Advice-Dispute Speed Ticket?

[ForkWest]

Anyone ever plead "not guilty" to a speeding ticket and win?

Truth is, I wasn't speeding! Honest!

Southbound Legacy righthand lane, 55mph speed limit, cruise control set at 57. I was passed by a little green SUV that was moving pretty good. I see the cop and maintain speed, SUV zips on by. I get pulled over. Cited for 71 in a 55. Obvioulsy he clocked the SUV and I'm getting the blame. I tell the officer this, pretty sure that just solidified me getting a ticket.

What can I do?

Do I even have a leg to stand on?

 

[completesportsman]

What did the officer think of your explanation? Just curios...that would be hard to take if I knew I wasn't speeding. I bet you would only loose in court though.

I have had two speeding tickets in my life, and I was speeding. I hired a lawyer, it cost me around $250 each time but I didn't have to go to court and when it was all over I got a letter from the lawyer saying that as far as the DMV, highway patrol, courts and my auto insurance was concerned it was as if it never happened. I figure paying the $250 was better than missing work to go to court or having my insurance premiums go up for 3 yrs.

 

[BigFly]

I would fight it all the way.....and win.
I have before.





Bigfly

 

[ForkWest]

How'd you win?

 

[Feleno]

 

[completesportsman]

Thats the truth Feleno!

When I got my first speeding ticket I went to the lawyers office and took my ticket with me.
He asked if I had any problems with the officer? I said no.
He said you ever had a ticket before? I said no.
He took my ticket to see when my court date was, looked at his calendar to see who the judge would be on my court date and said it'll be $250. I gave him the $250 and that was the end of it!

 

[BigFly]

I had an identical situation that you have. Plead not guilty, got a hearing date set and went in and argued with the officer until he was unsure. I explained there was a lot of traffic and that, in no way could I have been clocked at that speed. I made the officer look like an idiot when I asked him if he had counted the number of cars that had sped by me in the left lane while I spent my entire time in the right.
The judge told me I had a very good argument and threw it out.


Bigfly

 

[Roy]

Well, there are ways that you can successfully argue against a speeding ticket and win, but you have to have your ducks in a row. Unless you have evidence that proves otherwise, it is basically going to come down to your word against the officer's and the court is going to believe the officer 99% of the time (because the officer is right 99% of the time!). Also if you argue it you are going to have to pay the court costs anyway. Basically you have to weigh the cost of the ticket against the cost of fighting it. At any rate, I would at least talk to the prosecutor and find out what options you have. You may be able to take a defensive driving course for ticket dismissal. There are some costs for the course, and like I said you will have to pay the court costs either way, but the combined costs is far less than the ticket in most cases and you can send a copy of the DD course to your insurance provider and that can qualify you for lower rates.

I got a ticket in Wyoming once when I was 17. I was going down a hill in my Chevette and had been passed on the uphill side by a Camaro who had a radar detector. On the downhill the radar detector must have went off and the dude started slowing down and I was gaining on him. The cop didn't actually clock me, but the Camaro. However he pulled me over because I was gaining on the Camaro who was speeding - so I obviously had to be going faster than him! The problem was, that Chevette had a shimy over 70 so bad you could hardly keep it on the road! Tried to argue on the spot to no avail. My out of state plates sealed the deal. Well, the cop explained that because of the pact the Intermountain states had, the fine was only $5 and I could pay him directly. I paid him the cash and hoped he didn't turn it in, of course he did though and my insurance rates went through the roof.

Honest cop!! Darn him! LOL


UTROY
Proverbs 21:19 (why I hunt!)

 

[sageadvice]

Can a guy dispute a speeding ticket and win? Here's how i did.

Back in my younger days commuting to JC, i got several speeding tickets and was warned that getting another might cause me to lose my drivers license.

Headed to Cal Poly for a fun weekend with friends, i was pulled over doing 85 in my 71 SS Camaro. The CHP Officer was nice enough to give me a ticket for 70 in a 65mph zone.

I then took my Camaro into our shop and put on a way larger set of rear tires and wheels, took it to a real mechanic that certified that the speedometer was off by better than 5 mph. I sent the certified mechanic's statement to the Judge, explained that i had just bought the tires and wheels, and he dropped the charge against me without me having to show up in his court.

Would i do that now? No! Back then? Boys will be Boys!!

Joey

 

[dleonard3]

You can pay a lawyer to take care of this, or you can fight it yourself. But if you fight it yourself, you most likely won't win and will have to pay the fine. The best you can hope for is to argue long enough that it costs them more in time and saleries than your fine will cover. Be sure to ask for the read-outs that show your speed, as well as copies of the certifications of the radar gun, and the officer's testing records to show if he/she is actually competent in its use. If they don't have these records, be sure to ask for a continuence until these records can be produced......You might want to handle these information requests and condinuations one at a time.....Ha, Ha. You could really take up alot of their time if you want to.

 

[justr_86]

I got one in washington utah for 45 in a 35. The officer didn't get me on radar because he was out of his car giving someone else a ticket. I told the judge I turned off of telegraph and didn't touch the gas, there's no way I was even going the speed limit especially seeing an officer with someone pulled over on my side of the road.

The judge dismissed the ticket and court costs. The officer mumbled something in the hall as I walked past him on my way out. I don't know for sure what he said but I'm sure it wasn't very nice! Maybe he wanted to take me to fuddruckers?

 

[BuckeyeBoy]

You admitted your were speeding 2 MPH over. In Ohio that is a non-moving violation and no points associated with it. I would ask the prosecutor about changing the speed to 5 or less over and see if it gets you a non-moving, which should not affect your insurance. You could also ask for a brake violation or something else that is a non-moving violation to save your insurance premiums. BTW I was stopped in a small WY town in 08 for 36 in a 30. I got a warning but the town was pretty much on the side of the mountain and I was sick of riding the brakes. Wonder if the Officer was the town mechanic too! The other thing you could ask for is if there is video and you remember as much as possible about the car that passed you speak to the prosecuter and tell them your concerns about the other car and request them to view the video. You don't view the video first and see if it helps out. Most in car cameras record 30 seconds to 2 minutes in advance of the camera being activated.

 

[archerelk]

I made a public information request for the officers service records. If he has anything negative in his file, they just throw the ticket out (at least in my case).

 

[philthy]

If you don't get off the hook, ask about taking a defensive driving course to keep it off your record. I did after getting one and gave a copy of the completion certificate to my insurance company. The nice folks at USAA then gave me a 10% discount on my premium. Go figure!

 

[stinky]

The cop carries a notebook w/him and every encriminating statement made will be in that book. Did you make any? If he doesn't present any statements, you probably should ask him why not. There are court rulings that say that he has an obligation to collect all evidence and provide them to the defense. I don't know the names of the cases and I don't know how it pertains to traffic Ct.

He is under no obligation, in court, to present your side of the case, but prior to the courtroom, he has an obligation to collect all types of evidence.

Now, there are books on this, you may want to check your local library, or maybe the internet.

First off, show up, you;d be surprised what that does for you, especially if he doesn't.

Ask when his unit was calibrated. I bet if you look up the manufacturers of RADAR units on the Internet, it has such data. Get close to a copcar and find out what kind of unit they use. They do have an office in your area. Also, I bet that the HP has a website, look on it for info.

Ask how does he know that the car locked onto was yours. Know what the beam width is at the distance you were at and ask if it was possible that the other car was the one locked on to. (BTW, if he had LAZER, the beam width is very narrow). If he doesn't say very wide, I don't know if I'd call him a liar, but I'd have data that shows he isn't telling the truth, from 2-3 sources and present it.

Also, he has been in traffic court a million times and in some ways it can be worse than other courts...stress wise.
John 14:6