Silkroad Online Forums

Well... i decided to quit SRO on friday night and went home. I just got back a few hours ago and got a speeding ticket on my way back to college. I was going 75 in a 70mph freeway but the officer that pulled me over said he clocked me at 85 in a 70mph zone. So, he gave me the ticket with a fine of $144.00. I am planning to do a "Contested Hearing" which is one of the three options I have. Here are my options:

Option 1: Pay the fine and have the traffic violation go in my driving record which can and will cause my insurance rate to dramatically go up.

Option 2: Mitigation Hearing - Agree to have committed the infraction but want a hearing to explain the circumstances. The traffic violation may go in my driving record.

Option 3: Contested Hearing - I want to contest (challenge) the infraction, I did not commit the infraction. They will send me a court date and I will promise to appear on that date. The state must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that I commited the infraction. I know I can require (subpoena) witnesses, including the officer who wrote the ticket, to attend the hearing. The court will tell me how to request a witness's appearance. I understand that this will go on my record if I lose and "traffic" is checked on the front.

So... I am doing Option 3. However, the only problem is the officer said he clocked me going 85 but according to my speedometer, I was never going over 80mph. The car in front of me was going at least 80 mph and the officer must have clocked him instead of me. Who knows, some officer are never good at aiming these radar guns.

Anyway, my friends told me that it will be hard for me to win because the officer clocked me at that speed, 85mph, and chances are, they won't believe me over an officer.

So what to do? I can pay the fine but I do not want this to be in my driving record especially when it did not happen in the first place.

Anyone had this same issue before?

Well at least you have a chance, so just take it. And yea i dont think they will believe you and they might think your lying well good luck dude...

what does it hurt not to try? cop's hate having to go and mess with the violation being contested.

But remember you contest it you get those lovely court fees, usually its better just to pay it. Usually only get out of it if the officer filled out the report wrong.

yep.
don't listen to posters who can't even drive yet, ie the first two who posted. you won't win in court, the cop said he clocked you at 85, you don't have proof that he's wrong and his word is stronger then yours. only choice is to pay it and take the mark.

Court fees? Ugh.... see... this is what I'm thinking. It will probably cost more to contest it than just leaving it off my record. I hate cops who think they are always right.

When he first approached me, he told me that he clocked me at 85mph and he asked me how fast I was going. I said I was going around 75 but no more than 78, and he said. "Okay, you had your chance"

What did he want me to do? Lie and say "Okay officer, you are right, I apologize for going 15 miles over the speed limit" If I was actually going at 85mph, then that's what I would have said. But this is not the case.

And my parents are paying for my insurance too, I don't want them to pay more than they have to and for no reason.

My friend got his driving record differed when he got a ticket for drag racing. But not sure how this will work with me. Like I said, I can pay the $144.00 fine but probably nothing more. Unless the court fees will not cost more than $100.00 then I should be able to handle it.

What?

If you're over the speed limit you're over the speed limit. What are you gonna say in court? "Well sir I was going 75 in a 70, so I figured it didn't matter anyway."

Just pay the fee and take the mark against your record, it's not worth the hassle and you will most likely lose the case.

I was about to say this.

the way i see it, you were still driving over the speeding limit, whether by 5mph or 100mph, you still broke the law

just pay the ticket and get on with your life

Well, did you guys know that if there is a mistake on the ticket, even the slightest thing, even the time of which the incident occurred will cause the ticket to be invalid?

+1, and you dont have any proof but words to say that you didnt.

Just pay the fine >_>

however, if the cop doesn't show up, u win.

Doesn't matter dude, unless you're planning to lie in court, which will get you in even deeper shit.

Whoever said I was gonna lie? As far as I was concerned, my speed never went over 80MPH.

But... I will call the courthouse tomorrow and request for a deferral. It's my first ticket and apparently, after continuous research, I am allowed to a deferral of a speeding violation once every seven years. So a year after the infraction occurred and with no other traffic violations within that period of time, the traffic violation will be removed from my record

Yes, however, you would have to come up with proof that any of things provided on the ticket were wrong, which is pretty hard to do unless you had a video camera and caught every single detail.

Well, you said you could get a deferral which is still only a postponement, and you still have 1 year to have no traffic violations. I'd suggest you drive smart during those 12 months XD.

No, I've not had this issue personally.
Seems to me you want Door #2 Mitigation.

Judges don't give a crap about your 'technicalities' if they see you as wasting their time.
You will admit guilt (that you were speeding) during the trial (if you insist on #3).
You might have more success if you challenge the officer's calibration of the radar, but this takes some expertise. I've heard of trials where it was proven that trees were speeding, but that is back in the day...

Going before a Judge and saying,

• "yes, I was speeding but..."
• "no, I wasn't going 85 MPH"
• "my speed just crept up on me"
• "The traffic was light"
• "It was daytime"
• "There was clear visibility"
• "I was not driving in an unsafe manner, given the conditions"
• "I have a spotless record other than this"
• "My speedometer was defective and I can prove it (the Gee, I didn't know, defense)
• "I don't want my insurance to go up"
• "I will volunteer for Your Honor's favorite charity"
• "My dad's gonna kill me"
• "I got a 4 point GPA"
• "I passed my Driver's Ed class with excellent marks"
• "I keep my vehicle safe and in excellent running condition at all times"
• "I have a safe driver discount with my insurance and don't want to risk it."
  
  ↑↑ All are mitigating circumstances or factors ↑↑

Mitigation will be seen in a better light than contesting it and being seen as 'thumbing your nose' at the system. You 'could' try googling "how to beat a speeding ticket" if you insist on choosing Door #3.

More info found > HERE <

~Grandpa

DISCLAIMER: Grandpa does not support impediments to Justice.

PS. If you are going the 'deferral' route be certain of the terms. A deferred sentence is an admission of guilt (and I don't like that because you would be lying - agreeing that you were going 85MPH without mitigation). They typically defer the sentence conditioned on your spotless driving for a period of time. Let's say you defer then next month (or six months later) you get another ticket. Ba-da-bing! Both your current and your past probs catch up with you and you are wham-slam-dunked for the count.

If you are going with the deferral, get a bumper sticker that says, "Support your local Police Department" and slap it on there real quick like (to cover the 420 stickers you might have there now ). Also, consider selling your car and getting a compact sedan or wagon, gray color, nothing sexy, something that is invisible to cop 'radar', the kind they don't look for...

Most likely you will not win so I would go ahead and pay it. But if the insurance raise is more than that of court fees, then maybe you could try going to court.

I've gotten a 17mph over the speed limit ticket and my insurance didn't go up.

I've also gotten clocked at 15mph over the speed limit and the cop let me go ^_^

It costs time and money. This is a part of a cops job and they get paid for it.

QFT

If he could prove the officer was in the wrong it doesn't matter if he was breaking the speed limit. He'd get off, if he had a nice judge that is.

I didn't see in this thread that he hurt anyone. Just a law.

Correct, see my above statement to Reise. The officers signature is the only proof needed, even though it's not proof. You may not even see the officer in the courtroom.

Neg^

Apologize for the baby. T_T
Code: Select all

GL w/the state

I would just kill myself.

it's the easiest way to end this shizz.

Well, good luck finding a judge that is going to ignore your infraction because an officer exaggerated the speed. IF he actually exaggerated it.

I'd always take the words of a civilian over a pigs. Unless the person's mental, of course.

*hint hint* IF the cop doesnt show up, for some reason like i dunno, his face gets bashed in...

Thankfully I live in Pennsylvania. Unless you are a state trooper (which are rarely around except on turnpikes) a cop is not allowed to wield a radar gun. I am not sure if this applies anywhere else. Unless it is obvious, cops will not pull you over here on petty speeds considering they cannot tell your speed.

Almost everyone here beats their speeding tickets lol.

He's right. Since he's a cop, theres no possible way to win. It's only 144$, I'd just pay it and get it over with. It's really just a waste of time and money tbh... =/

i lol'd
It doesn't matter if it's 1 or 1000, extortion is extortion.

i would have picked option 1

time to turn emo.