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I got a speeding ticket

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Bishman

Member
Driving down a 40 mph street and I'm going 5 over. Next thing you know, I see a cop in my rear view mirror. He tells me that I was going 50 on a 40 but I just accept everything he says, do not want to start any trouble.

What to do now? If I pay the fine, is there some way I can wipe it off my record?
 
Go to court and fight it. Remember, you have to prove to the judge that the cop was wrong, not that you're right, the judges are programmed to accept anything the cops say as gospel. I got out of mine by asking to see the calibration records on his radar and when the cop didn't have it, the judge dismissed the case. Dress in a suit and act professional and courteous. It's worth not getting points on your license and hike in your insurance rates. Good luck.
 
Does your city have traffic school? Around here (Utah), you can go to a session of traffic school that's a couple of hours long and have a ticket wiped. Works once a year or so. It's more expensive than paying the ticket, but you get a clean record.
 

ge-man

Member
Bishman said:
Driving down a 40 mph street and I'm going 5 over. Next thing you know, I see a cop in my rear view mirror. He tells me that I was going 50 on a 40 but I just accept everything he says, do not want to start any trouble.

What to do now? If I pay the fine, is there some way I can wipe it off my record?

Pay the fine. I don't think they starting putting points on your license before going 15 over (at least that's seems to be the case where I live). Unless you have some kind way of showing without of doubt that you were only going 5mph over the limit, it's your word against his and you are going to lose. It isn't worth it considering that a speeding ticket really isn't damaging. It's less horrible than what it appears to you right now.
 

iapetus

Scary Euro Man
So what you're saying is that you were speeding, but you're upset because he said you were speeding more than you actually were, and that thus you should get off totally free? Is that an accurate summary?

Back when I had a car I had a cunning device installed that stopped me ever getting caught on speed cameras. Just fits in right next to the accelerator and all you do is press it to slow down. Best invention ever.
 

robochimp

Member
iapetus said:
So what you're saying is that you were speeding, but you're upset because he said you were speeding more than you actually were, and that thus you should get off totally free? Is that an accurate summary?

Back when I had a car I had a cunning device installed that stopped me ever getting caught on speed cameras. Just fits in right next to the accelerator and all you do is press it to slow down. Best invention ever.


He's saying he wants to pay the ticket but not have it on his record.

Which can often be done by making a court appearance they'll offer you a deal for pleading no contest
 

Bishman

Member
iapetus said:
So what you're saying is that you were speeding, but you're upset because he said you were speeding more than you actually were, and that thus you should get off totally free? Is that an accurate summary?

Back when I had a car I had a cunning device installed that stopped me ever getting caught on speed cameras. Just fits in right next to the accelerator and all you do is press it to slow down. Best invention ever.

No. I know that I was speeding. I just want to know how to keep this ticket from going on my record. And does being 16 hurt or help me in this case?
 

Ghost

Chili Con Carnage!
I got a speeding ticket, i phoned up my insurance company expecting a massive premium bill, their exact words were "Dont worry about it" they stuck it on my record and it hasnt made the blindest bit of difference since (i keep checking by pretending to be someone else, i get the same quote).
 

Bishman

Member
Amused_To_Death said:
Go to court and fight it. Remember, you have to prove to the judge that the cop was wrong, not that you're right, the judges are programmed to accept anything the cops say as gospel. I got out of mine by asking to see the calibration records on his radar and when the cop didn't have it, the judge dismissed the case. Dress in a suit and act professional and courteous. It's worth not getting points on your license and hike in your insurance rates. Good luck.

When I go to court, can I just ask the cop or judge to see his calibration records and he has to show it?
 

Dilbert

Member
Most states allow you to go to traffic school (for an additional fee on top of the speeding fine) once every 18 months (or something like that). When you take this option, no points are assessed on your record, and your insurance rates aren't impacted -- in fact, your insurance company would never hear about the ticket. If you get a second ticket within the 18 months, though, the points for the subsequent offense WOULD show up on your record.

Finally, since you're 16 (and I'm assuming a guy), the insurance companies ALREADY charge you a shitload of money for coverage. Don't give them an excuse to jack up your rates or cancel you -- just drive sanely and attentively for a couple of years.
 

tedtropy

$50/hour, but no kissing on the lips and colors must be pre-separated
Typically you can get what's called deferred judication. You pay a fine (you can usually have it talked down some), and you go on a 3-month probationary period where you can't get another ticket, otherwise they both go on your record. The cool thing is it doesn't show up on your record, assuming you can lay off the gas and not get pulled over for 3 months. It's what I did for the two times I got busted. My insurance never went up.
 

Red Scarlet

Member
Some insurance companies let 1 speeding ticket go, and don't add it to your record or increase the rates (which was good for me, as I was supposedly going 30 in a school zone, when I was accelerating from 20 AFTER I passed the 30mph sign, but on the other side of the road where the bitch cop was, the sign is up a ways..aka BS).
 

Pimpwerx

Member
Go to court and fight the case. ALWAYS go to court. The cop almost always talks to you first, so you should use that time to ask him to reduce the charges. He should offer to either lower the speed (which won't make a difference in your case), or make it a no-points violation like a seatbelt violation or something. Try to get it to no-points, that'll keep your insurance from going up. You can then take a defensive driving course if necessary, to remove points from your licensing.

See, it's all a scam to get money from you. Either the insurance company will jack you, or the cop and courts will jack you, or the defensive driving school will jack you for your money. Speeding tix = revenue source disguised as a safety measure. Sucks, don't it? PEACE.
 

fart

Savant
if you can traffic school it, or do the probationary dismissal thing do that. if you can't, hire a lawyer to make it go away. speeding tickets are 99% indirect taxation. you could go to court and probably achieve the same results as a lawyer (no points) but there's a chance you will screw it up in court and the only difference is that you save on the lawyer's fee.
 

lexy

Member
I got a speeding ticket about a year ago. I was doing 90mph in a 65. Probably a little over that at the time the cop clocked me. It was a first offense and I guess the cop felt sorry for me because he lowered it to 75 when he wrote up the ticket. In Nevada, it's an automatic suspension if you break 100mph. I didn't want to challenge the ticket because I felt like I already got a break when the cop lowered the speed on the ticket. I didn't want to push my luck so I pleaded no contest to the charges, and took the traffic school option to avoid any serious negative repercussions if I ever got another speeding ticket. Other than the shock of getting caught speeding it wasn't that big a deal (should have known better considering it was right before New Years and there were cops EVERYWHERE that day). My parents were pretty pissed, though.
 
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