Have you ever fought a speeding ticket in court?
Please leave comments if you have been successful.
Submitted 142 days ago by kronbons
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| Yes, and successfully got the charge dropped. | |
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| 30 votes 13% | |
| Yes, successfully, and the amount was reduced. | |
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| 28 votes 12% | |
| Yes, I was not successful. | |
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| 14 votes 6% | |
| Never tried it. | |
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| 168 votes 70% | |
I heard of one successful case (in a traffic school, no less). The guy with the ticket was a lawyer, and got the man on the helicopter to admit that he couldn't swear that he never took his eyes of the lawyers vehicle during the 5 minutes of the chase.
Lesson I took from that one: hire a good lawyer!
Definitely, hire a good lawyer! It will probably cost more in the short run, but much less in the long run when you don't get the points that will make your insurance go up.
I've won two and lost one.
any details?
I lost my very first one - paid out a couple of moving violations. I've learned to talk my way out of them. Helps if you're carrying a sex swing in the car, tucked behind the driver's seat. Cops always peer into your car as they approach - it's the last thing he sees before he sees me. Never fails - a combination of surprise and confusion. Love that expression on a cop's face!
So sorry - had to edit because I actually had something to SAY about the court thing. (lol) A lot of times the cop doesn't show up to court. If the cop fails to appear, then the ticket is dismissed. The cop sets the court date when he issues the ticket - they're usually assigned a day for court, all tickets issued that day, he assigns the same court date and appears that day. If you go to court and ask for a continuance (don't go to court the day of your ticket - call or visit the court clerk BEFORE the date and tell them you're having trouble contacting your attorney, ask for a continuance). The court clerk most often assigns a random date - and that date, most likely, will NOT be the cop's day for court appearances. He'll be back out on the street. Check the date to see if it's the same week day, or see if you can get heard in a different court.
WARNING ... except in California, where they pay the police to show up regardless (according to the traffic school guys there).
Interesting thing they do here in Orange Cty, NY...if you get ticketed by the locals for speeding in, say, Sloatsburg, you plead not guilty and go into court. There they would most often plead you out to a no point misdemeanor like "no seatbelt". I have been told the reason they do this is if a guilty plea is submitted for speeding, the state receives the money, but if the plea is for "no seatbelt" the local town gets to keep it.
Thanks buddy. Good response, is much appreciated. I'm planning on asking for a continuance, based on my need to leave the country for a trip I have been planning for some time. Do you think that is an acceptable reason for a continuance?
I have never been stopped for speeding when I wasn't. When I was I was guilty and Paid the Piper.
Got a speeder form the California CHP outside of Indio in a rental that wouldn't do what they said it did downhill with a tailwind. Drove it to Phoenix (where I had rented it) and took it to the place where the Arizona HP gets their speedometers tested and calibrated. Told the guy, he hated the CHP, got back a test result saying that the entire drive train would have to be replaced to correct the speedo error. Hired a lawyer in Indio who said I didn't have a chance, I had been doing almost 35 or 40miles over the posted (55 mph) limit. Told him about the test, sent him the results. He appeared for me, I got traffic school and no fine.
The only other ticket I ever got, a fully justified speeder, i threw myself on the mercy of the court. Got a teeny fine and a year's summary probation (it's off your record if you don't do anything else in that year, otherwise directly to jail, do not pass go, no stop in court.)