short story....i got a ticket near irvine on the 405 going north at around 8:45 pm yesterday...the average speed was probably 75 mph..anyways i was going 79 an a CHP pulls me over for speeding...cars in the fast lane had to be going at least 80 mph because some were going right by me, an the CHP pulls me over for speeding at ******* 79 mph...so my question is..would i be able to fight this off in court? i got a speeding ticket february of 07 going 105 an havent sped on the freeway since..******* some cops are dicks

 

first off, what other people are doing or did right next to you is their business, so leave that entire idea out of the equation.

second, did you get that 105 ticket in the same township/magistrate? If so, I doubt any judge in their right mind will let you walk with a slap.

Best thing to do is hire a lawyer, dress nicely hope to god he can talk the ticket to something smaller.

 

Yea forget about going that route lol, cmon you've been taught since you were little that it doesnt matter if "they" are doing it too, its that you got caught and they didnt. I assume you were driving your Z, if I were right I would also say that expect it with a sports car.

 

I do believe the speed limit is 65 mph...and there's that grey area up to 75 mph...and you're just asking for it if you do 75+ mph...if you're eligible for traffic school take it...it'll suck for one day but you'll be glad you did it especially with that 100+mph speeding ticket on your record

 

In Oregon you lose your car and license if caught going over 100mph. I'm seriously surprised you only got a ticket for that.

As for the 79...you can't really argue that you didn't do it. IMO just pay the fine. If you try to fight it they might look at your record and if the 100+ comes up you're screwed even worse.

 

If you decide to fight it, you're only hope is the cop don't show up. Back in my adolescent days, I would keep extending the court date in hopes either the court clerk or the cop will mess up. I remember winning 3 to 4 tickets and one of them was for tinted windows. All due to the clerk notifying the wrong cop.

To the judge, it's either you were speeding or you weren't. There is no "well, everyone else is doing it" defense.

 

Yeah, most things people already said here are correct. You can't fight it saying that other cars were going faster then you... not on a freeways. There are very few circumstances where that argument really works. My guess is that you're not going to be eligible for traffic school because of your prior ticket less then a year ago, so you're two options are to pay the fine and forget about it, but this will add a point onto your driving record and cause your insurance to go up. You can choose to fight it with or without a lawyer. If money isn't a problem, then I'd say find a lawyer who specializes in this sort of thing. They're usually pretty good at getting people off.

Also, do you know if he got you on radar or speed matching?

 

examples?

 

105MPH couldn't get out of 3rd gear huh????

Better bend over, cause of the 105mph ticket.

 

you can always, always fight a ticket. hold on, let me copy+paste what i typed out for a fellow member a couple of weeks ago.

 

now keep in mind this is referencing his ticket.. but it's applicable to yours.

damn he wrote you up for 90 when you were going with the flow of traffic? what a crappy cop.

on the back of your ticket there should be instructions about how to do a trial by declaration. you have to plead not guilty and pay the bail anyway [which you'll get back when you're found innocent] and request a trial by declaration. the paperwork all comes through the mail. there should also be instructions online, if there's a website on the ticket.

first of all, however, i would recommend getting an extension. most counties grant at least one 30 to 60 day extension, if not more. the further you put off your final due date/trial date, the more chance there is that something will happen and the cop won't show up in court if you do end up having to go to court. extensions are your BEST FRIEND.

once the trial by declaration form arrives, go online and google 'trial by written declaration' + california. there are a LOT!!! of very very very helpful sites.. there's one that even walks you through the TBD process step by step: http://www.helpigotaticket.com/declar/index.html

just MAKE SURE to follow the instructions on you ticket and on your paperwork to the letter [you never know how old the websites are and how out of date their info might be].

the beauty of a trial by declaration is that if, once you send in your side of the story, the judge reads your info and the cop's info, and you're found guilty, you have the right by law in california to request a trial de novo, which is a brand new trial
with a brand new judge. it's like starting the process all over again..the only thing is that with a trial de novo you're REQUIRED to show up to court.

so what happened with my 86 in a 65 is that first, i got an extension (la county/city of glendale only allowed one 30-day extension). then i plead not guilty, paid my bail, and requested to do a trial by declaration. filled in all that crap, sent it in, waited for the decision. court found me guilty, i requested a trial de novo [the request info comes with your guilty/not guilty charge from the TBD]. got my court date, went, and LO AND BEHOLD the motherf*cker didn't show up. trial dismissed, i got a check in the mail for my bail amount a few weeks later.

the other beauty about doing a tbd is simply HOW MUCH TIME IT TAKES. with all the paperwork having to be done through snail mail, it seriously takes forever. i had gotten my ticket on february 3 and the final court date was on oct 22. for all i know the chp officer could have moved, been fired, been sick, etc etc etc. another thing i noticed, when in the courtroom, is that out of the city police vs chp, there was more of a chance of CHP not showing up. CHP governs the freeways so the chp officer could actually live kind of far away and just not be up to driving an hour or whatever into the town you actually got your ticket it.

just pay real careful attention to due dates too. some of the deadlines are tricky.. like '10 days or more before the date written on your ticket' and crap like that.

let me know if all this crap i've written makes sense, or if i can answer any other ?'s.

good luck!


naeiri

 

ok grab something to munch on because this is long.....

i think the procedure might be different in different cities/counties, but i didn't have to go to court to declare not guilty and request a trial by declaration. as i mentioned, the back of your ticket should fully explains exactly what you need to do....

ok i found my paperwork... the back of the ticket [and this is also a CHP ticket so it should be the same for you] says, at the bottom:
if you contest the violation (select a or b)
b. (trial by written declaration)
send a certified or registered letter postmarked not later than five days prior to the appearance date (what'd i say about weird sounding deadlines?) or come to the court on or before the appearance date to request a trial by written declaration. submit bail amount. you will be given forms to allow you to write a statement. the judicial officer will consider the evidence and decide the case.
and it goes on to explain where to send the money.

so since you've gotten an extension, i would wait until about 2-3 weeks before your new "court date" and send your bail amount [write your ticket # on the check] and a letter just simply stating you plead not guilty and are requesting to do a trial by declaration, so can they please send you the appropriate forms. make sure it's certified so that you can prove the postmarked date.
you'll most probably get a 'courtesy notice' soon telling you how much your ticket costs [the bail amount] and instructions on what to do to plead guilty or not guilty. if you don't get the courtesy notice either log in on the court website to find out your bail amount or give the court a call and talk to the court clerk.

then, by mail, within 2-5 weeks or so you'll receive the trial by written declaration form, vehicle code 40902, form TR-200. follow the instructions and most definitely do some research online to see what kind of case you can plead for radar use.
actually... now that i think about it, do some research NOW and see if you can submit some subpoenas asking for the radar gun's calibration date and **** like that.. i dont know the specifics but i know that they have to be calibrated every # of months or something.. i haven't done this myself so im not sure about it.

so then you send in your written case by the due date, and wait for the court's decision.

the court will send you a form back with either guilty or not guilty checkmarked. if they found you not guilty it will note that you will receive your bail $$ back, yay. if they find you guilty there will be a paper about what to do if you're dissatisfied with the court's decision and how to request a trial de novo, with a deadline to do so.
then once you mail in that request for a new trial, they'll send you a notice that they've received your request and such-and-such date you're expected to appear in court.

for the court date, what seemed safest to me was to just take a copy of what you had sent in as your written declaration, and you can either refer to it as you're pleading your case or even simply just read it verbatim. the judge is going to be different but your cop is the same so changing your story is NOT going to be a good idea.

make copies of EVERYTHING you send into the court.

your tint violation is a fix-it ticket. the back of your ticket will say what to do to get that taken care of. my cop wrote me up for no plates [hahah...oops? license plates make the z ugly ] so i just fake-bolted my plates on, went to my local sheriff's station and had them sign off the ticket. funny thing is the lazy bum of a cop at the front desk didn't even come outside to check if i actually had plates on or not. he just asked me and assumed i wouldnt lie...
if you think your tint is legal you'll have to take it to one of those CHP/DMV inspection centers to have them inspect it and sign it off. if you dont want to deal with proving it's legal or not, take it off and you should be able to get any cop or cop station to sign off your ticket. call your local station and ask if they do it. some places might charge like $10-$20. most regular PD stations don't charge but i think the inspection centers do.
then when you've got your fix-it violation signed off, make copies of the ticket, front and back, to keep for yourself because you have to send in that signed-off ticket to the court to prove you got your violation 'fixed'.. i sent it in along with some $10 processing fee or something [you can call the court and see what the processing fee in your city is] when i sent in my request for the trial by declaration.
then, in the actual written trial by declaration i just made a note that the charge of violating CVC 5200(a) [no plates] has been dismissed as per my submittal of Proof of Correction and the $10 transaction fee.

by the way, all this info is on the back of your ticket.. i don't mind typing out my experience at all but if what i'm saying doesnt make sense just refer to your ticket.

by the way, since fighting these tickets with a TBD doesn't cost anything but a few dollars in stamps and certified letters, i would ALWAYS fight ANY ticket you receive, whether or not you feel it's deserved. vehicle code violations are what local and state governments makes BANK on. i was most definitely going at least, if not more, than 86mph but there's no way in hell i was going to just submit to the cop/government like that. plus i already had lawyers dealing with a 100mph+ ticket i'd gotten 3 months earlier so i MOST definitely didn't need this one to go on record, even with traffic school. yes, i'm slightly anti-big-brother-government so...FIGHT YOUR TICKETS! ALWAYS! especially since california is *kind* enough to have the whole TBD process

naeiri

 

Gimpster got a ticket for doing 72 on a 65 + driving a fixed up Z doesnt help.... we're in So. Cal where imports are targets for no front plates, exhaust tickets etc.....

just hope the cop doesnt show up in court and you should be fine


gluck either or....

 

and the cops usually dont show up...atleast in my state and in my home state...just something ive noticed

 

that's not entirely correct....he's only ineligible for traffic school if he had completed a traffic school session within 18 months of the violation...
to the op...it's unfortunate you got caught speeding *again* but this time you were within the 15mph cut off to be allowed for traffic school..anything over 80+mph and no traffic school

 

+1 on the Trial by Declaration. It's another good way of dragging out the court date and maybe getting lucky. And, getting a second chance.

 

One instance is were you are doing 45 on a 35. If traffic is light and weather conditions safe for the speed, there's a good chance you could win. I haven't fought one of these, but, years and years and years ago, the traffic school instructor told the class this. (maybe he was just trying to get more students....). I also read it on some "how to fight your tickets" book.

Caveat, the magic number 55 mph. When you hit that, you're on freeway rules now, not street. So forget about using the safe and prudent defense.

Edit: sorry, this may have been a little off topic since the OP's ticket was on a freeway.

 

hahahaha, maybe "years and years and years ago" it would have been viable when judges were a bit more liberal than they are today.

I sat in a court room waiting to testifying and a guy gave that same example, almost. He was going 55 in a 45, around 3:20am on a sunday morning. Theres no one out at that time usually, unless your doing something illegal or illicit. Cop pulls him over for doing the above mentioned and he says "your honor, there were no cars on the road and the only person driving in sight was me" the judge looked at him and said "it is a wonder why that police officer did not investigate the matter further, what exactly where doing at that time of the day at that location? Actually it does not matter, pay the ticket" *bang*

The law is the law, be it 50 mph or 1 mph over your still breaking it, there is no "grey area" or something the relation, although most lawyers will tell you otherwise...

 

i got caught doin only 75 on the 2 freeway but cop didn't show up in court so i got off free.

 

https://my350z.com/forum/southern-california/321940-gototrafficschool-com-coupon-code.html

Use this coupon code to receive an extra $2.00 Off
Code: XMK-7BE-K6F.

It comes out real cheap after that code. ($12.50)
You Know who you are if you have to take Traffic School. haha I did

Thanks Guys

PS. It takes you 6:40 min to complete Online Traffic School, but just Log in and leave the link Open and the time counts down. At the end of the Time you can take the Final Test......If your rusty I suggest you glance over the course.

ReV out!

FROM: Tanaka826
ticketassassin.com really works guys...i fought my ticket for going 92mph on a 65 and won that case. thanks to ticketassassin.com. they give you a full write up example on what should be done. saved me 300bucks