A friend getting a speeding ticket reduced to a non-moving violation in VT back in the day. He just showed up and didn't need a lawyer or anything. How's that for anecdotal?
To be honest, I don't remember if he went in person or wrote a letter (it was years ago) but I know he didn't get a lawyer or anything. Sorry I don't remember the details.
I'm I'm reading the OP correctly, you will have to pay $91 going to court no matter what the decision in the court fee and surcharge (plus 15% of the base). So unless the judge reduces it to $60, you'll still be paying more than the cost of the ticket. I guess the only thing I would look into are the impact of points on insurance. Because I don't know why the judge would lower it $90+ if your side of it is you may have been speeding but don't know because you weren't paying attention.
Post by chalupabatman on Jan 17, 2013 11:02:22 GMT -5
I can only speak to where I work: Our Judge fines at $6 per mile per hour over the speed limit. If you contest you still pay court costs, but if you are only slightly over the speed limit and have a clean driving record he will reduce the speed if you take a driver improvement class.
You should be able to call the clerks office or a local traffic attorney to see what this Judge normally does. The Judge one county over will never reduce a speeding ticket, our Judge will do it under certain circumstances, and another county over knocks them all down to improper driving. Its Judge dependent.
Can you pay the ticket and take one of those driver safety classes to keep the points off? Years ago, when I had a ticket, I did that so I wouldn't have the points on my record.
Post by shopgirl07 on Jan 17, 2013 11:17:17 GMT -5
Can you call your insurance company and find out how much (if any) the surcharge would be for this ticket? That might be the deciding factor for me whether I pay or contest.
Can you call your insurance company and find out how much (if any) the surcharge would be for this ticket? That might be the deciding factor for me whether I pay or contest.
Just did that. My agent said that because the policy is mid-year nothing would change right away...only upon renewal. He couldn't give me an amount (I think because he works with various insurance companies?). Anyway, he said because of my clean driving record it is very possible that I could get this removed and he recommends that I try to do just that since this will stay on my record for 3-5 years.
To answer someone's question above, I checked on the amount of additional fees if I lose. They said it is "typically" only another $52.50 on top of the original fee of $145, so it makes sense to me to at least try.
So are you actually going to go to court and be honest? Then you would be telling the judge that you weren't paying attention and have no idea how fast you were going, but it couldn't be 15 over. And please don't take the officers word for it even though he got you on radar.
This is crazy to me. Unless you plan on saying you know you weren't speeding, but I don't think you can honestly say that. Just pay the ticket, don't waste everyone's time.
So are you actually going to go to court and be honest? Then you would be telling the judge that you weren't paying attention and have no idea how fast you were going, but it couldn't be 15 over. And please don't take the officers word for it even though he got you on radar.
This is crazy to me. Unless you plan on saying you know you weren't speeding, but I don't think you can honestly say that. Just pay the ticket, don't waste everyone's time.
I'm not going to lie. I am going to try to get the points removed based on my clean driving record (as my insurance agent suggested). I'd be willing to pay more if I can do that, so it's not "just paying a ticket". I'm not a habitual speeder/law breaker. I wasn't intentionally speeding that day. I don't think I'm asking too much when I ask to keep my driving record clean.
I liken it to a student who breaks a school rule. If he/she is a good student, then I would give him/her a break.
I think it is worth a try. Like I said in my earlier post, for my occupation (sales rep) a clean driving record is mandatory. And in this day and age, you never know when you might be interviewing for a new job. Driving records are more commonly becoming part of the background check because it reflects on the type of person you are and how responsible you are. I absolutely would ask the judge to do what he can to reduce the points.
If you want to get a feel for how it works, call the court nearest your workplace and ask when traffic court is scheduled. See if you can arrange a lunch hour so that you can go sit in the back and see what happens. It may not be the court or judge you will actually be in front of, but at least you'll get an idea for how other people present their cases in court.
Post by tinfoilhat on Jan 17, 2013 19:26:11 GMT -5
I got my first, and only speeding ticket last year. I admitted to the officer that I was probably going 68 or 70 in a 60 MPH stretch of highway. He was totally an ass and said I was going 73 and that legally he has to write a ticket for anything over 10 MPH over. Whatever....I should get bonus points, when he just waved me over while standing by his motorcycle. I didn't even make him get on his damn bike.
So I was talking to a friend and she said that there was a way to get the ticket "suspended". He never mentioned it and the ticket didn't say anything. I had to call the court house to find out that I can pay an additional $50 on top of the $113 ticket. If I do not get any moving violations in the next year (they pull your record in 365 days to check) they'll toss the ticket out. If I did I would eat the extra money and still get the ticket.
I would totally check into it! There is probably a way to suspend it or get it changed with extra money. It was totally a good deterrent, and i was super careful after that!!
“Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes.”
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