Munku

Well I'd like to take my ticket to court and see if I can get it removed. What are the steps I'd take besides contacting them and what not? What do you wear? Basically how does it work?! Thanks guys..

Willravel

For me it was simple. The cop busted me for going 3 mph over the speed limit. I wore my normal work clothes (probably a kennith cole suit), and made my case (flow of traffic, perfectly safe, my history with professional driving, 100% clean driving record since I started driving at 17, no pedestrians present, etc.), speaking only when spoken to. The judge asked me to leave his office and yelled at the cop for 5 minutes about the meaning of wasted time and city resources. I felt vindicated.

Elphaba

First, have a very good reason to believe that the ticket was not deserved. If you don't have that, it doesn't matter what you wear. If you have a good reason, dress conservatively in respect for the court and judge.

Washington State will sometimes defer a ticket for one year. If no further violations occur during that time, the ticket is dropped from your record. You might check with the court clerk, but they can't give you legal advice. Try googling your state's traffic violation statutes and you might find what you need to know. If you are facing a HUGE violation (DUI), get a lawyer.

Mbnfc

here is a helpful website
http://homepage.mac.com/jpalmeda/tic...s_tickets.html

xepherys

Also, if you ARE blatantly guilty, you can still ask that you don't get points. If you have a fairly clean driving record, just apologize to the court, offer to pay the fines but explain that the points would increase your insurance despite your good driving history and you ask the court to take pity more or less. THey only care about the money in the long run anyhow (more often than not).

ratbastid

Here in NC, there's such a thing as a PJC, a "Prayer for Judgement Continued", commonly known as a "continuance". Sorta like a "do-over". You're entitled to one PJC per household per two years, or something like that.

The way it works here is, you go in to court on your appointed day, and there's a big line of everybody who got assigned that day. You stand in that line until you get to the front of it, where you meet a representative of the DA's office (my impression is, this is Junior Assistant Peon DA grunt work). You say, politely, "I'd like to request a PJC". The DA-dude will look at your file, and, if your record is reasonably clean, will say "Fine". If not, you deal with him--reducing the charge to 9 mph over the limit in exchange for a guilty plea would be a likely next thing to request. Point is, you know the score right there, with the DA guy. It's all worked out.

Then you sit and hang out with the other miscreants. I met a couple of cool old black guys, we shot the shit for an hour or so.

Eventually a judge will come in. Eventually you'll be called in front of the judge. The judge will ask you to enter your plea, at which point you'll say, in a firm, clear voice, "I request a PJC." The DA guy will nod and say, "We have no problem with that", the judge will wave his or her hands over your file, and the ticket will magically go away.

That's how it works in Durham County, NC, anyway.

maleficent

Some states (Mass being one of them) have a 'driver improvement clinic' that you can attend, you pay for the class (which is a lot less than the ticket) and no points go on your license...

Basically be respectful to the judge..

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Gatorade Frost

In Texas (I guess these laws are statewide as opposed to districts/cities) if you have a clean record (I think) you can take a defensive driving class and pay only a small % of your ticket. My good friend brought a 500 dollar ticket down to 101 dollars and a defensive driving class.

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Emo Philips

THGL

When I got my one and only speeding ticket it was, luckily, outside a small town. Someone I worked with told me to go to the County Attorney's office before the court date and ask for the ticket to be ammended to Improper Equipment (broken taillight). I did, they did, and I paid the full price on the ticket (~$85) and there's nothing on my record (since improper equipment isn't a moving violation).

I don't know if that'll work in a larger city or not, but it's something to look into. All they can do is tell you "no" and you can move on to the next idea.

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maleficent

Doing some googling -- I'm assuming that you live or got the ticket in Floriduh...

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kutulu

Damn, Florida sucks. Here in AZ if you do the driving school you don't have to pay the fine and you get no points. You can do it only once/2yrs but there is no limit on how many times. 5 times per lifetime is lame.

Cimarron29414

Average age of AZ drivers: 43
Average age of FL drivers: 87.6

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thingstodo

I went to court in Broward County a few years back at the suggestion of the traffic cop. He said if I had a clean record it would be worth it.

I went to the courthouse and plead not guilty. They gave me a court date. On that date, everyone there got a chance to plead no contest. If you did, the magistrate looked at your record and decided what to do. I had a $120 ticket for 60 in a 45. With a clean record he reduced it to $15 and recorded it as judgement with held. That means it didn't show for points or insurance since there was no judgement. They could bring it back if I had more tickets.

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Suave

I don't know how it works in the States, but here even if you're guilty you could go and try to fight the ticket (but learn your damned lesson ). If you show to court and the cop doesn't (believe it or not, they may have better things to do than defend a little traffic ticket), then you are off the hook; or such is my understanding.

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peterbilt1

Call the courthouse and ask. Here you get traffic school (I'm a recent grad...) and it doesn't go on your record. Call and ask if there's some way to avoid this being on your record.

Munku

Well I did some more research and from what I'm aware if you take it to court and are found guilty at least in Florida they can add court fees onto your ticket. I'll probably just suck it up and pay the ticket and take the course to clear the points. Thanks for all the reponses guys.

thingstodo

I suggest you do a little more checking, as that wsn't the case for me in Florida, (see above) which I think is where you are from based on your screen name info. You should get a chance to plead "No Contest", which means you aren't fighting the charge. Of course, you'll need a clean record for that to help.

To add to what I said in a previous post, my 16 year old son got a ticket for an illeagle "u" turn. He did the same thing and got his ticket cut in half with nothing on insurnace.

I would go to the courthouse ahead of time and plead at the window. You can ask them about the process. Or, talk to a police officer.

Guess I'm saying a little more or different research might be worth it rather than just paying the fine. And what you said is correct...if you finally plead not guilty at the actual final court date, you could lose and pay additional court costs. But there are steps in between - including the no contest version. At the very least this could keep your insurance down.

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If you're wringing your hands you can't roll up your shirt sleeves.

Stangers have the best candy.

intecel

My girlfriend and I just took the 4 hour internet course here in FL. It was very very easy, and really I was only at the computer for about 20 minutes in that 4 hours...

It makes you stay in each section from 15 to 50 minutes, and once you're done with the practice questions, you just leave the browser open on your computer until the time is done...

Oh, and if you don't feel like reading anything, copy all the text into a notpad and search for the answers once you get to the final 40 question test at the end

kutulu

an internet class would be the shit.

nitelyfe

If you've already set a court date, be sure to arrive early and dress with respect. Scan the court for the officer that wrote the ticket. You could luck out if the officer is a no-show.

If the officer is not there to respond to your challenge, and you plead not guilty, the judge can dismiss the case. He can also continue the case, but if it's just a speeding ticket and the violation was not flagrant, he probably would not want to spend any more of the court's time.

If the officer is present at the court, then you can just plead guilty, pay the fine and move on with your life.

This happened once with me. I was challenging the ticket and when they called my name, I went up to the judge. He asked if the officer was present, and the bailiff indicated that the officer had not checked in. The judge looked at the ticket, looked at me, and dismissed it right there. He said, "No use wasting any more of the court's time on this." It was really cool.

Jimellow

I've never challenged a ticket. I am of the mindset that if I speed over the limit and get caught, I pay the consequences.

I never really understood the notion of going to court when legitametly caught speeding. Seems like a waste of time for all parties involved, but I guess it tends to work, so whatever.

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