Speeding Ticket options..

[CurlyDave]

Go down to the court house and get in the line for paying tickets. Bring the citation with you, they need to know the numbers. Ask the clerk about traffic school.

If you don't have prior tickets this is almost automatic in most places. Some states you can take the traffic school on-line. Some you have to show up in person.

Traffic school keeps the points off, and keeps your insurance rate low.

 

[swick1]

I went to one of my favorite sites and Lifehacker came through again with some very interesting information written by a law student that may help you, especially this section:

You've gotten a ticket, but you still want out:

8. Call the officer at work.

Ask politely if you can arrange a time to meet with the officer to talk to him or her about a ticket you got recently. Usually, officers will readily meet with you, the taxpayer, and this meeting has gotten me out of many tickets.

But, don't go to the meeting and just say, "Will you let me out of this ticket?" You better have a story or some reason to motivate the officer to let you out. That's just up to you, but just be really nice and try to bridge that officer-civilian gap with a personal story and plead for mercy. The more the officer can identify with you, the more likely he is to want to show you mercy.

Remember always, the officer has full authority to drop your ticket, so remember how important he is in this process. Treat him and pursue him as the gatekeeper to your freedom. Don't be scared, though. You have a right to try to talk to the officer. You pay his salary.

9. Write a letter to the officer.

Even if you met with the officer, it can't hurt to write him a letter pleading your case to him. Write it professionally, succinctly, and include complete contact information. I've even gone so far as to offer alternative punishment. Although that alternative wasn't accepted, the officer was pretty surprised at my tenacity, and it motivated him to let me off the hook. He could tell that I really did care about this one ticket.

Make the ticket a bigger deal to you than to him, but you have to carefully do this in a professional, civil way. Anything else, and you're playing with fire.

10. Repeat calls and letters to the judge and/or the prosecutor.

If the officer won't listen to you, feel free to contact the judge that will preside over your case. Also, find out who the prosecuting attorney will be and call him at his office. They are just people, and the worst they can say is "no." You have nothing to lose at this point. Plead your case to either of them, but do not be a pest and be consistently apologetic for the lengths to which you are going to get out of your ticket. You must be sincere, or don't bother going at all.

In steps 8-10, you stand the risk of being labeled a nuisance or a troublemaker. If you get this impression too much, then bail out with apologies. But, do not be afraid to at least try to talk to the officials face-to-face. They are, after all, public servants, and you are that public.

How to beat a speeding ticket (or at least better your chances)

This article should have been titled "How to act like an irresponsible whining teenager that shows no gratitude for having been cut a break." By an irresponsible whining college student who cries when getting a ticket.

The article has advice that probably worked in the author's situation and has been grossly misapplied to the general case. This is why you hire a lawyer. They are trained in multiple techniques to get the charges reduced without pissing off the judge/cop. They should have a professional credibility that they bring to the case and as your advocate they will seem much less whiny even if they tell the judge the same thing you would.

PLEASE don't take this as a personal attack ladytonka. I just disagree with the advice.

 

[Bird]

I went to one of my favorite sites and Lifehacker came through again with some very interesting information written by a law student that may help you, especially this section:

You've gotten a ticket, but you still want out:

8. Call the officer at work.

Ask politely if you can arrange a time to meet with the officer to talk to him or her about a ticket you got recently. Usually, officers will readily meet with you, the taxpayer, and this meeting has gotten me out of many tickets.

But, don't go to the meeting and just say, "Will you let me out of this ticket?" You better have a story or some reason to motivate the officer to let you out. That's just up to you, but just be really nice and try to bridge that officer-civilian gap with a personal story and plead for mercy. The more the officer can identify with you, the more likely he is to want to show you mercy.

Remember always, the officer has full authority to drop your ticket, so remember how important he is in this process. Treat him and pursue him as the gatekeeper to your freedom. Don't be scared, though. You have a right to try to talk to the officer. You pay his salary.

9. Write a letter to the officer.

Even if you met with the officer, it can't hurt to write him a letter pleading your case to him. Write it professionally, succinctly, and include complete contact information. I've even gone so far as to offer alternative punishment. Although that alternative wasn't accepted, the officer was pretty surprised at my tenacity, and it motivated him to let me off the hook. He could tell that I really did care about this one ticket.

Make the ticket a bigger deal to you than to him, but you have to carefully do this in a professional, civil way. Anything else, and you're playing with fire.

10. Repeat calls and letters to the judge and/or the prosecutor.

If the officer won't listen to you, feel free to contact the judge that will preside over your case. Also, find out who the prosecuting attorney will be and call him at his office. They are just people, and the worst they can say is "no." You have nothing to lose at this point. Plead your case to either of them, but do not be a pest and be consistently apologetic for the lengths to which you are going to get out of your ticket. You must be sincere, or don't bother going at all.

In steps 8-10, you stand the risk of being labeled a nuisance or a troublemaker. If you get this impression too much, then bail out with apologies. But, do not be afraid to at least try to talk to the officials face-to-face. They are, after all, public servants, and you are that public.

How to beat a speeding ticket (or at least better your chances)

I not only had nearly 25 years with the Dallas Police Department, but became personally acquainted with police officers from all over this country, as well as many foreign countries, and this has to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen.:laughing: Do you suppose it was written kind of tongue in cheek?

 

[Bird]

Go down to the court house and get in the line for paying tickets. Bring the citation with you, they need to know the numbers. Ask the clerk about traffic school.

If you don't have prior tickets this is almost automatic in most places. Some states you can take the traffic school on-line. Some you have to show up in person.

Traffic school keeps the points off, and keeps your insurance rate low.

You either do that OR consult an attorney with experience in that particular court. Courts are definitely very different in different places.

 

[thatguy]

You say no ticket before, but you already have points, so that is a little confusing. You should be able to do traffic school and not get the points. A traffic lawyer may be able to advise you on that.

I have 5 POSITIVE points, which is the max you can accrue in VA..

Brian

 

[thatguy]

thanks everyone.. Weighing my options..

Brian

 

[300UGUY]

Hire a lawyer or pay up. I know here, a cop has to account for every ticket in his book. He cannot alter it or dismiss it once issued. The ticket gets recorded immediately these days, electronically.

 

[phiferpharm]

I have 5 POSITIVE points, which is the max you can accrue in VA..

Brian

Gotcha, didn't know about those. We have a listing of Safe Driver on our licenses in Florida, but I don't know if they are associated with a points system. I do know about the Traffic School option here - my SIL is a LEO and he had my daughter do that after she got a ticket in a neighboring jurisdiction. No points, did it online, and no hit on their insurance.

 

[TripleR]

My son was a Police Officer in Missouri up until a couple of years ago and the protocol was as per creekbend, tickets once written could not be voided by the Officer. There is a mechanism to follow to attend traffic school so no points will be assessed.

I got a ticket about twenty years ago and since I was in fact speeding, I just paid the ticket and will do the same if I get another.

 

[PossumHound]

Insurance companies being what they are, it is important to avoid any points on your license that you can. Hire a lawyer; it's worth a hundred bucks to prevent accumulating those points and paying more for insurance for 3 years. Here in NC, for a simple violation like this, you can get a lawyer to handle this for $100 and get the charges reduced to improper equipment or dismissed entirely. Unless the charges are completely dismissed you will still have to pay court costs/fines, but you won't have that bump in insurance premiums for the next 3 years.

PH