Fight those speeding tickets guys!! Fought mine today and won!

[Guest bastaad525]

For anyone who remembers me posting a few months back that I got nailed for speeding (60ish in a 40 zone) and having no seatbelts in the car (total for both citations was $417), just wanted to update and let everyone know that I went to court this morning and sure enough, the issuing officer didn't show up so the whole thing was dismissed !

 

I had done a lot of reading on the 'net and seen claims like 50-60% of officers will not show up if you contest the ticket, well I can tell you first hand that this seems to be true. I was in the courtroom with roughly 25 other 'cases', and all the issuing officers sit on one side of the courtroom, and out of those 25 or so cases there were only 7 or 8 officers there to fight them... 1/3.

 

And I can tell you this as well, all except for one the officers were CHP officers... only one street cop was there, and wouldn't you know it, his contestee was a no show... heh.

 

The judge kinda gave me a funny look as he looked thru my case before dismissing me... I'd have been pissed... I mean even the seatbelt ticket got thrown out and I wasn't even going to contest that.

 

Ah well... $400 back in my pocket, no points on my license, no need for traffic school and no increase in my insurance fees... a worthwile trade for about an hour sitting in a courtroom.

 

So fight those tickets guys, the 'rumors' on the net seem to be true... you got at least a good 50/50 chance your officer won't show and you're case will be dismissed.

[rudypoochris]

$417 for a 60 in a 40 omg, that is ALOT of money for not that much speed.

[Guest bastaad525]

$417 for a 60 in a 40 omg, that is ALOT of money for not that much speed.

 

tell me about it I about had a coronary when I called in to see what the fine was... friggin rediculous. Well keep in mind that's the speeding AND the seatbelt, but the seatbelt alone was about $80 (another coronary right there) so only $300 ish for the speeding.

 

But yeah, the last time I got a speeding ticket was about 7 years ago, same deal about 60 in a 40 zone, and the ticket was only like $130 or $150. Dunno what the hell happened since then but it's just retarded.

[Mikelly]

Carefull on that assumption... I showed up for my reckless driving ticket back last April and there were about 30-33 people in the court room who were charged, and only about 5 officers. Wouldn't you know that the pri... er' Officer that cited me had written about 15 of those tickets?

 

Mine was reduced, although I was guilty of excessive speed and loss of traction. You should always show up, and always plead not guilty. The judge can't dismiss jack if you admit guilt.

 

Mike

[Cruez]

Here, when the highway patrol gives out their party invites, they issue them all for the same day so they come once a month..... The SHP rarely misses a court date around here.

[Jersey]

Congrats 525. Now i wonder what you could spend that "extra" $400 on... hmmm...

[Guest bastaad525]

nothin on my Z dude! heheh...

 

seriously it will probably go to paying off my credit card. I sorta took a loan out from myself for myself, to put the down payment on my SRT-4. The deal was I was going to use the money from selling my Z and Sentra SE-R to make my down payment, but needed to do it in a way where I wasn't stuck w/o a car or between cars. So I used the card to put my down and THOUGHT I'd have the Z sold quickly to pay myself back. Oddly, the Sentra sold in two days at my asking price, but I'm still sitting on the Z... wtf?? So I've been making large payments on my card and any extra money goes to that.

 

If it weren't going to that though it'd be going to a new exhaust for the SRT

 

Woulda been nice if they would instantly refund the money then I coulda used it for Xmas

 

At this rate though I think it will show up right along side my tax refund and also my end of year extra checks I get from my job for all my unused sick and vacation days so will just add to an overall nice sum of extra cash... I dunno I might put it into getting the wife a new (or newER) car or something like that....

[David K]

Congrats on getting the ticket dropped, but i still believe a 60 in a 40 deserves some kind of punishment regardless if a cop shows up or not. People usually dont become a safer driver until the book has been thrown at them.

[Mikelly]

David, You need to have been involved in his original thread to understand that the cops botched the tickets and the speed. They wrote two different speed limits in the separate tickets, and the speeding ticket was grossely incorrect in identifying the zone as a 40MPH zone, where the seatbelt ticket identified the zone properly as a 45MPH zone. So Bastaad wasn't doing 20MPH over. The tickets would have been hard for the officers to defend, based on the inaccuracies between the two tickets. The matter was complicated further by the fact that two different officers worked the same traffic stop, writting two different citations with conflicting data on them.

 

Mike

[David K]

My apologies. Im glad someone didnt get screwed by the system again. Man i gotta read the non tech more often. Wheres that icon of the guy being slapped across the face?

[Eric]

pulled from Club-s12.org:

 

there are 3 questions u should always ask a cop when he or she clocks you speeding with a radar gun. it might get it dismissed. it worked for my friend.

1. is the cop that operated the radar gun licensed to use it, only 30 percent of cops are permitted to use em.

2. has the radar gun been tested in the last 30 days to see if it functions properly

3.last but not least, does the police officer have a print out of your speed at the time of clocking.

i am not sure what one my friend used but it worked. his father is an attoney and he advised us of these rules. these are for califonia, i am not sure it it is like that in other states.

 

and wait till the court date to do these. you don't want to piss the cop off while you'r getting written up.

[Cruez]

David' date=' You need to have been involved in his original thread to understand that the cops botched the tickets and the speed. They wrote two different speed limits in the separate tickets, and the speeding ticket was grossely incorrect in identifying the zone as a 40MPH zone, where the seatbelt ticket identified the zone properly as a 45MPH zone. So Bastaad wasn't doing 20MPH over. The tickets would have been hard for the officers to defend, based on the inaccuracies between the two tickets. The matter was complicated further by the fact that two different officers worked the same traffic stop, writting two different citations with conflicting data on them.

 

Mike[/quote']

 

I got nailed like that a couple years ago.... got me for 47 in a 35... but it was actually in a 45 zone... still got nailed with it...

[Mikelly]

Eric, That advice is state specific. In Virginia there is a much higher percerntile of officers licensed in multiple Lazer and Radar equipment types. Also, Virginia officers aren't required to even show you the locked on display on the radar gun. They are considered trusted agents of the court and their word is all is required.

 

However, Asking all those questions in the form of motion for discovery will get you all sorts of valid info, like the fact that the radar equipment might not have been recalibrated within the required amount of time, or the officer may not have been recertified within the required amount of time. All this can go a long way towards fighting tickets. Bottom line is you do not know until you try. Are there horror stories out there about people getting thrown in jail over simple speeding? Sure there are stories, but I've never met someone who actually was, and tend to toss those stories into the "Urban Legend" files.

 

I've had States Attorneys (commonwealth Attorneys in Virginia) tell me unofficially (And remember, most of my education and a large chunk of my early career was in law enforcement in Virginia) that the absolute worst thing you can do when fighting auto related tickets is NOTHING. If you plead guilty in most states, Case closed. Pay the fine, it gets reported to the state insurance board and goes in the national DB and your rates eventually go up. You collect points on your license and then things get expensive. I've also had these same attorneys tell me that unless injury is involved, DUI or gross negligence in the form of excessive speed (We're talking 30MPH over) then you really shouldn't bother with an attorney unless you look the part of a criminal eliment, or come across as an absolute dullard.

 

As I stated to Bastaad when this whole thing started, If you can represent yourself in an intelligent manor, speak without any street slang, and without any negative attitude coming through in your tone or body language, and can speak without letting emotion get in the way, You don't need an attorney who has been educated in speaking intelligently without street slang or negative tones or body language. Why pay someone an exorbitant amount of money for something you can do yourself. In traffic court cases what is at stake is points, money and insurance rate increases (More money), not incarceration. Do your homework (As Bastaad did) and take pictures for documentation, and make sure what you are going to say is plausible and believable. Look the judge in the eyes, and make sure to be 110% respectful to both he and the officer who is an extension if his court. Make sure that what you were charged with is in fact charge-able in the conditions described in the ticket. Often times the office may claim "in appropriate given weather conditions". That is a judgement call and speculative in the least. You stand a great chance at having charges reduced that have speculation built into them. Being charged with speeding after being paced is one such offense.

 

You should always seek advice, but know that if you're guilty, and truly guilty in a charge, and that there is no extenuating circumstance, that you may just have to pay the piper. And make no bones about it, Officers not showing up for court is more and more an Urban Legend. They schedule court dates on OFF DUTY days in Virginia so the officer can collect overtime. There is a great deal of incentive to show up in court. If an officer doesn't make his own court dates, then he gets reprimanded.

 

Bottom line is we're all human and we all make mistakes. Officers do to. So do judges. We all have bad days. The difference is when we have a bad day, we either get caught or don't. If we get caught, it can cost us money. If they have a bad day, it costs us money. Do your homework, and clean up, get a hair cut, dress respectably and leave the emotion and attitude at home. If you can do that, you have better than 50% chance of getting it reduced or thrown out.

 

In my most recent case, I was cited for reckless driving because I took off aggressively from a stop light, made a left hand turn at the stop light, and then proceeded to break traction, spinning tires for an unspecified distance at the 1st to 2nd gear shift. There was a recent snow storm, and lots of sand/ chemical melt stuff was on the ground and in the roadway. That was my out. I explained to the judge that I was indeed having a bad day, and that I was sick and had been to the Dr. (*All true and I had the Dr. note for work that I provided). The officer was clearly out to get me. He made it a point to tell the judge that I was in a Chevy Corvette. The judge asked what I was doing out in such a car (*Ah, possibly a car guy!) in such conditions... I produced the inspection slip and receipt for my TRUCK, that was being inspected that very day. I explained that I was having trouble with the car (I had been... Shifter wasn't adjusted properly, and the thing would kick out of first gear in the middle of pulling out from a stop), and explained the trouble, and then explained how the car lost traction. I told the judge that I hit the chemical on the roadway and the car spun. I waited for TCS to kick in, but it spun for a distance before the car finally caught traction. In my case, I told the judge that I certainly wasn't guilty of reckless driving. Maybe stupidity, may something improper, but certainly not reckless.

 

In Virginia a reckless driving conviction can get you dropped from your insurance company. It was imperative to get the ticket reduced. My explanation of the circumstances certainly gave cause for the judge to take into account the extenuating circumstances. The weather, the malfunctioning car, and my poor health at the time all conspired to aid in giving the judge cause for reduction or dismissing the charges all together. For me, it worked. It has also worked repeatedly over the last 23 years as I've never been convicted of any reckless driving ticket, and believe me, there have been a number of "doozies".

 

Fight them!

Mike

[2003z]

you should still go to court, even if you don't have a defense. We have twice now (once me, once my wife), asked the solicitor to reduce the amount of the ticket so it wouldn't hurt insurance. I got mine dropped from a 79/55 to a 69/55, $100 fine and the city wouldn't report it to the state. She got hers dropped down 1 mph, but enough to do the same as mine.

[JMortensen]

Last time I was in traffic court (about 10 years ago) I sat next to this pretty girl in a nice dress and she told me that she was fighting her 8th ticket in 2 years. She told me that she hadn't had a point on her record yet. When they called her she told the judge that the rise in insurance would be a financial burden on her. The judge removed the whole thing entirely. Her advice was similar to 2003z's: Dress nice, be courteous. Ask for leniency. It works for cute girls and 2003z anyway.

[Gollum]

Darn, if only I was born a cute girl...

 

...with a passion for cars, guitars, music, computers, and hacking...

 

On second though, I think I'll be happy with my current persona.

 

Good job on the case bastaad!

[Pop N Wood]

Isn't the constitution great!!!

 

I have gotten out of probably 3/4 of the tickets I have every gotten when the cop didn't show. It even works for parking tickets.