What do you think my chances are of contesting a speeding ticket and winning in court?
Written by admin on May 29, 2009 – 11:13 am
Green Eyes asked:
On 1/25/08 at 8:15 PM. I was going East and the State Cop was going West, then made a U turn to pull me over. He said he clocked me at 65 in a 45 mile zone, but I told him I was going 60 (I know because I had my cruise control set for 60). He gave me a break and put me at 55 so that I could pay $85 by mail (which I can handle) but I am concerned about my Auto Insurance going up since now I have a new speeding record. I am a 59 year old respectable woman and the last time I was pulled over for speeding in the same state was 2/10/06 and before that, 11/22/02. I didn’t give him any lip, but geez I was going to be late for work. I travel 84 miles a day (round trip) to work 5 days a week and I happened to be running late because of a neighbors stressful (the State took her 3 children into custody) phone call and she was crying her eyes out! I hated to hang up on her so ubruptly, so I had to make up for it with speeding. I work at a casino and they are very strict about tardiness!
No, kencab, I didn’t ramble on. I only told him that I thought I was going 60. I rambled on to Yahoo Answers to give you all the information you would need to help me make a decision in whether or not I might stand a chance if I appealed it in court hoping that the Cop won’t show up, but thanks for your answer anyway, it’s appreciated.
Thank you Marc X, I appreciate your expertise and constructive criticism, and thanks to everyone for your help.
Okay guys listen up! I’m not looking for a “Free Ride”! I said “I have no problem paying the ticket”. I was just concerned about it going against my insurance. I wondered if it was possible to pay the ticket in court but having the judge squash it after I pay so my insurance doesn’t go up again!
On 1/25/08 at 8:15 PM. I was going East and the State Cop was going West, then made a U turn to pull me over. He said he clocked me at 65 in a 45 mile zone, but I told him I was going 60 (I know because I had my cruise control set for 60). He gave me a break and put me at 55 so that I could pay $85 by mail (which I can handle) but I am concerned about my Auto Insurance going up since now I have a new speeding record. I am a 59 year old respectable woman and the last time I was pulled over for speeding in the same state was 2/10/06 and before that, 11/22/02. I didn’t give him any lip, but geez I was going to be late for work. I travel 84 miles a day (round trip) to work 5 days a week and I happened to be running late because of a neighbors stressful (the State took her 3 children into custody) phone call and she was crying her eyes out! I hated to hang up on her so ubruptly, so I had to make up for it with speeding. I work at a casino and they are very strict about tardiness!
No, kencab, I didn’t ramble on. I only told him that I thought I was going 60. I rambled on to Yahoo Answers to give you all the information you would need to help me make a decision in whether or not I might stand a chance if I appealed it in court hoping that the Cop won’t show up, but thanks for your answer anyway, it’s appreciated.
Thank you Marc X, I appreciate your expertise and constructive criticism, and thanks to everyone for your help.
Okay guys listen up! I’m not looking for a “Free Ride”! I said “I have no problem paying the ticket”. I was just concerned about it going against my insurance. I wondered if it was possible to pay the ticket in court but having the judge squash it after I pay so my insurance doesn’t go up again!
Other posts
Posted under Law Enforcement & Police |
Subscribe to my blog using RSS
May 30th, 2009 at 10:52 am
If the cop doesn’t attend your court date, you pretty much won.
May 31st, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Fight it but you won’t win.
June 2nd, 2009 at 3:24 am
It never hurts to go to traffic court.Often then officer doesn’t show up for court and the ticket is dismissed.If you can work it into your schedule I would definitely try to go.
June 3rd, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Considering that you admitted you were speeding (which is admissible at trial) and the fact that your were clocked by, presumably, a calibrated measuring device by a person who was trained how to use it properly, slim to none and slim left town.
June 5th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
So,
You were going 60 mph in a 45 mph zone and he gave you a ticket for going 55 mph. What is there to fight?
June 6th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
You admitted to doing 60 in a 45. thats a confession. Never admit anything to a cop standing at your window. cooperate but never never give them anything. I would put your chances of sucsessfully winning your case at zero. you started off by asking if you could beat a ticket in court, and ended up telling us all about work and the neighbors problems. the bottom line is you volunteer too much information. you probably rambled on with the cop too.
June 10th, 2009 at 3:24 am
Would being late for work be just cause for causing an accident that took a life?
You WERE speeding…PAY the fine.
June 11th, 2009 at 3:30 am
How much experience have you had in court? If the answer is none, you’re pretty much out of luck. You don’t tackle Mt Everest on your first day of rock climbing. You don’t take on Tiger Woods for your first golf game. You don’t start out in a 747 for your first solo flight. Get my drift? You wanna win in court, you have to learn how to play the game. You don’t just wander in and get lucky.
If you genuinely were not speeding, you might have a basis. But in your case, you can’t even argue the case since you don’t have an issue with speeding, only with getting ticketed for it. Again, if you’re going to routinely break the law, don’t just go blythely through life doing it. Use some planning, some thought, some strategy to avoid getting caught. That will also help in establishing a basis for fighting such a ticket in court.
Because now you’re going to need some strategy to pick apart the cop’s testimony and you didn’t even try to establish that back at the beginning. Short answer? Your chances suck.
For your insurance, you had two tickets within 5 years. One has dropped off, for insurance purposes, now and you’ll be picking up another one, so you’ll be back to two. Your worst problem is not insurance going up, but having to wait longer for it to go down.
June 12th, 2009 at 4:03 am
Although I do not believe it is documented; I really believe judges do not like to hear the “late” excuse. That is something they have to hear…ALL DAY LONG and its irrevelent!! If you were speeding….then you were speeding without emergency reason. Never prepay a ticket unless it is an absolute necessity. On the court summons check the box to plead NOT GUILTY and wait for them to give you a court date. Either a few days before your court date (or in person at the court house) request a written continuance. When you represent yourself in traffic court you have the ability to request at least 1 continuance. This works to buy you some time to prepare your case and by the time the next court date comes up the officer may not show up for whatever reason….or his/her memory of your particular ticket may not be as clear. If the officer was so quick to reduce the ticket by 10 MPH most likely they are just after your money. This would apply mostly to a Sheriff. Double check everything written on the ticket (tag#, S.S#, etc.). If the officer makes a lot of mistakes writing the ticket it is grounds for representation of the officers state of mind at that time. If he made those mistakes he could have also not been reading his radar display correctly. There are a lot more legal tricks of the trade, but I don’t want to write a book at the moment. Main thing is you will never go wrong showing up for court. If it is the money they are after…still go to court because it will get reduced even more, or they may reduce it to a non-moving violation/PARKING TICKET!!
June 13th, 2009 at 9:57 am
There is no excuse for speeding. You broke the law. Do you really think the judge cares about your age? He doesn’t care about you being late for work. You should have left on time, your 59 you know better. The officer gave you a break to begin with and now you want a free ride. This won’t fly well with the judge.
June 13th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Anyone telling you not to even try is foolish.
I’ve been stopped three times in my entire life for a ticket, and never paid a single one. They were petty though, like troopers bored and fining me for driving as much as… wow! 4 miles over the limit! Goes to show how busy our boys in blue really are at work.
June 14th, 2009 at 4:09 am
Very poor. Pay the ticket and pay attention to the posted speed limit.
You admitted you were speeding and the Officer wrote it at a speed lower than what you admitted to. Very few Officers have that discression or ability to do that with citations. He cut you a big break and it seems went out of his way to make a bad situation more tolerable.
Basically, you’re looking a gift horse in the mouth. Because if you go to court there’s a good chance the Judge will give back what the Officer had taken away.