First Ticket in the 70...

[MistaGavin]

Well guys I got my first speeding ticket of my life in the 70 (I'm 19). He said I was going about 67 in the 55 when I came over the hill. My radar went off about the same time I saw the unmarked black crown vic come into sight. By that time he had his lights on while he was still coming towards me. He was nice and marked it down to 63 which dropped the fine and points, but do you guys think I should still go to court? The fine isn't bad, it's the raised insurance i'm worried about.

[yob2kanobe]

Go to court and tell em the 40 year old speedo wasnt reading correctly

[fastwillie 696969]

pay the fine

[AirSpeed]

Pay the fine and go to your room without dinner!
Posted via Mobile Device

[Fldawg]

You Have to think were you speeding, if so pay the fine and go on , don't waste your time in court

[69heavychevy]

Absolutely go to court, ask the judge if theres anything you can do to keep it off your record i.e. deferred adjudication or defensive driving, or even get a reduced fine as well. You'll still have to pay the fine but your driving record stays clean.

[WestButteTruck]

Been in your shoes, I gave up my license for 60 days and paid the fine. Giving up my license allowed it to not go on my record.......I had just got my license too! Life lesson I guess. I speed on occasion and hope I don't get caught. It's a choice and a chance we take. I don't take much stock on those radar detectors though.

[gotchamel]

Originally Posted by 69heavychevy

Absolutely go to court, ask the judge if theres anything you can do to keep it off your record i.e. deferred adjudication or defensive driving, or even get a reduced fine as well. You'll still have to pay the fine but your driving record stays clean.

Good advise.

[wwotr]

Originally Posted by MistaGavin

Well guys I got my first speeding ticket of my life in the 70 (I'm 19). He said I was going about 67 in the 55 when I came over the hill. My radar went off about the same time I saw the unmarked black crown vic come into sight. By that time he had his lights on while he was still coming towards me. He was nice and marked it down to 63 which dropped the fine and points, but do you guys think I should still go to court? The fine isn't bad, it's the raised insurance i'm worried about.

Tough Love Alert here.
Obviously you have a Lead Foot, or you wouldn't have a Radar Detector in your Vehicle.
The fact that the Officer wrote you up for 63 instead of 67,
consider yourself lucky.
Why would you go to Court to fight it, you were speeding....correct?
It seems to me, you did wrong and now are just trying to get out of the Ticket, so you wont have "Raised Ins Rates".
Probably should have thought about that, BEFORE this incident.

Usual rule of thumb is if your going 9 MPH (or under) the posted speed limit, then its pretty much "Rule of the Law...vs...Letter of The Law".
Anything OVER that, and it's pretty hard for the Officer to
"Look The Other Way".
I suggest you "Belly Up To The Bar", and take your Medicine.
You were speeding and that's against the Law.
Suck it up.

Maybe I'm partial because I have a Spouse that's been in L.E. for over 15 years, so I hear a lot of this.
That's why Police Departments, have there Radar Guns Calibrated Regularly, and their officers (most of the Time) are trained in "Visual Speed Detection", so even if there WASN'T a Radar Gun involved, if the Officer has gone to training in Visually Detecting your speed, then their Testimony is just as good as a Radar Gun.

Understand that my post here is not to attack you, but to take responsibility for your own actions.
(Lecture off)

ADENDUM: and if you go to Court, the Officer has to go to testify.
Even though they get paid a goodly ammount for it, it DOES take time out of their day.
My Spouse works 12 Hours shifts and the LAST thing they want to do is to show up in Court because YOU don't want your Insurance Rates to go up.
The Officer could be home sleeping, and getting that much needed rest, before they go back in and make those streets you Speed on, Safe.

Back in 1975 I got my 1st Ticket EVER.
It was for "Engaging In A Speed Contest" while Cruising on a Friday Night.
I went to Court and requested Traffic School.
(After all this was my FIRST ticket).
The Judge looked at me and said....
"Son you better get a Lawyer because this is worse than Drunk Driving"!

[rsavage]

In New York State, you send in your ticket with a plea of guilty or not guilty. If you choose not guilty, you more than likely will get to talk to the Town or municipality's prosecutor before seeing a Judge. You can ask the proscecutor if you can go to an safe driving school (usually an all day Saturday gig) and get the speeding reduced to a non-moving (no points) infraction. After completing the school you return to court and you pay a fine for a parking ticket for example. I don't know what the process is in Alaska, but there may be a similar way for you to mitigate the damage to your insurance rates that points cause. Call the court and talk to the court clerk. Ask what you can do to get it reduced. The advantage in New York State for Towns to reduce tickets and use traffic school is that they get to keep all the revenue from say a parking ticket - they only get a part of a speeding ticket fine as the bulk goes to the state. Perhaps Alaska is the same? Good luck and slow it down.

[Boog]

You can pay the ticket or you can go to court and pay the ticket plus court costs.

[CParnell]

If I get a ticket I always go to court to see if I can get the demerits taken off. I'm happy to pay the ticket, I'm usually guilty........... I usually have a good chat with the officer on the side of the road, no hard feelings.

[Palf70Step]

I am a hard xxx when it comes to this. When my daughter got her ticket I did not give her the option to try and opt out for traffic school. She made a choice, accept the consequences for making a less than good choice.

Oh, I have had my share on and off over the years too, so I make dumb moves too.

[70cst]

Interesting replies...all points are worth evaluating

[big_al_71]

Pay the ticket and slow down
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[MusicMan70]

I've got a wet noodle with your name on it...traffic school?

[fastwillie 696969]

dont want this cop after ya

[rpmerf]

Around here we have 'guilty with explanation.' Basically go in, give them an excuse for speeding, they drop the points, your on probation for 6 months, and the fine goes up due to court costs. As long as you don't get any other tickets for 6 months, the points get dropped.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Pay the fine and move on...

[Already Gone]

This is my personal opinion. I do agree that if you are speeding, 99.9% of the time you know you are speeding so you should plead guilty and pay your fine. What I do not agree with is the insurance company getting your license info ( however they get it) and bumping your insurance rates because you got caught once going 12 mph over the speed limit. I was an Auxiliary/Reserve Officer with the RCMP for 9 years and did lots of Highway Patrol work and stiil feel that speeding doesnt make you a bad driver.

[laplander]

How much is your time worth? You said you're 19, so I don't know if you're a student or out in the work force, but look at it from a money standpoint. If you're knocking back 300 a day, pay it and forget it. If you're a college student, take it to court. If it's going to mean 2 hours out of your day for court, and then 8 for traffic school, you're out 10 hours plus whatever your fine is. If that keeps it off your record and keeps your insurance from going up then I say go that route. Plus, there is always the chance the cop won't show up which means it gets dismissed, or it use to when I was a kid......

[brad_man_72]

I've made my insurance company enough money (no claims 14 years) full coverage and "no moving violations" I pay more up front for a lawyer to take care of it. I pay enough for how I drive in tires and gas. I don't mind the occasional ticket I deserve it, the insurance company already gets more than enough of my money so I get it reduced to non moving violation.

[LEEVON]

I've gotten more speeding tickets than I can count and no I'm not proud of that. . But every local municipality has a plea bargain arrangement, usually you pay a higher amount for a lesser violation. Most of the time you can show up in court, sometimes they require an attorney appear for you which is a pain and costs more money. The highway patrol tickets are more serious because they usually allow you to do traffic school and get rid of points for one ticket in a certain period, get another and you get the points.

The last speeding ticket I got, I called the court clerk at the number on the ticket as I drove away and was able to plead guilty in exchange for a non-moving violation and pay with my debit card right there on the phone, ticket in hand. Got a receipt in the mail a month or so later.

Just call the court and ask what to do, don't fight it. You were speeding, pay and move on.

[MistaGavin]

Originally Posted by yob2kanobe

Go to court and tell em the 40 year old speedo wasnt reading correctly

This is what my 60 year old father suggested, but then they might want proof from a shop that it gets fixed. Regardless, if the Troopers radar/laser went off and it said 67, I guess I can't say it's wrong. It was very considerate of him to knock it down 4mph to save me a couple points and a chunk of change. In other words, I know I was speeding but the (ridiculously, perhaps) increased insurance rates might come back to me. Really the only true explanation I have is I didn't think I was speeding, I am just getting used to driving the 40 year old rig after driving my newer f-150 for a few years. In fact after I saw the radar go off, I didn't think much of it, and didn't bother to slam the brakes (might have been suspicious this way anyhow), it was only when he turned his lights on 60 feet in front of me that I realized I broke the limit. This was a good lesson. Not saying I won't speed anymore, but I will speed less, and have a better idea when it is safe to do so

wwtor, the main reason I have my radar detector is probably because it reads out the voltage very accurately and it has a pretty handy compass. And if your wife is getting paid to go to work to do her job, don't see where the problem is-I am a citizen and I have the right to trial. Says so on the ticket!

After doing quite a bit of research and talking to a few people it seems like the best idea is go to court, even if it means nothing happens. I can't really lose anything and will gain experience with the law at the least. It's worth the shot that the Trooper might not show, or the judge will give me an alternative break on the 2 points. After all, it might pay off for a broke college kid with more time than money. At the least I will call to see if any alternatives are available besides court or suck it up and pay.

[wwotr]

Originally Posted by MistaGavin

This is what my 60 year old father suggested, but then they might want proof from a shop that it gets fixed. Regardless, if the Troopers radar/laser went off and it said 67, I guess I can't say it's wrong. It was very considerate of him to knock it down 4mph to save me a couple points and a chunk of change. In other words, I know I was speeding but the (ridiculously, perhaps) increased insurance rates might come back to me. Really the only true explanation I have is I didn't think I was speeding, I am just getting used to driving the 40 year old rig after driving my newer f-150 for a few years. In fact after I saw the radar go off, I didn't think much of it, and didn't bother to slam the brakes (might have been suspicious this way anyhow), it was only when he turned his lights on 60 feet in front of me that I realized I broke the limit. This was a good lesson. Not saying I won't speed anymore, but I will speed less, and have a better idea when it is safe to do so

wwtor, the main reason I have my radar detector is probably because it reads out the voltage very accurately and it has a pretty handy compass. And if your wife is getting paid to go to work to do her job, don't see where the problem is-I am a citizen and I have the right to trial. Says so on the ticket!

After doing quite a bit of research and talking to a few people it seems like the best idea is go to court, even if it means nothing happens. I can't really lose anything and will gain experience with the law at the least. It's worth the shot that the Trooper might not show, or the judge will give me an alternative break on the 2 points. After all, it might pay off for a broke college kid with more time than money. At the least I will call to see if any alternatives are available besides court or suck it up and pay.

And you've just proved my whole point.
You Sped.
You broke the law.
You were cited.
You don't deny you were speeding......
but your still looking for "Technicalities" to get out of your own mess,
that NO ONE got you into, except yourself.

Your not "owning it", and you STILL don't get the point!
If you WERE "owning it", you'd pay the Ticket/Fine and tuck it under your Belt as a "Life Experience" and LEARN FROM IT!

I can only hope the Officer shows up, the Judge doesnt let you off,
and you waste your Time/Money.