Anyone have any luck beating a speeding ticket?

[AdmiralViscen]

I got a pretty mega speeding ticket the other day. I've got a month to decide whether or not I'm gonna get a lawyer and try to get my penalty reduced.

I've heard good things about these traffic lawyers before, but before I plunk down $500 on it I was wondering if any of you guys had used them?

I'm in NY btw.

[Bocsius]

It varies from locale to locale.

Here in North Carolina, I've had quite a few tickets over the years. In Guilford County (Greensboro) where I live, I've never been convicted on anything and had it go on my record. An attorney can get it dropped down to improper equipment, which is just a fine (plus the attorney's cost). Or you can appear in court yourself and agree to go to a driving school, that will be 4 or 8 hours depending on if you have taken the course within the past 3 years, I think. Doing so will also get your ticket reduced to improper equipment. What do they care? The local jurisdiction gets their money either way.

In the county immediately north (Rockingham), I got a ticket and only had to take a copy of my clean driving record in order to get it reduced to improper equipment. If the record was not clean, there would have been the driving school option. Again, they still get money.

Mecklenburg County (Charlotte) was completely different. Things may have changed, I don't know, but my ticket in 97 wasn't something I could get completely out of. The attorney I hired told me that the DA would not allow one of his ADAs to reduce a ticket to a non-moving violation like improper equipment, so the best I could hope for is a reduction on the speed. I ended up getting my ticket dropped from 75 in a 55 to 64 in a 55, which (in NC, at least) spared me an increase in insurance unless I got another ticket.

The highest I've ever been ticketed for is 78 in a 55, by the way. I don't know what you're dealing with there.

[AdmiralViscen]

NY bends you over badly. Going 31 or more over the speed limit gives you a cascade of penalties.

The ticket itself can cost from $180-600, it doesn't say on the ticket and I have no idea how the fine is ultimately determined.

You get 8 points on your license for it. If you get 11 points your license is suspended, and every penalty is worth at least 3 points, so I can easily be fucked for even a minor slip up in the next 18 months.

Also if you have 6 points on your license they give you a $100 surcharge each year for 3 years. Add $25 for each additional point. So my one violation adds up to $450 on top of whatever fine they hand me down for the ticket itself.

I have a friend who has a lawyer who he thinks charges $350. I think I'm gonna have to go with that lol. I don't think NY is generous enough to bump me down to improper equipment, but maybe I can get down to the 4-5 points range.

[ToxicAdam]

That is pretty brutal (NY laws). I would go for the lawyer.


I got popped for a +20 mph in Ohio (when I was 20).  4 points, 150 dollar fine and I was "high risk" on my insurance for the next 3 years. So, all told, I probably spent another 1000 bucks in increased insurance fees.

[AdmiralViscen]

Yea, I'm definitely fucked. It's between the $500 and supposedly-$350 lawyers.

When I get married the cars are going under her name, I'm damaged goods.

[brawndolicious]

Get a lawyer.  Were you caught by a cop or by camera?

[AdmiralViscen]

Cop on radar, but by the time he moved I had gone over a hill so I braked and got in the middle lane doing 55. So he never paced me to confirm the speed.

[DJ_Tet]

Jesus 

31 mph over?  I came in with some sympathy but that's just ridiculous.  Good luck I guess 

[FatalT]

My highest speeding ticket was 89 in a 60 by an actual cop. I ended up going to court for it and got it dropped to 75 or so and ended up paying about $300. No points on my license and no increase in insurance. This happened in York County, South Carolina.

[Robo]

I generally just think of it as a dumb-dumb tax and pay up.  I was never caught going fast enough for any point increases, though.  I try to get out of it whenever the cop comes up to my window by looking as white and harmless as possible.  Usually works, too.  I'm like 4 and 6.

[AdmiralViscen]

Yea I've been pulled over a few times btu I always get off. This time he didn't even talk to me, he asked for my shit and went back to his car.

Jesus 

31 mph over?  I came in with some sympathy but that's just ridiculous.  Good luck I guess 

Ever driven in NY?

[DJ_Tet]

Yeah I've driven in NY and NJ.  86 in a 55 is still excessive.

[AdmiralViscen]

Excessive but not abnormal.

[CajoleJuice]

I'm with AV on this one.

[DJ_Tet]

No definitely not.  I thought you got busted in a 45 when I wrote that, 86 in a 55 is a lot safer than say 76 in a 45.  

What sucks is that sometimes you go that fast to get ahead of a bad situation and then boom, right into a speed trap.  It's just bad luck, those points sound harsh though.  I'd do whatever I can to avoid that.

[AdmiralViscen]

I was on the LIE, the guy next to me in the middle lane was probably going 5mph slower than me. He wouldn't get out of my blind spot, that's why I was going even faster than normal.

[Tristam]

Yeah I was going to say >30 over is pretty ridiculous, but then again I've never driven outside the Midwest.

[Joe Molotov]

I showed up but the cop didn't, so the judge said I didn't have to pay.


What? You did say "luck". 

[xnikki118x]

I've been stopped twice for speeding. The first time I sweet-talked my way out of a ticket. The second time I was ticketed and it would have been a few hundred dollars, but I went with my dad to the magistrate hearing and he spoke to the officer and the officer reduced the charge. I paid lik $100 bucks and didn't get points on my license.

It always pays to go to the hearing and be nice and ask for a reduction. Also, I don't know about in other states but in PA, if the ticketing officer doesn't show up to the hearing, your case automatically gets thrown out and you pay nothing.