounds like it would work on the right officer. So whats the status with your ticket? Anything new to report?