First Speeding Ticket

A

Aviator16

New member
Alright guys I got my first speeding ticket on monday, I was doing 75 in a 60 out on the highway with no one around, except the cop apparently. Anyway I'm 17, 18 in september. I live in Texas I could not talk my way out of it this guy just wasn't having it. I can take the driver safety course and get deferred adjudication.

I was hoping I could turn to the masters of beautiful cars to help me a bit on some things about fighting my way out of the ticket in court. But most importantly any tactics you guys use to get out of it BEFORE the cop writes the ticket.



Any advice is greatly appreciated,

Thanks as always,



Garrett M.
 
Hey young gun,



Pay the fine and go to traffic school. You're only chance of winning, should you decide

to contest to the ticket, is, well, if the officer doesn't show up to court that day.

I did win once...



...But most importantly any tactics you guys use to get out of it BEFORE the cop writes the ticket.
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1. If you were speeding (ya kinda know these things) don't play dumb.

Sounds a bit corny but i've gotten out of many with, "Hello, officer, you got me.

Not sure just how fast i was going but i was going over the speed limit."

It's not something they hear often... Be polite. Show respect even if you

get the ticket.



I just recently finished traffic school too. Went online: Traffic School - Online Defensive Driving, Drivers Education & Traffic School Courses



:)
 
there are a lot of different philosophies on traveling above the speed limit while not being cited for it.



I have a radar detector (Passpost Escort 9500ix) and love it, but it won't do anything about laser. google guys of lidar and radardetector.net to do some good reading. They're basically the autopia of all things radar/laser detection.



overall - do whatever you need to not have this on your record. Whatever you spend will be saved in higher insurance rates of being guilty for speeding, and will save your butt down the road if you get stopped (clean record) again
 
I say show up to court. Try making a phone call to the station to see what days he works and try to get a court date on the day he is not working. "Hopefully" he will not be able to make the court date (hoping that he can`t make it due to it being his day off and/ or he won`t get rescheduled or payed for OT). If the cop doesnt show up , (it used to be that) you win!

If he does showw up the go to court in shirt tie and jacket, clean shaved no piercings and respectful to the judge. Plead your case (ie. never had a ticket prior/ clean record, appreciative that the officer slowed you down to be safer on the road, and ask for a warning not a fine or to possibly reduce the fine). You have nothing to lose just be extremely respectful and worse comes to worse you take the ticket, go to online traffic school and nothing goes on your record. Just a little pricey that way.
 
Find a lawyer, prefeerably one who is an ex traffic cop or ex head of the PBA. He can get you an equipment violation or something else.



The town gets their $$$$$$ and you get off without points. The money you spend on the laywer will be a fraction of what a 17Year Old would get hit with higher insurace rates for years. In the worst case you loose but that is your best shot.
 
Ok, as a former Police Officer, remember that court is usually easy O/T hours for police. Do not expect that the officer is going to "fail" to show up. "JSFM35X" is right on point in acquiring the services of a lawyer. If you choose not have one, plead guilty. Depending on your jurisdiction, that infraction will can place over 2-4 points on your record. In your brief description, there is no way of explaining your way out of it. Also, take the driving course, get the deferred adjudication.



If you get pulled over again, the best advice I can say is to be polite, have both hands on the steering wheel and do not be verbally abusive. Remember, right after every traffic stop, a diligent officer will document the stop, number of people in the car, weather conditions, direction of travel, ticket y/n, driver's attitude and any deragatory comments. This information is at his/her disposal during traffic court and can/will be used.
 
JSFM35X said:
Find a lawyer, prefeerably one who is an ex traffic cop or ex head of the PBA. He can get you an equipment violation or something else.



The town gets their $$$$$$ and you get off without points. The money you spend on the laywer will be a fraction of what a 17Year Old would get hit with higher insurace rates for years. In the worst case you loose but that is your best shot.
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I've had numerous well earned speeding tickets and this the above advice is the best route. Fighting a ticket without paying into the system is a joke. Find a good traffic lawyer. The lawyer will probably run between $100-150, but the fine will probably end up being the same as whatever your speeding fine is and they'll get you an "Improper Equipment" judgement which is a non-moving violation. You'll easily get the extra $100-150 back as your insurance rates won't sky rocket for the next 3-5 years.
 
ask for probation before judgement, when yuo get to court... they balled it PBJ (not the sandwich lol)... when i was 16 i got a ticket for 69 in a 35... had to pay the fine which was only like 70 bucks, and that was it, no points, insurance company never found out... it only works once, for people with clean records, so im going to keep reading what others have to say for my next ticket, which is bound to happen sooner or later haha. good luck
 
dang jdizzle i wish i wouldve known about that i just got my first speeding ticket im 20, 100 in a 55 got it down to 80, spent 900, and lost my license for 6 mos., but i did get temporary license
 
Go ahead and start talking to the prosecutor / solicitor. It makes a massive difference.



This coming from a guy whose had probably 20-25 tickets for various things in the past eight years. I got my first speeding ticket the week I got my license.
 
Wow thanks for all of the feedback, I'm looking into PBJ that looks like a good option, my ticket is going to be $210 and tack 50 more on if I go with the deferred adjudication route.



longdx,

As for your advice about being pulled over again, (lets hope that doesn't happen), I was not aware of the hands on the steering wheel, I just had them in my lap, but the officer did thank me for the politeness. Thats about the time I wanted to tell him a few choice words about not to giving me the ticket since I was so polite.



jdizzle,

That is crazy you got away with a 70 dollar ticket w/ that much speed, I'm looking into the PBJ route it sounds like it is going to be less headache than sitting through a DSC course for the deferred adjudication, how did you apply for that etc.



To everyone,

Great advice alot of stuff I didn't know and tons of stuff I guarantee I will be using on my next police encounter.

OTGsigns how do I go about talking to my prosecutor?
 
OTG Signs said:
Go ahead and start talking to the prosecutor / solicitor. It makes a massive difference.



This coming from a guy whose had probably 20-25 tickets for various things in the past eight years. I got my first speeding ticket the week I got my license.
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Man...what are your insurance rates like?:wall
 
I say take a look to see if you can find your gonads, fess up, and pay for the ticket. You are guilty and trying to get out of it which is a real chickensh*t way to go. Try being a man and take what's coming to you. No sympathy Bud, none at all. We were all 17 once and most of us didn't even have a car. Just tell your parents about it and go on with it. Lesson learned. Don't be stupid again.

Take it like a MAN and quit trying to weasel out of it like a small boy.
 
Aviator16 said:
To everyone,

Great advice alot of stuff I didn't know and tons of stuff I guarantee I will be using on my next police encounter.

OTGsigns how do I go about talking to my prosecutor?
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Call and ask if you can speak to the solicitor. Sometimes they patch you right through sometimes they require you talk in person to him/her. Your goal is to say that it is your first ticket and you'd like to see about alternate penalties, such as community service, which is what I did with my last ticket.
 
sejodiren said:
Man...what are your insurance rates like?:wall
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Not bad actually. Most of the tickets have fallen off of our revolving insurance years and a lot were never put on my file.
 
i didnt ask for probation before judgement (pbj),i just showed up dressed in dress pants, a white button up shirt, and a tie expecting the worst.. i was standing next to a girl wearing what looked like pajammas who got caught for going 87 in a 40 or something crazy, and a very angry guy who was arguing with a parent the whole time cursing up a storm. i just stood there the judge pretty much just said, that i had a completley clean record, and that i was polite to the cop and that she was going to give me probation before judgement since it was my first offense, im not sure if the fact that i was under 18 played a role or not... i had a buddy tell me about pbj, but i didnt even get a chance to bring it up and she gave it to me... she told a story about someone around the area losing control due to driving at excessive speeds with a bunch of friends in the car, wrecking, killing everyone but herself in the accident, and is now in jail for a long time living with a ton of guilt.. she concluded by telling me she had better not see me back in her courtroom anytime soon... honestly i think i just got lucky..



a lot of people have mentioned the safe driving course thing... i took it, i think it was called defensive driver course, but im not 100% sure.. i took it just for the sake of lowering my insurance rate.. i also have a good student discount.. together i save 15% , but being a teenage guy i still pay out of the a$$ for insurance. i dont even want to think about how bad my insurance would be if i had a ticket or two:faint:... i drive a little differently now a days...
 
I have yet to get a speeding ticket, or even get pulled over for speeding, and i am no grandma. I think all this talk about court and loop holes in the laws is useful, but would it be better if you just didn't even get caught?



Depending on what, where and how your drive you might consider getting a radar detector. Does you car encourage speeding or say, "pull me over please?" Do you just habitually drive fast? Are the speed limits on the roads you often drive ridiculous? like 40 on a road that should be 60?



I have Valentine and passport radar detectors and if you use them right they pay for them selves in avoided tickets and the resulting insurance hikes.



just my $0.02
 
Politeness goes a LONG way. If nothing else, you atleast have a great shot at getting a reduced ticket.



I once got a pretty bad ticket 2 years ago by doing donuts in the snow on a public street. No one was around and it was late at night, but it was ridiculously stupid of me. Officer wrote me up for 12 points (yes, the MAX!). I admitted fault right away and was very courteous to him.



A week before my court date, I went to the courthouse and met with the Assistant DA. No, that wasn't a requirement, but the courts offer such meetings to keep the actual "court time" at bay. Wore a suit and talked to him professionally. Told him that I have friends in local law enforcement and have been on many ride-alongs with them and have immence respect for what they do (all facts). Told him that I am otherwise a responsible citizen who volunteers, is a business professional with a graduate degree, and that it was the first such offense for me ever (also true). Above all, I mentioned that as I had told the officer too, it was a ridiculous decision at the time and I can't believe I did it (true again).



ADA listened intently and...



...I left the courthouse with a reduced charge of driving an unsafe vehicle, a single point violation that doesn't reflect on insurance and costs only $45.



LESSON LEARNED.



I agree with the posters above. Take the traffic class, pay the fine, and move on. 15 miles above limit is not a very large violation, especially on a public highway. It may or not hit your insurance (I had one 8 years ago that never showed). Learn a lesson from this episode and be careful in the future!
 
Absolutely, I told my parents no big there they just told me to handle it without insurance rates going up.



RTexasF,

I'm not trying to weasel my way out of anything, I admit to my guilt, however I posted here to see what some of my options are in order to keep things off my record and the fine low.



Well I'm actually pretty good at the polite business without trying to hard so I reckon I'm going to suit up and go in to court early and see what the judge says. After looking at everything I really can't say which is better, PBJ or Deferred Adjudication, as long as it keeps me clean I don't care much.
 
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