Lawyers in here!

[Synned]

Well yesterday I got my first ticket...
I was following my friend, and when we got off the highway we were on a back road. After a left turn I sped up and got on his ass just messing around. I knew we couldn't have been doing more than 35 on this road and that I was definetally not doing more than the limit, we just came from a stop.
The ticket is for careless driving, and in the comments it says
Driving at fast speeds
Tailgaiting another driver.

I really don't want 3 points for careless driving.
I guess I will plead guilty to tailgaiting but not to driving at fast speeds?
Does anyone know what I can do?
BTW: This is in PA and cops cannot use radar guns.
Yes, I'm an idiot.

 

[GRGT1994]

My advice, move. I hate PA cops.

It might be worth it to challenge the ticket. With any luck the cop wont show and you might get it dismissed. Just be respectful, and tell your story. Don't admit to doing anything wrong. Just say what you were doing and how you can see how it might have looked odd to an officer.

But I don't know how traffic tickets work in your state, so you might want to ask around there too.

 

[Joes95GT]

First off, who cares. I don't mean that in a rude way, but the three points you're about to get are going to be erased off your record in 2 or 3 years. Just keep your nose clean and you don't have to worry about it.

Secondly, you're going to get the three points even in you plead guilty for careless driving and protest the "speeding" portion. You may just get a reduced fine, which to me, isn't worth the trouble....

Joe

 

[Synned]

First off, who cares. I don't mean that in a rude way, but the three points you're about to get are going to be erased off your record in 2 or 3 years. Just keep your nose clean and you don't have to worry about it.

Secondly, you're going to get the three points even in you plead guilty for careless driving and protest the "speeding" portion. You may just get a reduced fine, which to me, isn't worth the trouble....

Joe

It's not the imaginary "points" I care about, its my insurance...

 

[Joes95GT]

It's not the imaginary "points" I care about, its my insurance...

All insurance companies are different but mine "forgave" my first speeding ticket and never raised my rates....

Joe

 

[95strokerPSU]

Might to try to get in touch with the officer that wrote the ticket and see what he would recommend as far as getting a reduced fine. If it happened within city limits, the Philadelphia traffic court is so easy to get things dropped. I got a 90 in a 55 reduced to a 65 in a 55. Good Luck

 

[gustang818]

I can tell you what I do here in Michigan and PA may be very different. Here, for a civil infraction you can have either an informal or formal hearing.

An informal is in front of a magistrate and it's just you and the cop. I generally like to get there early and try to talk to the officer. Something along the lines of "I've got a good driving record and I have no problem with a paing a fine but I don't want the points on my license. Could we make it defective equipment or blocading traffic (something that has no points) and dismiss the original charge?" Around here they are usually more interested in getting the fine money than putting points on your license unless you have a history of infractions.

A formal hearing is in front of a judge, it can be for a civil infraction or a misdemeanor, the prosecutor repesents the people and the cop is the complaining witness. In that case you're going to speak to the prosecutor. The prosecutor will ask the officer to approve any reduction in charge so it is best to try to run it by the officer first. Most of the time the first opportunity to do that is in the conference room with the prosecutor since they tend to hang out there.

Always be respectful--you get more flies with honey than vinegar. Sometimes you get a cop that is a real d*** and refuses to deal. The only thing you can do then is go in front of the judge/magistrate and explain like GRGT1994 suggested above. Sometimes you get lucky and the cop won't show. Ask for the ticket to be dismissed even if they offer you some deal. It's best to keep the points off your license because once they're on there, if you get another ticket you won't have the opportunity to say you have a clean record.

 

[v6v8swap]

I don't know about the rules in your area, but in my area (Oklahoma) they will defer a ticket. They will do this when you have a good driving record like what you have. They just take the fine money as "court costs" and if you don't get any more infractions in, say six months, they will drop the ticket off of your license and your insurance company will not even know about it. You just have to be really nice driving for six months, because then, if you get another ticket, they will be putting two on your record instead of one. You might check with the municipal court where this happened (call them or something) and find out what can be done. It's worth it to keep it off of your record. Good Luck!

 

[Synned]

Thanks guys, I'll see what I can do about contacting the court and such. I really don't want the three points. Especially since I'm 17...
I really really hope that they drop the points.

 

[SeventyMach1]

This is in PA and cops cannot use radar guns.

I'm trying to determine whether that is a good thing or a bad thing. I guess you will have your pro's & con's either way. Why can't they use the guns?

Sometimes you get lucky and the cop won't show.

This reminds me. Quick related story for you. I was pulled over in Charlotte, NC for speeding a little over a month ago. I was in uniform .... and in a government vehicle. Gave me an 80 in a 65. My court date was set for 7/12/06 at 8:30 PM. So I start looking on the website (in reference to the time). Some of the federal & state buildings in Charlotte are open & running until 9:00 PM. So I didn't think anything else of it. I just planned to go up and pay it on my court date. (would've done it sooner, but I wanted to talk to the officer)

Turns out, they did close things down at 4:00 PM that day. So I kind of freaked, thinking they would try to come & get me for "failure to appear in court". The next morning, I went down to the clerk of court and was going to pay it & see what trouble I was in .... and WHY the citation said 8:30 PM on it. They lady took it from me, then started typing a bunch of crap into the computer, and handed it back to me. She then said, "your fine, ummm, the officer never put it in the system".

So it turns out, either the lady at the desk "hooked me up" .... or the officer did. Regardless, I didn't ask questions and left. I'm also $140 richer. I've driven the speed limit or 5 over everyday since that ticket.



I wish the best of luck to you Synned .... but don't do it again! It will get harder & harder to get dropped (yes, experience talks here). I agree with the above posts .... talk to the officer before-hand.