I got a speeding ticket. Need advice if I should go to court? (1 Viewer)

[George_W_K]

If that's real, that is some of the funniest stuff I've ever seen.

"Um, after careful consideration, um, the charges have been dropped. Oh, and no fine for you either. I stopped reading after the date discrepancy apparently."

God, I hope the next time I receive a speeding ticket, it has a disrepancy so I can try something like that.

 

[EvanW]

Anyone know if having a radar detector in the state of south carolina is an additional fine if caught for speeding or something else. I can just imagine me trying to pull it off the windsheild and throw it under the seat theyed probably think i was getting a gun and throw me on the ground and fine it anyway.

 

[Marko Berg]

I've heard that with modern equipment cops can detect the presence of a radar detector in the vehicle -- don't know if this is true.

Here, where radar detectors are illegal and immediately confiscated, I've heard tales of unlucky drivers being pulled over and presented with a "licence, registration, and the radar detector, please sir."

 

[JamieD]

I had one that had the wrong year. I was told if I contested it, it would have to be in court, and the judge would ask, under oath, whether I had been speeding on the CORRECT date. If I said no, the officer would say I was lying, and I would lose, if I said yes, the judge would simply issue a new ticket.

Whee.

 

[Arthur S]

I would seriously consider paying the fine and taking the course. It says you will avoid a conviction on your driving record if you pay up without going to court . Going to court costs them money. You almost certainly can't have it both ways. If you go to court and are convicted, which having admitted you were speeding to the cop, you are probably cooked, they are not going to give you the same deal because you cost them money with a trial.

Avoiding the conviction on your driving record is exactly what you want. If it is not on your driving record, it did not happen.

 

[MarkHastings]

I thought radar detectors were only illegal if you USE them (not own them). All you need to do is turn it off and it should be perfectly legal.

 

[Ken Chui]

Radar detectors are illegal in D.C. and Virginia only*; radar jammers are the ones that are illegal in every state. However, it is perfectly legal to jam lasers, the exceptions being California, Minnesota and Utah, where they're banned.

* Truckers aren't allowed to use radar detectors in any state; the law applies to drivers who operate commercial vehicles in excess of 10,000 lbs.; radar detector use is also prohibited on military bases.

 

[Mike_J_Potter]

Yes there is device called a Vg2 or Spectre II RDD that can detect radar detectors. It works to around 100-300 ft away from the device then it will be detected. Even the ones that are marketed as undetecable will be picked up when close enough

 

[Bill Slack]

Don't admit to going over 35mph. This may require you to lie; if you're not comfortable with that, just pay the ticket.

Do point out that if the officer could mis-read the the posted limited (31mph??) then he could certainly mis-read what the gun displayed. Of course, if there is some sort of print out from the gun, this isn't very effective...

There's a ton of ways to get out of speeding tickets. Thankfully, in MA they usually work pretty well, by YMMV.

 

[MikeH]

Ryan, did I miss how big of a fine you have to pay? Years ago I came to a rolling stop and got a $30 failure to stop at a stop sign ticket. Can't remember what but the officer screwed up somewhere but when I considered the cost of taking a day off of work, gas etc. it was just easier to pay the fine.

Mike

 

[Nathan*W]

So, we've gotten to the point where we're actually advocating committing perjury, now? :rolleyes

 

[JamieD]

Perjury is not a good thing.

Funny story:
My uncle once got a parking ticket in the city. Decided to contest it in court, since he had been parked correctly. So he heads over to the courtroom on that day, goes in, goes through the process.. which takes a couple of hours. The judge looks at him and says "Congratulations young man. You've just tied up the system for a couple of hours over 30 bucks. Oh and by the way, I'm going to guess you parked outside the court?"

To which my uncle said "Yes, your honour."

"Well, son, when you head out, be sure to notice the ticket you'll have for parking over the 2hr meter limit. Try to just pay that one."

 

[Daniel_Hall]

I had a crazy situation (or at least crazy to some it seems) happen to me about a month and a half ago that I'm still trying to fight. I got back to court at the end of this month.

Every morning when I go to work (at 4 am by the way), I turn left into a restaurant parking lot to keep from having to sit at an upcoming red turn light for 5 minutes. I've been doing this for several years, now, and never thought much about it. I have even seen Police Officers sitting in the parking lot who don't do anything about it, so I never thought it was wrong.

Then one morning an officer pulls me over and asks me if I knew why he pulled me over. Of course, I didn't...so he tells me that I cannot cut through a parking lot. He then takes my license/registration and comes back telling me that he is just going to give me a ticket for going through the parking lot. The ticket says "Disregarding a traffic control device." I didn't bother questioning the officer, so I went on to work. However, I work with a police officer (I work at a TV station and he does our traffic reports for us). I asked him about it and he said that it was a law, but that he should have never wrote me up for it because the business wasn't open and thus the 'spirit of the law' is broken. It's something to the affect of the law was written to keep traffic from interfering with the business's traffic, but since the business is not open, it has no purpose (not his exact words...but something similar to that). In fact, this officer admitted that he did the same thing every morning.

I then went to my mom about it (since she works for a police department), and she asked around about it, and did some research. Guess what? The law does not exist. It is not a written law, at least that anyone can find. We looked under "Disregarding traffic control device" and there is no mention of it anywhere in there. When questioning the officer that I work with, he said that it was probably a judge ruling.

I went to court on the day I was scheduled and talked to the prosecutors who automatically wanted me to go to traffic school because of the seriousness of the fine. I asked what they had me written down for (because the officer didn't fully write out the ticket, it seems...but that also doesn't seem to matter in the city of 'violation'). They had the same thing written down. I told them that I did not disregard a traffic control device. They asked me what I did, and I told them. They then asked if I did it to avoid a traffic light, and I said...'I guess.' They then handed me a card for my new court date. I asked them about the fact that it isn't a written law, and they told me I would have to bring it up to the judge because they have ruled on it (but they couldn't remember which way).

It all sounds crazy to me. I'm hoping that the charge will be dismissed because I don't want to pay $155 (which I don't have by the way) because of an unwritten law, that if was a real law would be a silly reason to give someone a ticket for at 4 AM.

 

[Julian Reville]

I see people do this every day. Sometimes they even stop to see if anyone is coming before they shoot out into traffic.

Your policeman must have really been bored to give you a ticket for this. A warning maybe, but a $155 ticket? Are you screwing his wife or something?

As for court, go for it man, but I think you're gonna get hosed. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[MarkHastings]

I was just wondering...Is there a law that doesn't allow you on business property when the business is closed? I wonder if they could have fined you for "trespassing" (i.e. I use the term loosely here).

 

[JohnRice]

Sorry to be harsh, but that is some of the worst advice I have ever heard. It is always a better bet to be respectful, which includes dressing well, just not excessively well.

 

[JohnRice]

Anyway, to give an actual constructive answer, there's just no telling.

I recently got a ticket for the first time in 15 years. The previous one was failure to yield right of way. I was pulling out of an Arby's in Orange CT, onto a narrow, winding, tree lined residential side street when a car came around the corner at very high speed, pulled almost all the way around me and hit me as he moved back into the right lane. It was just one of those things where he would have been the guilty one if there was a witness, but there wasn't. The officer actually apologized to me for having to give me a ticket because he pretty much knew I had done nothing wrong, but the law required him to do it. He even stayed and gave me detailed suggestions on how to deal with it. I had a good corporate job and was driving a company car and even though the insurance company gave him twice what his car was worth (it was a worthless car and only had a dent on the passenger door) he then started threatening me and my employer if we didn't "make up the difference" which is clearly illegal for him to do. Anyway, I told all this to the prosecutor and he wasn't having any of it. In fact, as I was waiting to meet with him, there were 2 clerks standing there laughing about how he was beating everyone up and how mean he was.

This week I went to court for my first ticket since then. I was sitting at a light putting my wallet back in my pocket when my foot slipped off the brake and on the gas. The funny thing is, where I did nothing wrong the last time, and both times I have had a clean driving record, and this time I did make a mistake, this time the prosecutor was far more understanding. I had a couple choices to possibly get it thrown out, but just decided to take the safe route and a "defective vehicle" ticket with half the fine waived.

So much of it comes down to how good the prosecutor is. The woman this week could see I wasn't a problem case and had a clean driving record. The jerk in CT didn't give a shit. He was just on a power trip. Mainly, if you don't have a clean driving record, don't push your luck.