zexi

I was driving today and got pulled over by a MA state trooper, he said i was doing 89 in a 65 and gave me a $240 ticket . He also pulled the car over behind me. I was not going that fast ! There was a tractor trailer beside me and there is no way he could of got my speed , he probably go the speed of the guy behind me.
The ticket had 2 boxes checked off. Radar & estimated is that a contradiction? I have a clean driving record and I want to fight the ticket. I am however not a MA resident but a RI resident.

Any advice would help ..I am afriad my insurance will go through the roof!

caball88

just plead not guilty and show up for the court date. if the trooper doesn't show(most likely) it will get dismissed. but definitely plead not guilty and give it a try. but if the trooper shows up it's his word against yours and not much you can do after that. sorry to hear your misfortune but if you are going to drive that fast get a radar detector. that 240 would have covered most of the cost.

w1n78

my advice is to check this website out

www.ticketassassin.com

this website is very informative as far as what to do with a ticket. my advice is to fight it no matter what. i was guilty of what i did - left turn on right turn only - but the sign was new so i went to the site and i got a lot of info. found out that 1% of the people fight their tickets and i also found out that most tickets written are using generic code that doesn't really explain what happened so you can fight it just on that basis alone. so it's worth to check it out. i fought mine through the mail and i didn't even show up in court. plus learned a couple of things like your rights as a driver.

w1n78

oops just realized that site is for california only but you can find similar sites for other states.

rifleman-cl

Plead NOT Guilty and find a lawyer to fight it. Ask the lawyer what the fee he charges. If the fee he charges is higher than the ticket, you MIGHT consider paying it. How many points for speeding?? The insurance may NOT find out. One way the insurance will find out, is that you CHANGE insurance carrier.
Anyone please correct me, if I'm wrong......

w1n78

here in california you can get a moving violation ticket every 18 months and if you take traffic school your insurance won't find out but more than 1 in 18 months then you're insurance will find out (if guilty of course) dunno about other states, they may have different laws when it comes to driving

vtechbrain

Say, thank you sir may I have another! Pay and thats it! You essentially have no recourse cheaper than just paying the stupid fine. You missed the opportunity to shoot and run the cop over so now its time to pay the piper!

pianoman41

In MA you cannot plead guilty or not guilty to a speeding citation (you are either responsible or not responsible). It is a civil offense and as such you have no right to a trial. You can appeal it by following the instructions on the back of the citation and requesting a hearing in front of a magistrate.

At the hearing, the trooper who wrote the citation does *not* have to be present--a representative from the police department is sufficient. If, at the conclusion of the hearing, the magistrate finds you responsible, you can appeal the finding to a judge. At this second hearing, the trooper that actually wrote the citation must be present or the citation is dismissed.

As for the radar/estimated boxes, that is filled out correctly. If the trooper is correctly performing speed enforcement, he is supposed to visually estimate your speed and then confirm it with the radar device--hence the radar and estimated boxes checked.

zexi

Thank you ,Pianoman41, Does MA have a good driving record statue ? As I said before I am from RI , in RI you can ask for a violation be dismissed once every 3 yrs based on a clean drivng record.

Thanks for for your imput.

campIIIMAF

Find out what station the trooper is from, go their and ask to set up a meeting. I did this once, and the trooper met me at the local store parking lot. We were both civil in our discussion . . . and he agreed to waive the points.

When you go to court the majistrate will side bar with you and the officer. Be civil their as well and dress accordingly. Believe me, how you present yourself sends a stong message you respect our court system etc . . .

the last thing you want to do is mention Lawyer, or get defensive, simply state what you know to be the facts.

He more than likely will reduce the cost or waive the points or dismiss it alltogether. Remember your driving an Acura TL not a 76 Trans AM so play the part.

Mr Zipps

Call the courts and have them mail you the evidence the cop will be using. If the cop doesnt have you on radar you can fight it. If he has you on radar your hit. Get a good lawyer and maybe he can drop it down to a no point ticket but a higher fine..

Bear2Day

Don`t mess around, get a Lawyer!
Good Luck!

Modeler

The trooper will show up in 99% of cases! Know your facts before giving advice!

pgray007

I'm not 100% sure on MA, but I would recommend fighting the ticket based on my experience in CT. I was pegged for the first and only time (knock on wood) on LIDAR coming downhill on the large bridge over the CT River on I-95 at 85 mph in a 65 for a cool $365.

I sent the ticket back to contest the citation, and CT. has a system of a "pre-trial" with an attorney from the state. They offer you a deal, which you can accept or decline. If you decline you can go to a full trial. The deal offered to everyone was the $365 ticket reduced to $50, the next level down reduced to $25, and the lowest level thrown out. Entire process took about 2 hours (mostly waiting around) and the only interaction with the "authorities" was to tell the attorney that I would take the deal, and cutting a $50 check to the state.

Points were not waived, but since I was out of state, they did not catch up with me.

VTEC=happiness

I agree...here in California, the police are given paid court dates that they show up to. In many (if not all) cases they are given overtime for their time in court.

AirlineMuseum.c

Pretty sure it's like that in most places (except MA, I guess where you don't really go to court initially). Basically a given officer usually has 1 or maybe 2 days a month s/he is supposed to be in court, so s/he writes all tickets and assigns you your court date right here s/he already knows what it will be. Gone are the days of getting off because the officer didn't show up.

One thing I've always wondered is how can they prove that the radar number they claim you created was actually your car? do the radar detectors have built in cameras that capture your license plate for proof, or is just the officer's word? I can see alot of potential abuse in the cases of police departments having ticket writing quotas where each officer must issue x number of tickets per month (to protect from them just sleeping in their car on the side of the road all day, which would be fine by me). Can you imagine a crooked officer legitimately catching one car going 85/65, then using that radar reading to assign to other drivers and move his/her numbers up for the month? Scary...

Hawkeye13

Get a lawyer..I got a ticket in VA (speeding) and with a lawyer and then Trafficschool online, I got the ticket wiped clean. No points, minor fine. However, the cost for the atorney was $300 and the school and fine added another $100. This was still cheaper than $300 x2 for three years as a surcharge from the insurance company

AirlineMuseum.c

Actually for what it's worth, you can usually plea down the charge and get traffic school without a lawyer. I live in VA and got a ticket here and did just that. Just be professional and courteous with the judge, dress well and request traffic school. Depending on the actual charge the judge may wipe it clean pending traffic school completion, or reduce it to a lesser fine.

Modeler

Actually, what you did is pay $400 for absolutelly zero benefit. Insurance companies could care less about the number of points on your VA DMV record. All they care about is how many and what kind of tickets are on your record and those are not wiped out by the traffic school, as you know. I got two tickets in Fairfax County two years ago and did my research and that's what I found out. That's why I decided not to do the traffic school. My insurance rate didn't change at the last two renewals, because my insurance company does not routinely pull up DMV reports at renewals.

The only advantage of taking the school and writing off points is to ensure that you hit the points limit where they suspend your license, which is pretty low in VA.

zexi

What about as clean driving record in one state transfering to getting off for a good driving record in another state?
Can this be pleaded? I got the ticket in MA and I am from RI

Thanks for any help.

Modeler

Since MA judge has no way to look up your RI record, they can't take it into account. Maybe if you went to RI DMV and requested the official record the day before your court date, but I still doubt they would admit it, since these are typically plain-paper printouts that one can easily forge.

Fighting an out-of-state ticket is always difficult, but I suggest you do research on the MA's traffic court system. In Maryland, for example, people with clean record could get "probation before judgement", which means that you pay the fine, but nothing goes on your record.

By the way, I hope you realize that this MA ticket will most likely make it to your RI record because of the Driver's License Portability Compact (or something like that), which is a deal among almost all US states to share information on traffic violations.

Quincy

In New Jersey ALL state troopers use a Video camera. You should find out if thats the case in MA and subpena the film footage which they WILL NOT produce. You can then go to court and say I am innocent and there is a video tape to prove it but they don't want you to see it. Reasonable doubt.

zexi

Any experts on the MA court system?? I really an a good boy no previous tickets tickets .

gbriank

What about deferred adjudication? Here in Texas, you go to the courthouse pay the fine and agree not to speed (or get caught) within the city limits for 90 days. If there are no more tickets, case dismissed and the ticket is dropped. No points lost and no record of the event.

Modeler

That sounds pretty much like the "probation before judgement" in Maryland, but who knows if they have something like that in MA!

NBP04TL4ME

Zexi,

What pianoman41 told you is correct. It may take you two visits to be found "not responsible" When and if you decide to fight the ticket, you will more than likely appear before the Clerk Magistrate along with a Mass State Trooper. The Clerk will ask the Trooper what happened and ask you for your side of the story. Obviously the trooper present wasn't there and can only recount what he has on the ticket and/or a briefing from the trooper that wrote the ticket. You can plead your case here (clean driving record, wasn't speeding, etc...). One common outcome is to have the fine reduced from say $240 to maybe $150 or something like that. The problem with this is that you are still "responsible". I once had the Clerk tell me if I didn't have any other moving infractions in the next 6 months, this would go away, but the ticket was issued by a particular town (easier to keep track of). If you decide, that you want to continue, you will be given a court date and the trooper that wrote the ticket has to show. If he/she doesn't you are off the hook - found "not responsible.
What you need to check/find out is whether or not MA and RI reciprocate on moving violations. I honestly don't know. The other things you need to weigh are missed time from work/school vs. $240 fine and incremental insurance for what period of time if the states do reciprocate. So in theory you could pay the $240 and that would be the end of it - unless you get nailed in MA again. Your record will always exist in MA, unless you are found "not responsible". And even then this will still be there.
Getting a lawyer?? I wouldn't unless it is for a flat fee less than $240.
By the way, are you sure about the $240 only being for speeding? Double check the ticket. I thought it was $50 for the first 10 mph over the limit and then $10 for every 1mph above that. Maybe it has changed - all my ticket experience is from 1993 and before (knock on wood and my Escort 8500)

Hope this helps,

Rob

zexi

Thanks ,NBP04TL4ME.. It not about the $240.00 fine, really its really about what it might do to my insurance rates. Hopefully
somone with a good knowlege of the Law between MA and RI will
give me the information I need to make a decsion on how to proceed.
Thanks you all for your imput ....

Modeler

Unless you switch insurers in the next three years, it may not have any effect on your premiums. Only some insurers pull DMV reports at the renewal time, and only for a random sample of people, since it costs them money. So they may never find out about your ticket.

NBP04TL4ME

Yes and no. If the DMVs between two states reciprocate info then the DMV in your particular state will find out. In MA, if the DMV knows then so does your insurance carrier which means $$. Also as an FYI in MA you carry your moving violations for 6 years, yes that is SIX years. If you have a lot of points on your license and have 3 consecutive years of clean driving they may use a "forgiveness factor" to remove points more quickly. It also works the other way, if you have 6 years of clean driving, you insurance is incrementally decreased/credited.

Modeler

Are you suggesting that there is a mechanism in MA where a DMV report automatically gets sent to insurers periodically? I find it very hard to believe.

HacksawHilliard

Were you alone in the car or was someone with you? If you were alone, then you are screwed. If not, you'd have someone to back up your side of the story.

Modeler

Unless he was driving one of those imaginary cars with a second set of gauges for the passenger, bringing a passenger to the trial is not going to help him.

smoore

I may as well throw in a Canadian perspective.

If you are ultimately found responsible, then the advice about not changing insurers for 3 years is good advice.

Most insurers I work with do not like to pay for a lot of drivers' records for their renewal business. It is costly and usually doesn't result in any change of rates. In fact, some insurers only order abstracts (Canadian term for DMV record) on a select group of their new business.

Now here is the wrinkle. Many insurers use the credit information they obtain when they underwrite your policy to determine whether it is worthwhile ordering an abstract. They have found that people who own their own homes and have good credit records are better insurance risks. In fact the correlation between good credit and insurance risk is quite compelling. So if you have a good credit record, it is less likely that an abstract will be pulled on you.

In Ontario there is no discretion on points and it is usually points that insurers rate on here.

Good Luck.

NBP04TL4ME

Not only am I suggesting it, I know it's true. MA and NY reciprocate. I have a cousin that lives in NY that got nailed in MA and it showed up on his driving record in NY. Again, I don't know if MA reciprocates with all New England state or what, but there is reciprocation between states.

zexi

Is it true even if I go before the magistrate and get the ticket waived that it still will show up on my driving record? I was thinking if I got a sealed copy of my driving record in RI and presented it at the hearing in MA, that they would waive the ticket and let me just pay court costs based on a clean driving record.
Is this just wishful thinking ?

NBP04TL4ME

If you get the ticket waived - i.e. found not responsible, it will stay on file in MA as a 0 point infraction where you were found not responsible. The event will remain on file in MA's database no matter what. The outcome and if they reciprocate with RI are the questions to be answered. You may want to get in touch with either the DMV in RI or MA to see if they reciprocate. Simply ask the question anonymously.
If I were in your shoes, that would be my biggest concern. The $240 is a one time fine, which you more than likely get reduced. It's the surcharge and for what period of time you will have to deal with it.

zexi

Any insurers in MA or RI who may know the law ??

pianoman41

MA does have reciprocity with RI. If you get the citation in MA with a RI license listed on the citation, if you are found responsible the MA RMV wil notify RI of the incident. You should check with your insurance company (or someone else's in RI if you want to remain anonymous) and find out what kind of breaks they have for first time offenders. Here in MA, your first moving violation doesn't add any points to your insurance. If you were supposed to get safe driver credit this year (usually a refund on your insurance premium), you would lose that but you don't have to pay any extra. But again, that's insurance in MA (which is different than every other state in the country).

Also, MA doesn't have anything like "traffic school" where you can get points reduced. The only way to not get points is to contest the citation and be found not responsible. So definitely check with your insurance company first.

pianoman41

It changed. In 1998 they added a $25 surcharge for a Head Trauma and Brain Injury Trust automatically added to each speeding citation. Then in 2003 they upped it to $50. So now it is $50 for the first 10mph, then $10 for every 1mph after that, plus $50.

Which, if you do the math, comes out to $10 for every 1mph over the limit, with a minimum ticket of $100.

NBP04TL4ME

Okay that makes sense. I'm a little out of touch as I (knock on wood) haven't been stopped in quite some time.