I got a 42 in a 25 zone (in the Honda!) ...the officer never had me sign it. Can I plead not guilty and win based on that? Ken
Does your state require a signature? Do a search and you will find many threads about ticket issues and how to get out of them. In the end, the best advice is to hire a local attorney that has lots of traffic court experience. You need to operate within the framework of your local laws which may not be represented in the "search". It seems like the way to getting out of a ticket is demanding some sort of evidence towns never seem to provide in a timely matter, and that is what creates your opportunity. The lawyer will probably cost you 5x the ticket amount, so you have to weigh that against any insurance increase to determine if fighting is worth the effort.
Yes, hire an attorney...contact your state's lawyer referal service, they can recogmend an attorney that specializes in fighting traffic tickets. Had the same thing a few years ago, had an attorney that was excellent. In fact, the ticket was tossed out. Glad I did, it would have haunted my insurance for numerous years later!
I can do the 4 hour computer thing and it won't be on my record so I'll go that route rather than hire a lawyer; but I'll look for the signature thing first! Thanks! Ken
Ken, Last month's Sports Car Market had a great article about speeding tickets. Also, don't hire a lawyer, if the signature thing doesn't work, just go to court and plea bargan it down to a no-points violation - good experience and usually works. Regards, Art S.
How much did the attorney cost? was it really worth it in the long run? It may haunt your insurance for 2 years, but that all depends on your record. If you don't have any current points on your record and it has been clean for several years I say pay the fine and see if they will suspend the points and make it a non-moving violation.
I get off clean with the 4 hour internet course, but I have a 1 year probation where I can't do it again if I get another ticket. As it is, my insurance company won't see the ticket. So just paying the $105 is easy; but I'm still thinking about it. I hate just paying for getting caught in such a speed trap. They nail everyone on this stretch of road sooner or later because it's wide open but a 25 MPH speed limit. Ken
Why not call the DA's office yourself and see if they'll reduce it to a non-moving violation? In my town the DA will reduce up to three tickets a year. The fine is a little higher, but hey, it doesn't go on your record at all.
Just do like me and don't pay it. I have warrants out for my arrest in TN, MS, LA, FL, GA. Whoopee. Yeah, one of these days I'll be back in the states and get called on it, and so what? That was 10+ years ago. I'm still not paying it, go ahead, put me in jail. That just costs them money instead of making them money. And that's the crux of the issue AFAIC. They write tickets to make money. For me WRITING the ticket is just the first step in the game of trying to make me PAY the ticket. So far I'm winning.
Actually, I embarked on that policy long before I moved to Dubai. Call it civil disobedience. Sure, the average sheep just pays the ticket and feeds the system, but I decided to fight the system. What if everybody just stopped paying the stupid speeding tickets? Are they going to put everyone in jail?They don't want you in jail, they want you working and paying taxes. And speeding tickets. Do you never get tired of being harvested?
If you have nothing to lose you can follow this philosophy. On the other hand, if you have any assets the government can take them to pay not only the ticket, but the court costs, the penalties and interest, etc. The system is also very good at garnishing your wages. If you are willing to live "off paper", own nothing, have no bank account and never expect to inherit a penny you can "beat the system" if you consider that lifestyle a "win".
Well of course, that's how they get you. You have too much to lose to be bothered to fight the system. How many threads have we seen asking "how can I work the system to minimise my losses?" when the real question should be "why do we allow bandits to take money from us at gunpoint on the side of the road?" Face it, speeding tickets are nothing but a means of generating revenue. And the comfortable sheep that have too much to lose are too timid to do anything about it. I'm not seriously suggesting that you ignore tickets. I'm seriously suggesting that you ask yourself why you don't do something to put an end to this absurd highway robbery. I lived the first 20 years of driving with the 55 mph speed limit. I mean, come on. Yeah, I'm just yanking your chain, but this chain is worth yanking.
You find no public safety issues? 25 MPH is usually residential areas. Suppose your child ran out into the road to retrieve a ball? Do you like the child's chances better at 25 MPH or 17 MPH higher than that?
I passed a cop (at night no less) doing around 160MPH. I hired the best traffic attorney in the San Francisco Bay Area. He knew the superior court judge (all of them, actually) on a first name basis, and stood in as an alternative whenever any of them had something to do. I got a no-points, small fine which I paid that day. "Your guilt or innocence has very little to do with the outcome of the particular case you happened to be involved in. What has most to do with the outcome is the quality of legal representation you can afford to buy." F. Lee Bailey
I agree; my street is 25 and I do 25. This stretch of road is DESERTED! It's a speed trap, plain and simple. Everyone I know (mostly middle age parents like me) has at least one ticket here. If you go 25 people have to pass you in a no passing zone. They get you either way. Ken
That was the same as my case, my attorney knew the judge(golfing buddy) on a personal basis, in fact, he was once a judge himself in the same court system.
Just last month a judge said it was perfectly legal to bribe your way out of tickets with steaks: http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?s_site=tennessean&f_site=tennessean&f_sitename=Tennessean%2C+The+%28Nashville%2C+TN%29&p_theme=gannett&p_product=NTNB&p_action=search&p_field_base-0=&p_text_base-0=ticket+fixing&Search=Search&p_perpage=10&p_maxdocs=200&p_queryname=700&s_search_type=keyword&p_sort=_rank_%3AD&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date%3AB%2CE&p_text_date-0=-3qzM You'll have to buy the article to read it all,but the gist is that a meat company made a habit of giving free steaks to troopers, and the troopers made a habit of fixing their tickets, and a court says that's just fine. So who gets the steak?
If it is a well known speed trap, why would you take the risk? Put the speed into perspective. By traveling 17 MPH over the speed limit, you are moving an extra .28 miles per minute. Let's say this stretch of roadway is five miles in length. If you travel at the posted 25 MPH speed limit it would take 12 minutes. By traveling at 42 MPH your travel time is reduced to 7 min and 9 seconds. You are saving yourself 4 minutes and 51 seconds. Of course if the speed trap area is shorter, so is your cost of time. I have a speed trap by me, the road is 35 MPH for ten miles, except for a 200 yard stretch going down a hill where it is 25 MPH. To slow down to avoid the ticket probably adds 15 seconds to my daily commute each way.
