Contesting a Speeding Ticket?
June 15th, 2010 | by admin |Last night I was driving to go bowling and a guy flashed his high beams at me (an obvious speed trap warning). I was going about 33 in a 25, so I slowed down to 25. The guy behind me was apparently in a hurry, so he illegally passed me and he was doing well above the speed limit. I then saw the cop pull out and I was kind of happy the idiot would be taught a lesson. Unfortunately, I got pulled over. The officer said I was going 45 in a 25. I knew this couldn’t be right, since even before I slowed down, I was going 33. He said he caught me with a laser from 561.5 ft away. I’m 18 and I’ve had my license for just under a year and I had never been pulled over before. I did not argue with the officer since I didn’t see what good it could do. I’m almost 100% sure his laser picked up on the guy that passed me, but I have no idea how I could prove that in court. I did have my friend in the car with me, so he witnessed everything. My main concern is that our word versus the police officer’s word is not a very good case. I was also wondering if police cars have cameras that could prove my case. I don’t know much about the whole process of contesting a ticket. I do know that if the police officer does not show up to court, you don’t have to pay the ticket. I also know that there is an extra fine if you lose the case. My insurance is inevitably going to go up or just drop me since this is a pretty large ticket. Any help would be great, especially if you are a police officer or a judge that knows a good amount about how this type of thing works. Thanks in advance.
I recommend that you interview at least 3 or 4 Attorneys who have a great deal of successful experience defending speeding tickets in court.
I recommend that you hire the Attorney that you think is best for your case.
As long as the Attorney that you hire has successfuly achieved acquittals with a number of recent speeding ticket cases, you will win in court.
2 Responses to “Contesting a Speeding Ticket?”
By James on Jun 16, 2010 | Reply
I recommend that you interview at least 3 or 4 Attorneys who have a great deal of successful experience defending speeding tickets in court.
I recommend that you hire the Attorney that you think is best for your case.
As long as the Attorney that you hire has successfuly achieved acquittals with a number of recent speeding ticket cases, you will win in court.
References :
By Happy Husband on Jun 16, 2010 | Reply
I don’t know how it is in you state, but here’s how I’d tackle it in my state.
1) Whatever you do, go to the court date.
2) Bring your friend, if you can and you trust them to not look like an idiot or argue with the judge. Tell the judge what happened, but don’t lie and don’t offer more information than is absolutely necessary. The judge will ask for more if needed. Otherwise you just look like a liar going begging. DON’T pointblank call the officer a liar. Simply state the facts from your viewpoint, like you were going 33 in a 25, you think the radar (not the officer) detected the other car, etc.
3) Hopefully, this is your first ticket. If so, the judge will be more likely to go easier on you than if this a repeat. Simply state this fact, then as reverently as you can… tell the judge that you’d appreciate anything they can do that would minimize your insurance cost (if it is true, add: because your budget is tight). In some states, there are programs that the judge might use, like classes you can take, or special indications that can go on your record that don’t add points, e.g. PJC). Don’t bother asking for those in particular because you might end up getting a worse deal than the judge already had in mind to give you, simply because you asked for it.
4) The key to everything is to be very respectful to the judge, using words like "your honor", and to NOT take an argumentative tone with the judge. (You can calmly and respectfully make a point without arguing.)
5) Learn a lesson from this. Go slower in the future. If not, you’ll get more tickets before you ultimately learn your lesson. Remember to never EVER go more than 3 miles above the speed limit in the city, and no more than 6 miles above the speed limit on the highway. If you do, then it’s very likely you will eventually get another ticket.
Note: Hiring an attorney for a speeding ticket is a waste of money, IMO. It makes it look like you have money to burn on the higher cost of insurance, and judges don’t seem to give out noticeably different judgments to those with attorneys for speeding cases. Not to mention, there’s no special insight that an attorney can offer on a speeding charge. It’s pretty cut and dry. They’ll simply say the same things that you would say yourself without them. If it were something else, like a DWI, then an attorney would be worth their weight in gold.
In this first (and hopefully last) court case, the judge generally won’t ask if you’re waiving your right to an attorney. I may be wrong, but I think that the fact that you didn’t have an attorney present may help give you a reason to appeal if you need to. Only appeal it if the judge sticks you with the original charge, because going 45 in a 25 is enough for you to lose your license altogether. In the unlikely event that the judge made this charge stick, it would be nice if your friend were there to drive you home, since driving without a license will really screw up your license and insurance even worse. If the judge reduces it at all, it’ll probably be the most you can hope for in any court and you probably won’t lose your license. Thank the judge. Before everything is done, ask the judge about anything that you’re unclear about regarding how your license or insurance will be affected.
References :
Got tickets when I was young and watched how the court cases panned out and how my own panned out. I had very good luck with my cases, compared to others.