Hey guys, got a speeding ticket today going home from work in Exit 32 on the LIE on the service road. I had to drop off my coworker off (carpooling) and I got caught by laser doing 49 on a 30mph zone. This happen in Douglaston area if anyone is familiar. Anyway, I admit that I was doing that speed, didn't feel like I was doing that fast in the TLS. Anyway, now the question is should I plead not guilty or just pay the fine? It is a $170 fine and 4 pts since it is 19 over. My record is pretty clean and from my work schedule, I am not sure I have time to stay in the court all day to find out that they won't reduce the points and pay more for court fees. Advice please! Thanks.

 

Okay this is what i'd do go ahead send in the check. the reason i say this is 9 times out of 10 the judge sides with the cop(if he or she appears). even if they don't in the state of Ohio all they gotta do is give a "written statement" of what happened. so trying to fight a traffic ticket unless you got some kind of amazing evidence(like this cop know of nailing people for 1 or 2 mph over). sorry to be the person of bad news. but if i was you slow down and ask for some Overtime.

 

do a trial by written declaration... Ive won twice using this method in California. I used:
-basic speed law
-radar evidence admission (it has to do with the officer having the documentation to use radar)
-radar spread

You're gonna need to dig into your states' vehicle codes to see what you can use though. It all depends on weather/road/visibility/traffic conditions, etc. If you lose there is also trial de novo (sp?) which gives you a chance to ask the judge for a lesser punishment.

Good luck.

 

Plead not guilty for sure and go to court

I know the area, I've gotten a ticket once on that LIE service road and its a joke because I though the limit was 40+ because the road right off of it is 40, for some reason they consider it part of the little private villages so the limit is 30

The thing is all the small private villages in long island have their own little members court, and all they really care about is money. I plead not guilty to a 52 in the 30, went to court and the judge dropped the ticket/points off my record as long as you pay the fine. They do it for everyone as long as you go down there, everyone got a reduced fine/violation while I was there

 

Wow. That's a cheap fine for 19 over.

 

Plea not guilty and see if you can have it reduced when you go to court.

Good luck. At least you're not blaming the cops for catching you. We get those all the time over here.

 

i think it wouldn't hurt to plead for less points.

 

Thanks for all your inputs guys! I think I will go to court and get the reduce ticket. I only lived in NYC for a little over 2 years and I have been very careful not to speed. And it is true that when I exit the speed limit is 40 and the next block down it was 30mph so it is definitely a speed trap. I am not going to argue because I was doing 49, but I was unprepare when the cop said I was doing 19 over.

 

trust me all those local village courts in LI just want money, hes not even gonna ask you anything.. they have a guy before the judge who has your file for the court date, he will tell you what you can plea down to and then you wait for the judge to finalize it

BTW you're probably looking at a year before you even get your court day after you send in your not guilty plea, since those small courts let everyone plea down... EVERY ticket is contested so they're really backed up

 

I got busted for 21 over and my fine was $160, with only 2 points (which I got removed by going to court - first offense)

 

Yeah this is pretty much right, just go in and tell the judge that you're very sorry, you've got a clean record, just weren't watching your speed, etc... dress well and be very polite. They almost always reduce it at least a little bit if you go in. (although I think it helped to have someone who got caught going 80 in a 35 go right before me, who used the excuse that his car has a big spoiler and he couldn't see the cop behind him )

 

I agree ^^ it works. I have a friend who has had 8 tickets in three years and is still has his license at the moment, he is going to lose it on the last two hopefully. He has had a 39 over reduced to 15, a 20 over reduced to 8 and a 15 reduced to common speeding (5-6). He doesn't even have a clean record and they reduce it for him. In the last month he was caught going 24 over and got a careless driving, so hopefully they will finally take him off the road. Some people just don't learn.

I hope you learn from your mistake.