Speeding Ticket

Here's my 2 cents on this:

I had to go to traffic court 3 times. The first 2 times there was a court attorney present, and the ticket was lowered and the points dropped/fine deduced.
In June I got a speeding ticket on LIE near exit 70. I went to the court date in October, and no cop. It was rescheduled for last week. Everyone there had their officer show up, and everyone was found guilty (their was no court attorney). No one had a personal attorney, and no one got a reduced fine. The officiers at these hearings were very prepared. My officer had a majority of the people there. When he was sworn in, he took 10-15 minutes introducing his case (for each person, even if the tickets were from the same day and reason). He described in ellaborate detail when and how he adjusted the speed radar; when and where his patrol vehicle was stationed and even people's responses to their offense at the time.
This was a state trooper and I had to go to Hauppaugue. I don't know if an attorney would have helped.

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Posted by Kel

NEVER NEVER just mail the ticket in and pay the fine.

ALWAYS go to the court on the scheduled date written on your ticket.

In my opinion, DO NOT get an attorney.

I have been ticketed twice for speeding .. about 10 years apart.

Both were in Nassau County .. Long Beach & Hempstead.

Both times they were reduced .. one was dropped down to 'following too close' .. the other was dropped down to 'failure to yield.'

I DID NOT have an attorney for either appearance.

Just go to the court and hear what offer the DA is willing to present to you. Let them do the talking .. say as little as possible .. with a clean record .. they tend to be more forgiving.

Both times I went .. they just looked over my paperwork .. spoke of my clean record .. and gave me the offer .. all I said in the conversation was 'okay.' I never discussed anything about the violation, and they never asked about it.

Also .. I wonder if it is a good thing to just pay the fine and take no points .. you may prefer to take a reduced charge .. to help protect your insurance.

My understanding .. speeding is about the worst offense when it comes to insurance rates .. so it may be better to take a couple of points with a reduced charge than accept speeding with no points.

And I believe if you were offered a lesser charge .. and took a couple of points .. the fine would be much cheaper than if you went strictly with a speeding fine .. those can get pretty hefty.

However .. you may not have a choice in the offers presented to you .. if one is presented at all.

But definitely go to court .. and skip the attorney .. they will not get you a better deal.

Just wanted to add:

In my traffic court experiences .. I have never seen a cop show up for any of the traffic violations being contested.

DO NOT just pay the fine .. it's like throwing money away .. because you absolutely should be able to get this reduced.

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OOPS. sorry for the ill-advice. both my tickets were related to red lights (1 i turned on, the other i went through). again, i just paid the fine (not sure about the pts) and my insurance did not increase (knock on wood).

My sis-in-law is a detective in Nassau and I talk to her about tickets all th time (DH). She advises me to send it in not-guilt, talk to the DA and plead it down. She's been a cop for about 8 years and has only gone to court once for a ticket. The only reason she went is because the guy was a smart a$$. It pays to be nice to the cops/troopers. Oh, and never call a trooper, officer. That will piss them off!

I get to go for a cell phone ticket! How rude. $175! Also, the cop was looking all over my car for other things wrong and questioned my insurance. Searched my backseat...stupid. I'm going to court.

Thank you all for your advice. I spoke with DH yesterday after I calmed down. I just feel that sometimes he can be a bit reckless and it makes me angry b/c he was 'following' his friend, who, incidentally, was the first one stopped, and given a tix as well. He was clocked at 50mph. DH was clocked at 70 b/c he sped and swerved around the guy. When I am in the car with him, I see the spedometer go up occassionally. His insurance is high and the chance of it going higher is not something we need right now.
He has decided to just go on the date given, w/o a lawyer, and pay what he has to. The attorney was going to charge him $380 plus whatever the fine would be. This is his first speeding ticket, so I hope it wont be too bad. He will have to do that 8 hour course on defensive driving and lower what he can in the points given.
Again, thanks too all, I really appreciated your help

The Defensive Driving Course is not that bad .. and yes .. it will take away points already on your license (too bad you can't save the reduction for future tickets) .. and just think of the insurance discount you'll get!

I've been consistent about taking this course for a long time .. simply for the insurance break .. and it will show up on your driving record if pulled in the future for traffic violations .. they had it listed on my record when I went to court.