STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Christine · Coach

Speeding tickets? **UPDATE**

asf · Kate Spade

RE: Speeding tickets?

Elle · Hermes

My advice is to go down to the courthouse and ask them to reduce your ticket - you'll likely get it knocked down about 25%, especially if this is your first offense. Then, mail them a check for MORE than your ticketed amount ($10-$15 should be sufficient). When you get your refund check in the mail, don't cash it. They are good for 2 years and until you cash it the circle isn't completed and therefore the ticket cannot be finalized and put on your record.

Our insurance is RIDICULOUSLY high as well, not because we're bad drivers but because we are young, unmarried, and on our own policy, so by the time the ticket makes it on FHs record we'll be married and our insurance will have seen a drastic drop anyway. It's worked for us for almost a year so far.

For the record (hehehe) this most recent ticket of FHs was for speeding, however the officer clocked the person in front of us and pulled us over (!). I swear I am not a vigilante on the run from the law!

CarrieS · Marc Jacobs

I'm not really sure if (and if so, how much) my insurance went up. I've had 2 speeding tickets. One for $93 (going 80 in a 65-interstate) and one for $30 (40 in a 25, although the cop was nice and only wrote me up as going 30 in a 25).

Yeah, I'm a speed demon

$220 is lot though. If you weren't going a superb amount over the speed limit, I would try and fight that to at least get the cost knocked down, especially this being your first offense.

Don't worry, we've all gotten speeding tickets, so you're not alone!

-- Edited by CarrieS at 12:13, 2005-04-13

valenciana · Dooney & Bourke

i've been in the same situation...was the back car in a group at the same speed, lucky me. it was also when i discovered my speedometer needs to be calibrated, cause the cop said i was going 80, when i thought i was going more like 90...oops. anyway, i went to court and pleaded with the judge, since i'd had my license for 6 years and only one ticket (for failure to stop at a stop sign, long story but got that dismissed) and the judge was like, "6 years and only one prior ticket? i'll dismiss it if you go to traffic school in the next 60 days." so i did. i still had to pay court fees (~ $30 there) and the traffic school was like $70 and an entire saturday (and horrifyingly boring), but it was less than it would have been, and i didn't get any points on my driving records, woohoo. i did hope the cop would be a no show too though. so i definitely recommend trying to fight it.

can't speak to insurance though, since it was eventually dismissed and i was in college and on my parents' insurance at the time.

Christine · Coach

Thanks for your replies, everyone.

Hmm, the cop said I was going 57 in a 35 (I think he was right, but the road is a highway, in my defense) and I saw him and his radar gun when I turned the corner and got pulled over, but on my ticket, it says that my speed was "estimated", and the "radar" box was not checked off.

I think I may try to get it reduced.

LMonet, you said:

"Then, mail them a check for MORE than your ticketed amount ($10-$15 should be sufficient). When you get your refund check in the mail, don't cash it. They are good for 2 years and until you cash it the circle isn't completed and therefore the ticket cannot be finalized and put on your record."

So should I cash it right before the 2 years is up, or not cash it at all, ever? So you mean that if I never cash that little refund check, the ticket will never go on my record?

lsubatgirl · Gucci

if the box isn't checked I would go to court and fight it. If you've never had one then see if they will let you off or let you go to defensive driving school. DDS is really boring but try to find a half-assed one. I went to one that kept me there for 2 hours and charged me $20 and could care less if we were sleeping! It was worth it so I wouldn't have that ticket on my record. My other ticket though was in another parish and I couldn't fight it in time.

Christine · Coach

On the ticket, here are all the choices that you can check off:

--Posted
--Not posted
--Lidar
--Clocked
--Radar
--Estimated

The ones that are checked off are Posted, Lidar, and Estimated. There are no definitions in fine print on the back of the ticket -- does anyone know what "lidar" means? I have no idea!

Thanks

Elle · Hermes

quote:
Originally posted by: Christine
"LMonet, you said: "Then, mail them a check for MORE than your ticketed amount ($10-$15 should be sufficient). When you get your refund check in the mail, don't cash it. They are good for 2 years and until you cash it the circle isn't completed and therefore the ticket cannot be finalized and put on your record." So should I cash it right before the 2 years is up, or not cash it at all, ever? So you mean that if I never cash that little refund check, the ticket will never go on my record? "

Cash it right before the 2 years is up - after the check expires it would go on your record regardless.

However, since the cop didn't radar you, how can he know/prove how much you were speeding? Since it's your first offense, you might be best off fighting it. If you end up being found guilty anyway and don't have the option of traffic school, at least you can use my way to delay the inevitable!

bliss · Dooney & Bourke

I would definetly contest it! I got my first speeding ticket when I was 18, I was caught in a speed trap on my way back from the beach, I was doing 78 in a 55. When I went to court the officer did show up and I was allowed PBJ, Probation Before Judgement, I am not sure if that is available in every state, but my ticket was dropped from my record, nothing was reported to my insurance agency and all I had to do was pay the ticket, which was like $80. It's worth a shot, the worst that can happen is that they can deny you.

Christine · Coach

RE: Speeding tickets? **UPDATE**

Andrea Julia · Coach

Christine wrote:

*********************UPDATE*********************** Well, armed with confidence thanks to you girls' stories of ticket reductions, I decided to fight the ticket in court. I just got back from the court this morning and I got the $220 ticket reduced to $100 (they changed it to say I was going 45 in a 35 rather than the original 57 in a 35.) I emphasized that the laser gun has to be held absolutely still and that it was a very windy day. I am glad I fought it, it saved me $120 and it only took 10 minutes of my morning. Thanks girls!!

Great news! I think it is ALWAYS worth fighting a speeding ticket. They always reduce it. Anyone I have ever known who has gone to court has gotten a reduced ticket. The first 2 times I got a ticket (a 4 point passing on the shoulder ticket and a 2 point speeding ticket) I didn't know this. Therefore, when I got my 3rd ticket (a 4 point speeding ticket), I was in danger of losing my license because in NJ, you lose your license at 12 points and I had 3 "new driver" points as well (not sure if this is still how it works). So, I came up with all these elaborate stories to explain why I was speeding, but when I got there, I just sat down with the prosecuter and he just said, "We will reduce this to a 2 point ticket." I didn't even have to tell one of my stupid stories. Surprisingly enough, my insurance never went up, even with 11 points and an accident on my record. It actually went down every year. It wasn't until a few years later when I lost and regained my driving privileges and reapplied for insurance, that it went up.