Speeding ticket

65 is too slow especially when roads are empty. If everyone contested their tickets it would clog up the courts and they would have to change the speed limits or hirer more da's.

great! so then i can pay more taxes because people who knowingly broke the law decide that, instead of owning up to it, they're going to "clog the courts" to enforce some change. what sort of law do you propose, a "65 if there's traffic but faster if there isn't"? boy, that sure sounds like the sort of rules we should have. no ambiguity there.

righhtt wrote:

65 is too slow especially when roads are empty. If everyone contested their tickets it would clog up the courts and they would have to change the speed limits or hirer more da's.

Exactly why people should contest them. Drive faster than the law says and you should pay a fine.

"Don't whine, pay the fine."

[brought to you by an American rhyming for no apparent reason]

Oops, that's "should NOT" contest them.

If you get pulled over, pay the damn fine.

First, for those who say, "He was speeding and should just pay the ticket": that is a matter of interpretation. All radar guns are not infallible; in fact, radar guns them have at least a +/- 7mph error rate for any speed over 55 mph. That error rate tends to increase as the drivers speed increases. So if you were going 65, it is feasible that the radar gun may record either 55 or 75.

To begin, you should call and speak to the court clerk. Explain the scheduling error on the ticket. Also explain the geographical situation with regards to your defense and see if there is a better, cheaper, easier solution.

Should you choose to plead not guilty and go to traffic court, there are several avenues you can take. All of these require you to be very proactive. You will most likely spend more time and money than the ticket costs, but it may save you insurance points and gives you the satisfaction of not having to pay the cop. Here are a few possible defenses:

-Argue the officer was incorrectly trained. This requires you obtain a copy of the law for police officers to use a radar gun in Kentucky and a copy of this particular officer's training records (from his/her 1st day on the job to today). This worked great for me since the cop refused to give me the documents. Who knows if he was really trained or not? While most cops will show up to the court date every time, the last thing they want to have to do is dig through the records for all your documents in order to fax you numerous amounts of paperwork. There is a lot of paperwork involved in that including checking out documents from records, creating new reports to track the fax, etc.

-Argue the radar gun was improperly calibrated. This will require the radar gun manual and maintenance log from the police officer. Again, more paperwork for the cop.

-Argue that the radar gun was improperly used. Situations such as the cop was positioned on a blind turn, the cop was too far away, the cop claims to have pointed the radar gun at your front vanity plates (which you don't have), or the cop clocked you when you were in the center lane, surrounded by traffic. This will require the radar gun user manual and possibly photos of where the cop was located when operating the gun vs. where your car was.

When in doubt, request as much data from the cop as possible. Make this as painful as possible for him/her.

Good luck

I am also curious for those saying that this person should just pay the ticket.

Let's say you get in trouble for the first time in your life. Maybe you have a few drinks and get nailed with a DUI. Do you just automatically plead guilty and take the 2 year ban on your license, go to jail for a year or two, and let it get stapled to every job application you will ever fill out (all time frames will change slightly with your state)? Or do you go to court and try to have the sentence reduced? Maybe incur the fine, do lots of community service, attend rehab, etc? Maybe argue that this is your first offense and that you have a wife and kids to support and that you messed up once and should be given a second chance?

Beaten a ticket,

Is all that really worth your time to try to beat a ticket? Regardless of whether or not radar detectors are super accurate or not, I bet that guy knew he was going 10 MPH over the speed limit (at least). Usually you know if you were or not.

Man, 10 miles of ther speed limit -- go pay a fine. If it's taking too many points off your license then that should be a clue to you that you're not a good driver and you need to change your habits.

Beating a ticket isn't evidence of manhood. Owning up to mistakes is.

No one said anything about beating a ticket being evidence of manhood. If you were innocent, Flagpole, would you fight? If you were clocked going 2 mph over, would you fight, knowing the radar gun is probably wrong?

speeding tickets are a little bit different than criminal charges. at any rate, speeding tickets almost always come with a "plea bargain" on the payment form (i.e., pay a fine and attend traffic school and don't have to report it to anyone).

chuck d,

Insurance companies get copies of your driving records from the state each year. Many states forward on to the person's home state any infractions that are incurred. Speeding tickets cause rises in insurance. So, I will spend my time and efforts to try to reduce or beat a ticket in order to avoid my insurance going up. That is my prerogative and it is yours (and Flagpole's and everyone else on here who disagrees with me) if you choose to just pay the ticket and incur the possible rise in your premiums.

You are correct that criminal charges are different from speeding tickets; they are much more serious and they cost the courts much more money to process. There are numerous hearings, meetings, etc for criminal charges (all of which are quite boring) whereas traffic court has a 10 minute hearing in one day and all is done.

Beaten a Ticket wrote:

No one said anything about beating a ticket being evidence of manhood. If you were innocent, Flagpole, would you fight? If you were clocked going 2 mph over, would you fight, knowing the radar gun is probably wrong?

If I were clocked going 2 MPH over the speed limit and given a ticket for it, I would think it odd that they wrote me a ticket for that (since usually police officers will allow for inaccuracy of radar equipment and not give you a ticket unless you're going much faster than that), but as long as I knew I really was going 2 mph over the speed limit, then yes I would pay it.

I got a ticket for going 42 in a 35 (and I was SLOWING down as I was entering town). Well, in that small town that Barney Fife cop got me so I had to pay. I wasn't happy about it, and about 20 yards past the sign I would probably have been right at 35, but he got me speeding nonetheless, so I was guilty and deserved to be fined. Much more worth my time to leave that local yocal and pay $65 than fight it. Besides that, technically (and that's all that matters) I broke the law so I had to pay. That was 11 years ago. Haven't had a ticket since.

i have no idea what happens in your state (or KY for that matter) but, in mine, if you pay a fine and attend traffic school (you can even do in online), it doesn't go to the insurance company. my understanding has always been that most, if not all, jurisdictions have similar options.

A DUI is a hell of a lot different from a speeding ticket. I don't understand you dumbasses who say the guy should fight this thing. It would be one thing if he actually had a case, but he doesn't. For those of you that hate speeding tickets like I do, you should just man up and buy a Valentine Radar Detector, one of the best purchases I've ever made. Some people on this site are serious spoiled brats, how else do you explain these people that get CAUGHT speeding and don't want to pay. Yeah, it sucks, but you just look like a whiny bitch for trying to get out of it. I understand that he was only going 10 over, but he must be a moron not to know that cops start pulling people over at 10 over in most places, especially on the highway.

Either pay the ticket or go to traffic school, you f***ed up. I would suggest you go to traffic school, buy a Valentine detector, and go on speeding. Just quit being such a goddamn bitch.

chuck d,

Wow, KY is a lot more understanding than PA. Although, PA may have changed their policy since my last ticket, which was (knock on lots of wood) several years ago. After that ticket, I did as another posted suggested and bought a radar detector. At that time, PA did not offer the traffic school. I was accused of going faster than I really was (and yes, I was speeding, but not as much as the cop suggested). So the choice was either fight or pay. I fought. Hopefully I never have to find out if PA changed the rules.

brawn,

Yes, a DUI is a hell of a lot different; however, the person in question is still no less guilty. "Being a man" and admitting mistakes goes for everything, not just the stuff that can be easily erased from ones life.

All the cops I have known (both staties and locals) don't start pulling over until 15 over b/c of the known limitations in the tracking equipment.

BTW, after my last ticket, I went the same route as you: I bought a radar detector.

Why people wait until they get pulled over to buy detectors baffles me. If you tend to speed, which I do, and most drivers do, a good radar detector is the best investment you can make. To all of you who speed, go buy one of these right now, make it an xmas present to yourself. Valentine makes the best ones and they come with a damn good deal.

This guy on the other hand, is guilty and he should pay (or do traffic school). I am all for battling injustice when I see it, but this your own fault. This is not an injustice, you knowingly sped on a highway and were not paying enough attention, and got pulled over. I have never gotten a speeding ticket because when I sped I was always incredibly wary (and probably had some good luck). After a while I realized I wanted to relax some while driving, and went ahead and bought a detector. Original poster, you are not being ripped off, you are not being persecuted. You just made a pretty common mistake. You are no better than the millions of other people a year who have to pay traffic tickets. You seem to think you have some sense of entitlement, but you don't. Pay your fine, learn your lesson, buy a detector so it doesn't happen again.

you better beleve he should just pay the fine. own up to your mistakes, jackass.

Although I don't agree with your post, I will repsond to it. You asked 'why should he pay it?' Mainly becasue he said he lives FAR from the court and was on vacation. Your entire post is for showing up in court which is unlikely in his case. He lives too far from the court (or at least that's the way I read the post).

And yes, I've gone to court many, many times on citations and sat across from collegiate lawyers such as yourself.

nanny-state regulations like speed limits and seat belt laws are scary and oppressive.