I got my first speeding ticket last nite. Damn this car is fast... :P
The cop claimed his rador read 58m/h and I am on a 35m/h street.
Does anyone has any experiences on fighting speeding tickets?either failed or succeeded? and If you won, how do you defense? I heard there is an option you can defense by writting. Has anyone tried it?
Your experiences are valuable to me!!

Thanks in advance.

 

To fight, set up a court date. Pray the cop doesn't show. If he doesn't, then you win... If he does... you're guilty. The judge will take the cop's word of yours any day. Trust me, I've tried it.

 

In Massachusetts I won about 7-8 cases (only 3 were speeding) and lost 1 case.

It depends how severe the offence is and 58 in 35 is not bad. If the judge is nice, he might give you a break and either dismiss it or make you pay a fraction of the fine, and if the judge didn't get any the night before then you're out of luck and time is wasted.

If cop doesn't show up then you win though... If cop shows up then you don't necessarily loose (only 90% of the times)

 

Your court date should be on your ticket. Postpone the date and hope the cop doesn't show up. If he shows, just take one of those online traffic school things and its off your record. Just don't get another ticket for a year. You can't really fight a 58 in a 35. Unless you got Johnny Cochrane.(sp?)

 

I had a really disappointing experience when I asked to have my ticket reduced ($114 for taking a left turn out of a parking lot marked w/ right turn only sign...). The judge flatly refused to change the amount, and acted as though I was silly for even asking. Afterwards, when I went to pay my fine, the clerk was very surprised that my ticket was the full amount. She said that almost never happens if you actually make the effort to go to court. Whatever... I won't waste my time again. That was in San Bernadino county court in Cali.
Mika

 

My first and only speeding ticket was last year--on 9/1/01. 51mph in a 35mph zone. Court date was on the ticket. I went to court, officer did not show up, the judge was kind and just gave me a fine and traffic school. The fine was $150 and I took traffic school for two days. It will be off my record on 9/1/03.

Hope this helps.

 

kpoon, sorry to hear of your misfortune, but I have you beat. 85 in a 55 and "reckless driving". Has anyone had experience in getting a charge like this reduced to just a speeding ticket. That won't hurt me as much or be on my record as long as a reckless driving charge.

 

you went to court and cop didnt show up, and you still got fined 150? they must not like you, hehe, usually you just have to pay a 20.00 court fee

 

I guess you didn't plead "not guilty." You should have gotten off free with the cop not showing.
--
Jeff

 

The Z Gods were looking out for me the night we picked up our car. I drove my wife down to pick up the Z and was driving back in the 3.2TL. Flashing red lights in the mirror. Cop said I was doing 84 in a 65 zone. I must have looked innocent (or just dumb). He gave me a lecture and let me go - no ticket.

I know that I would have been going faster if I was in the Z. I consider it a warning and will try to remain invisible while driving in the future

 

Not like it matters now...it's been a year, lol.

 

1. Hire a lawyer.
2. Tell your lawyer to ask for as many Postponements as possible.
3. Pray...some paper work didn't get file with the court in time.
4. You will get a dismissal with prejudice (meaning they can re-file the case....but most like not).

This was how I got off.

 

Just spend a month preparing for my case. Read a lot of stuff.
So I have to say your story is unbelievable! If you had read anything instead of going to court without preparation, you'd know that you only had to say
"I'd like to make a motion for dismissal. Prosecution witness isn't present, so they can't have a case against me."
Prosecution actually need to proof that you are GUILTY, otherwise you are NOT GUILTY (yeah right, who believes this ****?)
They can't even use a citation if person who wrote it doesn't present! It was totally illegal what judje did to you!

 

So as I said just spend a month (couple days actually) preparing my case.

Had an informal hearing month ago.
Had a court formal hearing today. Cop couldn't remember a sh&t. DA made his usual bla-bla-bla with cop (i.e. witness).
When I got to cop I asked him about 40 question (prepared in advance of course). I knew what he'll be answering, since I've head his storay on informal hearing. He forgot even more sinse than.

The story is simple - I was going west, he was going east, he saw me driving "at higher rate speed", slowed down turned around, closed to me (doing over 70) and paced me to obtain my speed. Then was red traffic light. Where I stopped. after light he gave me a ticket 55/35.

I used aerial photo of the street (mapquest.com) with scale, speed/distance/time charts, and pictures.

I proved with simple calculations, if I were going that he couldn't have stopped, turned 180 and closed to me before I stopped at red, no way he had chance to pace me for 1/8th of a mile. He couldn't eve see me most of the time because I was over the hill.

But if I were going 35, then he had a chanse to close to me right before I stopped for the red. And his reading of 55 was his speed after chasing, not mine.

On the map it was so simple and logical, that judje had to agree. Then he said "But officer couldn't remember well as we can see. He wouldn't have given you a ticket without a reason... GUILTY.

I.e. he aggreed that cops testimony doesn't stand and contradictory, i.e. unreliable. He also agreed that his has no fresh representation of facts. I.e he COULD NOT testify. In ubiased court. Also judje agreed that my statement makes sense... And then find me guilty, because officer is always right.
Go figure what his problem was... other than incompetency.

 

Speeding tickets based on radar or laser are difficult to beat. Most of the time, it's not worth fighting unless a guilty verdict means you loose your license. In those cases, hire a lawyer who specializes in this type of case. There are various defenses including radar gun calibration errors, record keeping mistakes and other technicalities. But in your case, if this ticket won't result in the loss of your license, I would suggest the following strategy. Go to Court and ask for a conference with the ADA. Plea bargain the ticket (this means pleading guilty to a lesser offense). Sometimes, the ADA will reduce the ticket to a non-speeding offense. Many times, the speeding offense will be reduced to a lesser speed. This often reduces the points associated with the offense. Good Luck.

NOTE: Although I'm an attorney, this not legal advice; it's for informational purposes only. Laws vary from state to state and the facts of a particular case can drastically effect any legal advice. Be sure to consult with an attorney in your State before making any legal decisions.

 

I did traffic court several times in Maryland.. so it varies by state.. YMMV.

There.. *always* goto court. Even if you just plead guilty, unless you are an ***, or have a really bad record.. you were better off. Either the fine or points were always reduced.

If you got caught doing less then 75.. and had no previous record.. pretty much the tickets were dropped with community service and probation (no tickets for a year).

Over that.. typically people got a reduced fine and points if they had a good record. If people had bad records.. it was hit or miss.. but they always made out by going to court.

And as for these comments about the officers.. yes they need to be there.. if not just say 'not guilty' and you're done. But the days of the cops not showing up are not like they used to.. here they beat on the cops pretty good about that.

But the Judge always started out with 'the officer does NOT have to prove you guilty'. Basically his word is golden in the court.. he is the eyes of the court. So if he says you were doing 80.. you were as far as the judge cares. Don't even try to fight it.

Kids with parents present always made out better.. and people who showed respect and showed up decent. Punks in wife-beater T-shirts and baggy shorts always got the **** stuck to them. Respectful people who took the time to goto court always made out.

I've gotten out of 3 tickets that way.. and I can still say I've never gotten a ticket because of it. Just paying it make the ticket stick.

 

I just tried fighting off a traffic ticket 2 months ago - 56mph on a 40 zone, 2 points. The results were mixed - reduced the fine and points deducted to 1.

The general advice to you is try to change the court date and hope that the cop doesn't show up, but these days these cops somehow tend to make time for offenders. The best defence is to PREP up before your court date - do your research!

Here's what I did:
1. Note down the location and circumstances when I was caught.
2. Remember what I said to cop when I was caught - believe or not they take down what you said when they pull you over as future evidence - so never admit to speeding when pulled over!
3. Create doubt in your case

Basically, I told the judge that I did what was necessary to remain safe in the given road conditions - the car was driving erratically, crossing to my lane several times (present situation). So I had to speed up to avoid an accident, but was caught (create doubt)

Here is a organization that has experts to help you fight traffic tickets, there are tons of materials that teach you to fight the speeding tickets - http://www.motorists.org/issues/tickets/

Keep in mind that only a very small percentage of ticket recipients ever challenge those tickets in court, and most of the people who seriously contest a traffic ticket either win or are offered an attractive plea bargain arrangement that significantly reduces their fines or points.

 

Here is something i use, this story have gotten me off the hook twice. One time at court and the other was with the cop! This seem to work well depend on what time you got pull over, if it was at night you can tell the judge that you gotten hit by a drunk driver in the past. There was some guy weaving in and out on the road you got scare and sped up, being that the Z has so much power it gotten kinda fast. And if you the judge ask you why did you tell the officer you say that you was worry and shaken up by the driver behind you that you forgot to let the officer know. Try it out, i hope this help you out. Good luck!

 

always ask if you can see the locked radar speed... if he didnt show you it.. then you have no proof that he has proof that you were going that fast... that's the way to fight it.

 

Hire a lawyer?!? How much did THAT cost you! You dont need a lawyer to get extensions. Heres what I do in CA and it has worked for me EVERY time, and trust me, there have been alot

It used to be if you just requested a hearing in CA you would automatically win because cops were not paid to go to court to fight tickets, sounds odd but true, look it up. Once the state saw how much money they were losing on their best revenue machine, they started paying for cops to go to court, and although it is not mandatory, they are "expected" to go. When I get a ticket, I wait till the last day they allow for arraignment and get an extension, you can usually do this at least twice, get it for as long as they will let you put it off for. when you finally have to go to arraignment, plead not guilty and get the latest date the judge will give you, getting trial extensions is a bit harder since you cat do them the day before the trial like with arraignments and they have to be granted by the judge, but try it and you can usually get at least one.

OK, if youve gotten this far youve pushed your ticket back about 6 months from when youve gotten it, theres no way in hell a cop that writes half a dozen tickets a day remembers you, and theres a good chance that the notes they all jot down about the details have been tossed. Now heres the good part, go in before your court date and request a trial by declaration. this is where a form gets sent to you and the cop in the mail, you both fill them out with your sides of the story and send them back in, the judge reads them and makes a decision. The beauty of this is that unlike a court date where the cop gets paid to walk in, say a couple words and split, they dont get paid to have to sit around filling out another damn piece of paper work. Nobody keeps track of trial by declarations sent to cops so theres no pressure from their department to waste time filling them out. Further, if youve pushed it off far enough the cop has no good memory of you or what happened and just tosses it in the trash. You would REALLY had to **** off a cop for them to go through the hassle, but just in case be as detailed as possible on your side. This has worked for me ever time Ive done it. The only thing to be aware of is some judges wont give extensions or let you do declarations after theyve set court dates, so you might want to ask for the declaration at your arraignment to be safe.

A couple things that DONT work;

The old VAC DATES trick. on old CHP tickets there was this box at the botom of the tickets that said VAC dates, this was filled out by the cop if he planed to go on a vacation soon so the clerk wouldnt put the court date on those days. all you would have to do is get your date from the clerk and then later go in and reschedule for the VAC dates, the clearks never checked the tickets for reschedules, this worked EVERY time but the last ticket I got from CHP didnt have this box anymore, guess to many people got wise

Overpaying. used to be if you sent in a check for the ticket that was a few cents over the court would send you a check for the difference you overpayed. They wouldnt add the point to your record till you cashed the check so you would just toss out the check. Dont even try it, they got wise to this LONG ago.

Good luck!