Hi,

I have not been around in a long time but just wanted some input real quick.

I'll try and keep this short...
6:15AM this morning, local road going to work. Two lane road (not a highway) going down into one lane. A F250 with a trailor full of lawn equipment pulls out in front of me (not cutting me off) but i either needed to break or speed up to get around him so i wasn't following him with crap falling off his trailor. So of course (being in a hurry to just sit in SR 95 traffic ) i speed up to just go around him. There was plenty of time, i used my signals and passed him and just started coasting towards the light. I see cop lights in the distance and i start to pull over to get out of his way, and he pulls me behind. I never saw the cop at all because my windows were still a little foggy from the morning. Asks for my info and says nothing else. I give him my info and comes back with a ticket and says do you know why i pulled you over and i simply replied yes to which he says you were doing 55 MPH in a 35 MPH, hands me the ticket and walks away quickly (nothing else was exchanged). The is $160 (not bad for 20 MPH over so i'm not complaining) and it shows .037 miles timed at 2.41 seconds. Which does work out to 55 MPH, 55.24 i think actually. I'm assuming he used a speed trap because it says under "speed timing device operator" it hass his badge number and a equip. serial # of BT151. Not sure what that is.

Anyway, I know i probably should have just used my brakes instead of passing him, but i think a lot of people would have done the same that early in the morning. So my question is, do i even try to fight it? I would like to "plead guilty with explanation" but that is not an option on the ticket. I basically just want to get rid of the 4 points that are associated with the ticket. I will pay the fine, i'd even pay more just to get no points. I got a ticket about 3 years ago so i have no point on my record now.

I'm totally fine just manning up and paying the ticket and taking the points, but obviously i would just like to try and get the points taken off or reduce the speed or the like.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

In Houston, you can pay the associated court fees and then ask for defensive driving. Taking this route, ensures that it won't be on your record.
You can only take the defensive driving once per year for only one ticket.
Call the court house and see if you can take this route.

 

When you overtake someone, you are suppose to back to the designated speed after overtaking. So I dont think pleading guilty with explanation would work if you can go that route. If you got in the speed trap during the overtaking I guess you can say thats the reason why your speed was high, and that you were going to slow down. You have a pretty clean record with you it looks like so they might be lenient. I dont really know, I have yet to get a ticket

 

I'm in PA and i think i remember asking before and PennDOT does not offer this but can a local township accept stuff like that? I would think it would depend on the state, right?

 

Judge would chew you out if you explained your excuse for speeding up.

Better off pleading guilty and asking for defensive driving/supervision if your state allows it. Sounds like you dont get tickets often so theres a good chance they will give it to you.

 

Call the number on the back of the ticket and ask.

 

Yea i gotta agree with crazy, you don't have much of a case. I don't know for sure but I doubt it is legal to break the speed limit in order to pass, especially twenty over. Do the driving course to get the points dropped.

Oh, fuck the police

 

I was not planning on telling the judge i sped up to pass him because of crap falling off his truck....lol. I was just planning on saying that "yes, i did in fact speed up to pass the lanscaping crew and the cop must have got me at my highest point of speed prior to me slowing back and maintaining the speed limit." Something along those lines and i will try and call the court for defensive driving (might actually be good to know depending on how the course is laid out).

Edit: I have only ever gotten two tickets that had points associated with them. I have gotten off of two other tickets (both minor anyway) and that is it in 10 years of driving. My last ticket story might actually be on here because the cop was a A$$hole, literally!

 

Guilty, my .
Call and ask, and if no defensive driving course is available for your state, chalk it up. Lesson learned. Don't pass someone while exceeding the posted speed limit.

 

No phone number on the back of the ticket, just a magestrial district court number. I looked it up and called it and the woman told me they have nothing to do with defensive driving and to call PennDOT. I did that 3-4 years ago and like i said, they did not offer it in the state of PA. I assume that has not changed. She also said court dates are being schedule for the end of June beginning of July. That would at least push the ticket far enough away from my insurance renewal, which is suppose to be in like 2 weeks.

 

Yea, I know and I'm not denying it. I guess I just wanted to see opinions on if i admit that in court would they waive points or lower the sitation to something else.

Could they in fact raise the amount of the citation while keeping the points/speeds on the ticket the same? Meaning, if they think I am asking for too much and wasting their time, they could raise/adjust it?

 

^sometimes my ins company will check my driving records before or after the renewal. If they see something they don't like....rate hike.
Have fun in court!

 

I always plea not guilty. Cop sometimes doesn't even remember who you are and lets you go. Sometime they don't even show up, which means you are let off. If those don't happen they usually reduce the ticket somehow. As long as you're willing to spend the day in court.

Just make sure you don't ask for a supporting dep.

 

^^ My last ticket did not cause any increases because they stated it was my first one. I kind of hope they have the same policy on maybe 1 per 3-5 years....lol. I'm just not going to say anything and if they see it later on...oh well.

 

Supporting Dep?

 

if you dont mind paying more then lawyer up.

 

yea, do you see the option to request a supporting deposition? Maybe your state doesn't do this.

If so, don't do it. It means the cop has to write a report of what happened that day. If you request it and they fail to write it, you are let off. The problem is it pisses them off and makes them do more work, increasing their chances of remembering and disliking you.

 

You don't need a lawyer for a speeding ticket

They probably deal with hundreds a week. They just want your money. Plead not guilty, wait your turn and pay the reduced fine. They don't care about you or what happened. They just want the fine.

 

OP: You admitted guilt in this thread AND to the cop when he pulled you over.

Pay the ticket.

 

And I fully plan on paying the ticket. All I want to present to the court is that I am "here to respectfully request that the points be reduced or dismissed based on a good driving record etc." Maybe??

 

And that is fine, I will totally pay it. Heck, i'll donate $100 to their DARE fund if they want it and will drop the points. (i would not ever bribe them though, hah)

 

^case by case.
Here, we don't even see a judge for traffic violations....just see the clerk, pay, and leave.
When I'm visiting with the clerk, I ask if I can take Defensive driving.
She checks my records and if everything is good, pay the lady and I'm on my way. In Houston, I believe that's the only way to not get that ticket on your record.

 

passing is only allowed for cars going UNDER the limit. EI: you speed up to the limit to pass someone who is going slowr.

your excuse is void.

however, show up and speak to the prosecutor. explain that you would like to keep points off your record and dont mind paying the fine. he may drop the points and u keep the fine.

ill take that any day of the week.

 

he said he wants to reduce his pts. even if you're guilty a good lawyer can help reduce it.

 

That's a really uneducated thing to say. Fact of the matter is even when passing/overtaking someone you're never allowed to exceed the posted speed limit, and claiming anything other wise will do nothing but get the judge to decide you're guilty for admitting to speeding.

 

I laugh at people that hire lawyers for speeding tickets. It's a speeding ticket, you're not committing a felony. Just show up, talk to the cop, get it reduced and go home. If the cop isn't going to reason with you, the one present that day/night, then he isn't going to reason with the attorney either. In most cases, the only thing attorney might be able to help with is if he knows the system, i.e.- the judge or the cops.

I've been given 4 tickets in my life, I had all of them reduced to non-moving violations except one. That one was when I asked the cop to provide a supporting deposition, she didn't like that.

 

+1

The one time expense of hiring a lawyer is better than a long term (sometime as long as 7 years depending on state laws) insurance hike.

I have had more tickets than anyone I know (fuck, ever even heard of, maybe 20 or so). I have a perfectly clean driving record with no penalties on my insurance. I have got every single one since my early 20's either plea bargained to a non-moving violation or received probation with expungement upon completion. I once had two concurrent probations in the same legal jurisdiction--try THAT without a lawyer.

The way I look at it is that a traffic ticket is a legal problem--why would you not hire a lawyer?

 

Its also about the time. I would rather take the time to fax in my ticket, call with a CC and forget about it for $100 than take a half day off work to go to court. The vacation time is way more valuable to me than the lawyer's fees. And I have had a 100% success rate with a lawyer.

 

They don't do probation with expungement (aka deferred adjudication) there? That is all I have ever had here in DFW.

 

Sorry, I used the wrong words there.
yes, deferred adjudication is possible, but its more of a hassle then to pay the fine and take the defensive driving to get the points removed.
at least, in my eyes it is.

 

Do defensive driving online

 

I think I'm going to just plead not guilty on the ticket, send it and schedule a court date, be honest in court (if i can't bargain with the cop prior) and just see what happens. Worst case, I'm out a few extra bucks and still end up with the ticket and points which is what i would have if i don't fight it anyway. I guess i'll just hope the cop doesn't show up or wants me to just pay the fine. My neighbor said almost all of the tickets he's got in our township get dropped, reduced or thrown out so i'll give it a try.

 

Two years ago while driving on I-95 I received a speeding ticket trying to get away from a garbage hauler truck. I tried explaining why I was doing that-the state trooper said they understood but that did not give me a good enough reason to exceed the speed limit. I pleading not quilty-had to take a defensive driving class-so no points- good luck. It was my first and hopefully last speeding ticket Oh yes I ended up with a cracked windshield thanks to the truck

 

Yea, but he doesn't have all those problems, he just has a speeding ticket. What do you think a lawyer does? He talks to the cop and says "Can you lower this thing down?"

You can do the same thing, you just have a lawyer who makes you think he is working magic in the court room while you sit at work.

 

But that's the point, I am sitting at work not taking vacation time. Four hours of vacation time are worth way, way more than a $100 lawyer fee. I figure vacation time is worth at least double what I nominally make per hour. I would gladly take a 4% pay cut for another week of paid vacation.

And like I said, I have 100% success rate over a lot of tickets. Going to court is just not worth the hassle over a measly $100 (some here in DFW even charge less than that). Even if going to court was an acceptable excuse for absence (not anywhere I have ever worked), then it still is several hours of life down the tubes.

 

ok, fair enough, but that's a specific purpose and may not apply to him; we don't even know if he has a job. The generic "get a lawyer" shouldn't be so widely advised in most cases because the assumption is that he may need one to get him out of or reduce the ticket. That is not always the case.

 

I'm a Project Civil Engineer and can pretty easily take the time I need whether it be for vacation or just work a longer day the day before or after to make up the time (assuming I do not a project meeting, which probably would be the case....lol). So from that aspect, it should not be a problem. I would much rather try to talk to the cop myself then hire a lawyer to do it. I know not everyone thinks like I do, but I much rather have the person I gave a ticket to come up and be respectful (assuming he/she was during the traffic stop) then him send a lawyer (maybe that is just me trying to subconsciencly prove it to myself but, you get my point)

 

if you are speeding at any time, even to overtake and you are caught speeding, you are guilty. plead not guilty and plead to a lesser charge in court.

go to court by yourself, you don't need a lawyer for this. They may give you a "not obeying traffic signs" ticket

 

I didnt read all of the responses but if you want to save yourself a court appearance, and dont mind a little extra cash in exchange for less points hire a lawyer. They will appear on your behalf and in all likeliness get some or all of the points knocked off.

 

Pretty sure if you get a lawyer you still have to show up to court.