Stupid traffic ticket

[hex1848]

I'm on my way to work this morning and I end up behind a guy who breaks and goes, breaks and goes. I look in my review mirror and I see a car just speed right up to me, the car gets closer and I see the classic front bumper of our gracious local police department’s cars.

I guess I was following the guy in front of me a bit too closely for the nice lady who pulled me over. Grrrrr $117.50, 3 point "Following too closely" ticket.

Stupid traffic ticket

Should I take the class? Should I get a lawyer (I've always heard it is best to fight most tickets)? Or should I just suck it up and pay the fucker?

[labmonkey]

That sucks man.

I think the cheapest route is taking the class.

Easiest is paying out and biting the bullet.

If it's just the principal of the thing, then fight it, but that is the most time consuming of the three.

That's just my two cents.

I just took the class, but I'm a cheap bastard.

[cockyhoskins]

I don't specifically know the laws of your state hex, but I would suggest two things: First, write a letter requesting a jury trial. Most counties have their dockets set up so that each arresting officer has all his cases on the same day. That way the officer only goes to court once per month. If you request a jury trial, it automatically throws him in court a second day, effectively doubling his work load.

Secondly, after writing the letter, call the cop. Say that you are concerned about the points and ask if she can reduce it to negligent driver or the equivalent, which usually carries a fine but no points. The key is to avoid points.

Even if the cop won't deal, you can always pay the fine prior to actually going to court. If your state has a class system, then I would recommend taking the class. SC does not, so I am not very familiar with them.

[hex1848]

Yeah, I’ve been leaning towards the class the second half of the day. I made some phone calls and apparently none of the attorney's in town deal with traffic tickets anymore. I have to go with a ticket agency that’s from out of town, costs $200 and makes no guarantee’s.

It's a $117.50 ticket, no big deal I guess.. blah

[Roham]

I never ever just pay a ticket. You don't even need to hire a lawyer!! I'm telling you, just take the time to go into court on the date that is marked on your ticket and tell the judge or justice of the peace that you will pay the ticket if they remove the demerit points. The only thing a lawyer will do is save you time! If you can't make it down on the day marked on your ticket, get a lawyer. But in all honesty, you just have to make an appearance. Don't just pay the ticket... Not worth it. What if you have a bad luck month and next thing you know the demerit points are racked up and either you are in jepeordy of losing your license or your insurance goes up.... I racked up about 14 or 15 tickets in a year... All speeding and stuff, all supposed to have demerit points. My lawyer fought them all. In the end, I had 2 demerit points... That was from a 5 demerit ticket being reduced to 2:) (long story on how I got a 5 demerit)
(in canada you lose your license after 15 demerits and insurance goes up after 5!)

Basicly, as long as you either pay a lawyer, or fight them yourself, and end up with no demerits, you can speed all you want. Just pay the fines and your off. I hate how this world revolves around money. Basicly, if your rich, you can afford to speed, all you want.....
(not that i am rich, I fought most myself and my lawyer helped with a few, and I haven't had a ticket in about 3 or 4 years hehehe it was just a bad year....)

[hex1848]

I actually ended up going the lawyer route with this one. I have a good friend who is an attorney in town, I happened to be in his office doing some maintenance on his network for him and I asked him the best way of handling it, he asked me if I had the ticket, grabbed it from me and said he would take care of it.

[cockyhoskins]

Nice!

[labmonkey]

I know you already took care of this ticket, but just got this email i thought was interesting. not sure how reliable it is tho.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU GET A TRAFFIC TICKET
>
> Remember, this advice was sent to me by my dad the
> retired State Farm Agent! This system has been tried
> and it works in every state.
>
> If you get a speeding ticket or went through a red
> light or whatever the case may be, and you're going to
> get points on your license, this is a method to ensure
> that you DO NOT get the points. When you get your
> fine, send in a check to pay for it. If the fine is
> $79.00 make the check out for $82.00 or some small
> amount over the fine. The system will then have to
> send you back a check for the difference, however here
> is the trick.
>
> DO NOT CASH THE REFUND CHECK! Throw it away! Points
> are not assessed to your license until all financial
> transactions are complete. If you do not cash the
> check, then the transactions are NOT complete. The
> system has received it's money and is satisfied and
> will no longer bother you. This information comes from
> an unmentionable computer company that sets up the
> standard databases used by every state.

[cockyhoskins]

That sounds like BS to me. By sending in the ticket, you are admitting guilt right off the bat. The clerk of court will gladly take your check and enter a guilty plea, thus assessing the points on your license. Even if the check doesn't cash, after six months it is going to be void and the state will purge its accounting records.

[hex1848]

Well, I had my court date today. My lawyer talked to the police officer lady and got it worked out so I could plead no contest and get a judication withheld. No Points, I just paid the $117.50 fine. It seemed like I could have just gone up there my self and done it, but lawyers are always worth their weight in gold when you don’t know what you’re doing.

[Oblik]

Sounds like it all worked out. Good job, paying the $117 suxs though.

[jaewing]

lawyers are always worth their weight in gold when you don’t know what you’re doing.

Yes I agree whole heatedly.

Jason A. Ewing
Attorney at Law

[labmonkey]

lawyers are always worth their weight in gold when you don’t know what you’re doing.

Yes I agree whole heatedly.

Jason A. Ewing
Attorney at Law

[ggiese]

I don't specifically know the laws of your state hex, but I would suggest two things: First, write a letter requesting a jury trial. Most counties have their dockets set up so that each arresting officer has all his cases on the same day. That way the officer only goes to court once per month. If you request a jury trial, it automatically throws him in court a second day, effectively doubling his work load.

Secondly, after writing the letter, call the cop. Say that you are concerned about the points and ask if she can reduce it to negligent driver or the equivalent, which usually carries a fine but no points. The key is to avoid points.

Even if the cop won't deal, you can always pay the fine prior to actually going to court. If your state has a class system, then I would recommend taking the class. SC does not, so I am not very familiar with them.

I don't know about this tactic. Seems to me if you request a jury trial, whether you have one or not, they're going to charge you for it. Plus, you've also gotta spend the day in court along with the officer. Also, the officer is generally on company time, or more likely on overtime - so you're actually doing him a favor by bringing him into court a second time "all day". I don't know of any officers I've seen that were particularly bothered by this...

Secondly, calling the officer is not going to work - he/she will talk to you, but they really have no interest in the outcome of the ticket, so they're not going to step up and ask the court to reduce anything. I've never seen that being done, and I can't see it happening.

Thirdly, at some point it all catches up. It is important for you to keep any "points", "demerits", or whatever off of your license. Insurance companies base their rates on how much of a risk you are. The more points you have, the higher the insurance premium. However, if you are constantly speeding and picking up tickets, there will be a point in time where the court will not grant "supervision", "probation" or whatever to keep the ticket off of you license. Once that starts to happen, it's a slippery slope unless one stops getting tickets. In Illinois, where I live, the court system keeps track of such matters. They only allow a few tickets in a year or two before they make it a conviction - or send the person to driving school.

Best advice here is to avoid getting the traffic tickets to begin with. Contrary to popular belief, the general idea of receiving a ticket is not to generate income, but to correct poor driving behaviors. This is crucial for reducing the number and severity of crashes.

If you get a ticket, go in front of the judge and ask for supervision, whatever, yourself. Generally, as long as you have a "decent" record and the offense wasn't real bad (like reckelss driving, suspended drivers license, speeding more than $30 miles over the limit, etc.) the judge will work to keep it off your license. With the run of the mill ticket, hiring a lawyer will generally add about $100-200 to the cost of the ticket to end up with the same result you would have had if you had just stepped up yourself...

[bardock]

trial by declaration is a good way to go, you request a paper trial, that way the cop doesnt get his overtime, and he has to turn in evidence against you within a certain time limit...if he is too lazy to submit the evidence, then the case is dismissed. well...this is about a month too late, but, its good for future reference.

[ggiese]

trial by declaration is a good way to go, you request a paper trial, that way the cop doesnt get his overtime, and he has to turn in evidence against you within a certain time limit...if he is too lazy to submit the evidence, then the case is dismissed. well...this is about a month too late, but, its good for future reference.

What is a "trial by declaration"? I've never heard of that...

[bardock]

im not so sure about other states, but here in CA, you can have a trial by declaration without ever going to the court, and if you lose, you are entitled to a new trial (trial de novo) per Section 40902(d) of the California Vehicle Code. This gives you two chances to win. So, its good be in california.

[CoventryCat86]

What is a "trial by declaration"? I've never heard of that...

Yeah George, all this stuff varies widely from state to state. One thing they do in Connecticut is for infractions, you can ONLY get a trial in front of a magistrate and if you or the States Attorney's Office don't like the outcome, you can make a motion to the court for a "Trial de Novo" in front of a judge.

Also in Connecticut, if you are given a ticket for an INFRACTION (minor ticket) you DO NOT have the option of a jury trial.

A long time ago, I was given a high dollar speeding ticket, I went in front of a judge and said I wanted a trial by jury since speeding at that level (at the time over 70 mph in a 55 zone, the officer said I was going 72 but he confused me with another car since it was 4:30 p.m. in HEAVY traffic on the Friday Memorial Day weekend) was an automatic court appearance, not an infraction (a mail-in ticket). I had photographs of the heavy traffic and figured I had a great chance to be found not guilty by a jury.

When I requested the jury trial, the prosecutor said, "Your honor, I will substitute charge the defendant with unreasonable speed which is an infraction which means he does not qualify for a jury trial."

Curses, foiled again I was found guilty by a judge because you can't defend yourself against a lying police officer (no offense George but this guy was an outright liar).

[ggiese]

Yeah George, all this stuff varies widely from state to state. One thing they do in Connecticut is for infractions, you can ONLY get a trial in front of a magistrate and if you or the States Attorney's Office don't like the outcome, you can make a motion to the court for a "Trial de Novo" in front of a judge.

Also in Connecticut, if you are given a ticket for an INFRACTION (minor ticket) you DO NOT have the option of a jury trial.

A long time ago, I was given a high dollar speeding ticket, I went in front of a judge and said I wanted a trial by jury since speeding at that level (at the time over 70 mph in a 55 zone, the officer said I was going 72 but he confused me with another car since it was 4:30 p.m. in HEAVY traffic on the Friday Memorial Day weekend) was an automatic court appearance, not an infraction (a mail-in ticket). I had photographs of the heavy traffic and figured I had a great chance to be found not guilty by a jury.

When I requested the jury trial, the prosecutor said, "Your honor, I will substitute charge the defendant with unreasonable speed which is an infraction which means he does not qualify for a jury trial."

Curses, foiled again I was found guilty by a judge because you can't defend yourself against a lying police officer (no offense George but this guy was an outright liar).

No offense taken, CC - I have a broken knuckle because of a lying police officer that was going to ticket my ex-wife (she was the wife at the time) for "improper backing" in a rear end collision. The bastid was trying to say my ex-wife backed into the car behind her - so fast that it caused the entire trunk area to collapse - through a stop intersection. I punched the wall rather than him, I was so pissed off... He bent to reason when I explained it would be tough to keep that lie up, considering the circumstances didn't match his story... For some reason he thought my ex-wife was trying to "manufacture" the accident in order to "collect insurance money".

I'm convinced that about 5% of the population are a$$holes - which means that about 5% of the cops are a$$holes. I've met a few, I hate to say... Doesn't in the least bit surprise me in the least a cop would lie in front of the judge. Fortunately, the vast majority of the officers I know wouldn't do that...

[Bkcloud114]

Receive a "moving violation" in NYC.... plead guilty or not guilty..... that's it...... nothing else.

Plead "guilty".... Pay the fine + surcharge- usually points on the license, only way to reduce points is a Driver's Safety Course.

Plead "Not Guilty"..... you stand up in front of an Administrative Law Judge, just you and the cop, unless you have a lawyer.... they are all over the place, like ambulance chasers. The cop tells his side of the story, you tell yours and the "judge" makes a determination.

A little word of advice if you ever drive thru NYC.... if ya get stopped and ticketed by a NYC Highway cop or any other cop using a Radar Gun... pay the fine and don't bother going to court to fight him, this is what they do every day and they are good at what they do. They would not be doing it if they did not have a high conviction rate. If ya get ticketed by any other "street" cop.... you've got a 50/50 shot of getting a "not guilty" verdict.