speeding tickets and Florida (1 Viewer)

[DavidAM]

I haven't had a good year when it comes to speeding tickets. I got my first ticket almost a year ago. I did the 4 hour class for it and its not on my record. Two months ago, I got another ticket. It was for speeding, but the officer wrote it up as failure to obey a posted sign which was a little cheaper ticket and I am getting ready to take the class for this one. Well, last friday I got another damn ticket. What I'm trying to find out is if I just pay for this ticket and not do the class, will this be the only ticket that will show on my driving record, or will all 3 show because it hasn't been a year between tickets? I was told by a friend once you do the class, it will never show, but I do remember in Louisiana, you could pay your first ticket and not have it show, but if you got a 2nd within a year, they both showed up on your record, so I'm not sure if this rule also applies to Florida. Also, the first 2 tickets were in my County, but the 3rd one is a neighboring county (Pinellas) and you send the ticket and payment to a different County. I am pointing this out because supposedly, you can only do classes every 6 months, but does this pertain to the state or per County? I don't mind doing the classes for all the tickets if I am allowed, just as long as they don't show to my insurance. I drive around 30K miles a year for work so I am always on the road and need to keep the tickets showing on my record to a minimum! My other alternative is to go to court and hope the cop doesn't show. I've heard this happens often, but to me that is all hearsey, so I don't know if I can trust/risk that. If anyone knows the rules in Florida, or better yet, is a cop in Florida and knows the best thing to do, let me know so I can figure out what to do.

 

[nolesrule]

Keep in mind that you can only take the class 5 times in your lifetime, and I believe it can be taken no more than once in a 12 month period. While the fine is paid to the county, the state makes the rules about driving school and license points.

I've been driving in the Tampa Bay area for 10 years and all I can say is it's very easy not to get speeding tickets while still driving faster than the speed limit. You need to learn what's acceptable to law enforcement and you need to learn where they like to hide on your regular driving routes. That means not calling attention to yourself by going significantly faster than the speed of traffic or weaving in and out of traffic. On the interstates here, speed of traffic is usually about 10 mph over the limit, which is pretty good.

The cop not showing in court idea is one of those urban myths. Unless you can show that you weren't actually doing what he said you were doing on the ticket, you're just wasting your time, the judges time, and your money, because you'll end up paying court fees too.

Just pay the ticket, pay the increase in insurance and slow down so you don't get more tickets. If you have a good insurance company they won't increase your rates for just one ticket reported.

 

[Scott L]

The cop not showing in court idea is one of those urban myths.

In my case this actually worked. The advice I got was to reschedule your court date, the 1st request is always honored. (Make sure you have a good excuse, the lady working even helped me make one right over the phone! ) Then hope the cop doesn't make the new date.

When the judge called for the policeman in the crowded courtroom I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief when he wasn't there and my case was dismissed. People even gave me a thumbs up on the way out.

This scenario maybe a fat chance for most people but this worked for me and my driving record is clear. Worth a shot.

 

[Carl Johnson]

The cop not showing up is not an urban myth, I've gotten out of a couple of tickets on the first court date when because of a no show.
I haven't had a speeding ticket for a couple of years now because I've had to force myself to become a more cautious driver. I go out of my way to stay within 10mph of the posted limit even if that means being the only person in town paying any attention to the 30mph speed limit on most of the city streets around here.

 

[Nathan*W]

I wouldn't count on the cop not showing up.

When I was a police officer, we were given one day a month when we were scheduled for court, and I wrote all my citations for the month for appearance on that day. In other words, that day I was being paid to be in court all day to back up my citations.

Rescheduling might work, but be aware that the officer WILL be notified at the new date and will be pissed that you pulled a stunt like that. If it's his day off he might come in just for you, and if he's working he might get the docket rearranged so he can zip in and out of court in 5-10 minutes.

That said, if you feel like you have to speed, keep it less than a double digit difference between the limit and your speed and you should be relatively fine. Most officers look for a 10mph-15mph difference and up. (along with general stupidity on the road )

 

[Dave_Brown]

Advice on tickets is always hard to give/get as it is so different from state to state.
For example here in Michigan I tired the ol' "reschedule the date and hope he don't show routine" only to be told I can't reschedule the date on a minor traffic offense. I don't have to show up if there is a conflict or I can't make it, but I will just be found guilty and have to pay the fine, which I can then contest by setting up another court date later on.
Not to mention it is not always a gurantee that your insurance rates will go up. The company I am with does not get notified or do checks on your record unless they have a reason. My sister was an agent with them so I made sure to get the right info. It has been just over two years since I got my 9 points in 8 months and my rates haven't changed a bit. Of course, I can't file an insurance claim or change my policy at all until the points are gone or they will run a check and find out I haven't been on my best behavior.

 

[Luis S]

Urban myth? Not really. I've had incidents where the cop basically told me he wouldn't be there! Sure enough I didn't have any worries in court. Of course YMMV...

Luis S

 

[Malcolm R]

Um, dude? Another alternative is to slow down! No tickets, no worries.

 

[DavidAM]

Thanks for all the advice/tips. I'm not sure which route I will go yet. Does anyone know if I just pay this ticket, will it now show my insurance that I have 3 tickets or just 1? Being that I took the class on 2 of the tickets, are they permanently removed from record or will they show because I recieved another ticket within the year? It it will I may try the court, if not, I will just pay the ticket and accept the consequences. I don't mind having 1 ticket on the record for insurance, but 3 will definately hurt!

 

[nolesrule]

I'm fairly certain that tickets that you take a class for are not reported to the insurance companies at all, but I'm not positive. Even if they are, by law they can't raise your rates on those first two tickets because you took the class and the insurance company didn't have to pay out for damages.

I have to ask. Where'd you get pulled over in Pinellas?

 

[DavidAM]

I was on Park Blvd, just entering Seminole. The speed drops from 45 to 35 and they had 3 cops sitting 30 feet behind the 35mph sign. Normally I'm in my car with the radar detector, but it was raining so I took my Honda and just wasn't paying attention. The other 2 tickets I got, one got my with Laser, by the time I hit the brakes it was too late and the 2nd one was an unmarked cop that paced me. My radar never even went off.