tips for traffic court

[trackrunner]

Anyone have some tips? It's my first moving violation. I have a mandatory appearance for 5mph over and a barley expired drivers license (never received a renewal notice that my license was about to expire). I read online that the fine for the expired license will be dropped completely or to $30 if renewed, which I did promptly.

Not so much worried about the fines more so about the insurance implications. The county does not offer traffic school but I can take the state defensive driving course for 50 point reduction (which would cover all the points). Also heard of working deals out with the prosecution to remove the points or getting a deal for expungement if a clean record remains for a period of time (usually 3 or 6 months).

Thanks

[Scott P]

Not so much worried about the fines more so about the insurance implications.

If it is your first violation, I would ask the judge if you can admit guilt and pay the ticket somehow without the ticket going on your record. It's called a plea of obeyance or something similar and if you don't get any tickets in the next six months, they can drop it from going on your record. Usually there is an extra fee involved ($50 in 2002), but it would be worth it to avoid insurace increase. Of course if you do get a ticket within six months, they will report both.

This was actually several years ago since I had a ticket, but in 2002 I was pulled over while not paying attention south of Price and north of Green River for 10 mph over and they let me do the above.

[Scott Card]

Not so much worried about the fines more so about the insurance implications.

a plea of obeyance

Actually it is called a "plea in abeyance" although the intent is for you to obey the law.

[Scott P]

Actually it is called a "plea in abeyance"

Thanks. That's why I said "or something similar" since I wasn't sure. Luckily I didn't have to use another one again.

[Iceaxe]

I heard cops don't give tickets to sexy drivers.... show more cleavage next time.

[uintahiker]

If you've got a clean record- no biggie! Just tell him you've got a clean record and you want to keep it that way.

Then say "If I pay the ticket and don't get any others in the next 6 months, will you drop it?" He should, without adding any other fees or anything.

You mentioned the county not having a traffic school. I assume you're in one of the smaller counties. If so, it always helps to know somebody...

[denaliguide]

a mandatory appearance for speeding 5mph over? never heard of that. i thought you only had to appear if you were going to contest it. usually just send in the fine and its done with.

one speeding ticket shouldn't have any effect on your insurance. i've gotten several speeding tickets throughout my driving years. as long as they aren't close together your insurance shouldn't even hear about them. it's when you get 3 in 3 years (or something like that) that you may have a problem. i wouldn't worry too much about it.

unless when you were going the 5mph over, you hit the cops dog.

[trackrunner]

a mandatory appearance for speeding 5mph over? never heard of that. i thought you only had to appear if you were going to contest it. usually just send in the fine and its done with.

It's the expired license not the speading for the mandatory. Though I think he wrote it wrong because I looked it up and expired isn't manditory, suspended & unlicensed are. But it's pretty obvious that I showed him my license because he used that info to write the ticket.

You mentioned the county not having a traffic school. I assume you're in one of the smaller counties. If so, it always helps to know somebody...

Nope. I live in the largest county but got ticketed in a smaller county.
I miss the days when the county attorney and the county judge in Texas were friends. They took care of everything.

[Iceaxe]

OK.... I just had to post this from today's news about how to get out of a speeding ticket...

Arizona driver dons monkey masks to elude tickets
By AMANDA LEE MYERS (AP)

PHOENIX

[LOAH]

5 over? Good hell, were you in Wellington or something?

That's ridiculous. Just eat the ticket, you CRIMINAL!

[Scott P]

I heard cops don't give tickets to sexy drivers.... show more cleavage next time.

Yeah, I tried that one, but it didn't work. I wonder what I was doing wrong?

[Sombeech]

I've been to Traffic Court 3X

[trackrunner]

So I found out the cop wrote me up for the wrong thing (fat fingered the wrong code ). Wrote me up for a much, much, more serious than a expired licence, no licence failure to ever have obtain a licence. I'm going through real court now. Was aragned on Monday (after asking a clarification question to the Jude pled not guilty), Pre Trial in January then on to trial to prove that he entered a wrong code. I'm going to be requesting a dash cam video now (any tips). I remember his exact words. It will show him handing me back my licence which clearly would prove that I had obtained a licence, had properly handed him my licence, and him informing of the experation and a need to get that corrected.

All this waste of time over what is suppose to be a $30 fine, not jail time.

****en waste of time, **** waste of money, ****en waste of tax dollars

any more tips.

[Cirrus2000]

So I found out the cop wrote me up for the wrong thing (fat fingered the wrong code ). Wrote me up for a much, much, more serious than a expired licence, no licence failure to ever have obtain a licence. I'm going through real court now. Was aragned on Monday (after asking a clarification question to the Jude pled not guilty), Pre Trial in January then on to trial to prove that he entered a wrong code. I'm going to be requesting a dash cam video now (any tips). I remember his exact words. It will show him handing me back my licence which clearly would prove that I had obtained a licence, had properly handed him my licence, and him informing of the experation and a need to get that corrected.

All this waste of time over what is suppose to be a $30 fine, not jail time.

****en waste of time, **** waste of money, ****en waste of tax dollars

any more tips.

That's incredibly ridiculous! You'd think a 30 second call to the DMV would clarify everything...

[cachehiker]

It would be a much better world if you could work things out that way.

I spent Monday in criminal court as moral support for a friend who was pulled over on an 80cc scooter without his "paperwork". It was more interesting than the last few movies I've seen. It's astounding the amount of hassle imposed for some of the most trivial of offenses. Of course the only two people who were actually being granted a trial were the two who obviously had more money than the rest. Almost everybody else was being pled out by a public defender or by an attorney whose time and effort to get them off cost more than they had.

I'd probably walk in to the preliminary hearing with every piece of evidence I have of the mistake as well as a recently renewed license, immediately ask that all charges be dismissed, and hope the judge doesn't want to waste his time or the taxpayer's money with the bother associated with refiling with the correct charges and all that jazz for a grand total of $30.

[uintahiker]

x2 to what cachehiker said.

If you have things lined up, organized, and professional looking the judge will notice. State that you'd hope to have the case dismissed because it's not worth the public money- especially when the purpose of the law has been fulfilled...ie. no more lapsed license.

Be especially diligent when it comes to the paperwork for RENEWING your license. Get a copy of the license RENEWAL paper for an exhibit, and you're good to go.

Good luck!

[Iceaxe]

I'll bet you 10 to 1 that the cop doesn't show up for court and the case is dismissed if you have your paper work in order.

But I have to say.... It's nice to see my tax dollars at work.

[erial]

Don't know how Trackrunner eventually made out, but seeing the following letter in the latest issue of The Sun magazine made me want to add it to this thread . . .


It's 2 a.m., and I'm following my brother north on I-25 to Fort Collins, Colorado. He passes the Harmony Road exit, but I take it, and the race is on: who will get to his house first?

As my speedometer approaches ninety-five, I notice flashing red lights in the rearview mirror, at least a half mile back. I know these back roads well and feel confident I can ditch the police. But why add evading an officer and reckless driving to a ticket for doing forty over the speed limit? Besides, I have another plan.

I slow down to a stop on the shoulder. When the patrolman waks up to my open window and shines a light inside, I tell him I was heading to the hospital and point to my wheelchair in the back.

"Follow me," he says.

He escorts me to an emergency room where I wrestle my chair out of the car, unfold it and climb in. The trooper ushers me through the empty waiting room.

"I think I'm going into hyperreflexia," I explain to the attendant loud enough for my escort to hear.

A nurse leads me to an examination room, where I go through a procedure to relieve my nonexistent symptoms. Thirty minutes later they release me. The patrolman, who has kindly waited, asks if I'm feeling better. I tell him I am. Then he shows me where to sign my $150 speeding ticket. Two weeks later I receive a $430 bill for the ER visit.

My brother won the race.

Curtis Hicks
Lakewood, Colorado

[jman]

. . .My brother won the race.

Haha now that's a funny story.

[Spooky]

A nurse leads me to an examination room, where I go through a procedure to relieve my nonexistent symptoms. Thirty minutes later they release me. The patrolman, who has kindly waited, asks if I'm feeling better. I tell him I am. Then he shows me where to sign my $150 speeding ticket. Two weeks later I receive a $430 bill for the ER visit.

My brother won the race.

Curtis Hicks
Lakewood, Colorado

My brother is a cop and if speeders give him a good story, he'll give them points for creativity and let them go. The best one he heard was, "It's a full moon and we all know how the moon effects water, and since humans are 60% water you can see how I'm being pulled by the moon. Therefore, I am not responsible for speeding."


What the hell is hyperflexia? If my doc taps on my knee and I kick him in the crotch, is that hyperflexia?