Speeding ticket - need advice please

[Dragstr05]

A couple weeks ago driving home from my GF's house in PA, I got a ticket on I-95 in MD. I wasnt aware it was a 55mph zone (my fault, but honestly if I knew, I probably wouldnt have slowed down much anyway). The ticket was for 73 in a 55.

I got a letter in the mail just now for the court date and was going to not pay the fine, since I've never heard of anyone going to court and not getting it reduced or dismissed. But I'm having doubts, and after the lecture my mom just gave me about this, I'm thinking I might just get stuck with what I got.

My situation is that I just got a ticket on I95 in MD for 81 in a 65, caught by a speed trap. I just paid the fine, so thats on my record. Am I wasting my time going to court for this? I dont care about the fine, but working in the automotive field, this is just not a good thing for me. If I went looking for another job, these 2 tickets could keep me from getting hired. So does anyone have insight on whether or not this would be worth fighting? Also no sense fighting my speed, I was caught with laser.

 

[DCjuggalo]

i always hire a lawyer they cost about 250-300 dollars but its worth it

 

[Dragstr05]

Perhaps a stupid question, but what can a lawyer do that I cant? I dont know how its possible to even contest what I did, its pretty clear cause there isnt really any room for error with laser.

 

[Shiroelex]

I just fought a 65/40 on Monday. My record is horrible, and I've been suspended 3 times before, but I've not had a ticket in a long time. My record is mostly from my younger days

I ended up just talking to a cop in a room, rather than going through a whole court process, since there were so many people fighting tickets that day. He looked at my record, and said that I only had 3 points left on it, and that this ticket would probably get me stuck in some driving class. He knocked it down to Double Parking for me. Doesn't even go on my record, $170. It's definitely worth it to try.

 

[DropTopPony]

Perhaps a stupid question, but what can a lawyer do that I cant? I dont know how its possible to even contest what I did, its pretty clear cause there isnt really any room for error with laser.

You always hire a local lawyer where the court is, that is if you want the ticket pleaded down to something with no points etc...but if you don't care then just pay it. A lawyer has a far better chance of getting a reduction then you do and the court will take him serious where they will just look at you as another punk kid...sorry but its the truth. I've seen it to where a lawyer knew the Judge (golf buddy etc) and got tickets dismissed or downgraded to non moving violations which saves insurance premiums in the long run. You don't need another 15+ mph speeding ticket on your record! I don't know why you didn't try to fight your first one but its always worth a shot to get it reduced. At the very least go to the court date and speak with the prosecutor and explain that you work as a mechanic and can lose your job for having a bad driving record etc etc and you made a mistake and learned your lesson etc etc.

 

[Dragstr05]

You always hire a local lawyer where the court is, that is if you want the ticket pleaded down to something with no points etc...but if you don't care then just pay it. A lawyer has a far better chance of getting a reduction then you do and the court will take him serious where they will just look at you as another punk kid...sorry but its the truth. I've seen it to where a lawyer knew the Judge (golf buddy etc) and got tickets dismissed or downgraded to non moving violations which saves insurance premiums in the long run. You don't need another 15+ mph speeding ticket on your record! I don't know why you didn't try to fight your first one but its always worth a shot to get it reduced. At the very least go to the court date and speak with the prosecutor and explain that you work as a mechanic and can lose your job for having a bad driving record etc etc and you made a mistake and learned your lesson etc etc.

Good advice, thank you.

The first one I just wanted it out of my hair and didnt feel like dealing with it. My record was pretty clean at this point, so I figured I'd just pay it and forget about it.

If I do go to court, with or without a lawyer, does anyone know if this could end up worse? For example, could something happen that would make me wish I just paid the fine? I did a search about MD traffic court and found that my fine could actually be increased in court!? Can they do that, and why?

 

[DropTopPony]

I doubt they will increase your fine unless you are a total dick in court and disrespectful but i doubt you will act up. I have found that alot of companys will go back 10 years in your criminal/driving record so getting this taken care of could help you. If you plan on staying where you are for a few years then i guess you could just pay. Do you pay your own insurance that would be the important question.

 

[jimfitzgerald]

Here's an idea...slow down. But in the mean time, a lawyer can get it pleaded down.

 

[blacksheep-1]

My recomendation is to get a lawyer, really, the freakin' speeding fines in this country are getting absurd. You can drive I-75 through Georgia and they go from "workers present" back and forth about a hundred times. The thing is, I wish somebody was out there with a shovel or something at least. The only thing that I'm slowing down for is 25 miles of traffic cones, and of course the GA trooper running the laser.
It's getting cheaper to hire a lawyer because you know that you're gonna get banged by the fine and the insurance increase.
If you must fight it by yourself try to find out if that state communicates with your state in driver's points, most do, if they don't then those points in that state doesn't matter. Try to change the court dates several times, cops are mostly overworked and underpaid like everyone else, so sometimes the date changes don't catch up with them, or sometimes they just forget. You could also do what a buddy of mine did, his parents owned a trucking company and every state they had a freight depot he had a license. one said
P. S. Shmedley, one was Paul S. Schmedley, one was Paul Sam Schmedley, you get the idea. You could also subpeona the unit and the paperwork and see if #1, the officer's radar certification is valid, and #2 see if the unit was calibrated THAT DAY IN THAT CAR. BTW, MD has the most pious speed nazis on the planet, they think busting someone for 5 over will change the world. Good luck!
http://www.rockymountainradar.com/
http://www.stalkerradar.com/
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/sound/radar.html
http://www.jammersstore.com/faq.htm
Knowledge is power my friend

and one more: http://www.paynofine.com/

 

[Dragstr05]

Here's an idea...slow down. But in the mean time, a lawyer can get it pleaded down.

Looking at the numbers, yes my actions make me look like a complete moron. Rarely do I ever even go 5mph over, it was just on the interstate and I never thought that 70-75 on I95 would get me a ticket. I just wanted to get home at a decent time, and I didnt think I would get bothered. Stupid reasoning, but that was what I was thinking. Had I not learned from the first time, I would have been doing 80 again.

DropTopPony - I do plan on staying where I'm at for a while, but things dont seem to be too secure where I'm at right now. VA goes back 7yrs for driving records requested for employment. Do I pay my own insurance for work? No, my employer covers that.

 

[DropTopPony]

No i meant your car insurance...thats where they drop your pants here in NJ if you get points so we try to plead everything down here. A stupid ticket like you have could raise my premium several hundred dollars a year.

 

[Dragstr05]

My recomendation is to get a lawyer, really, the freakin' speeding fines in this country are getting absurd. You can drive I-75 through Georgia and they go from "workers present" back and forth about a hundred times. The thing is, I wish somebody was out there with a shovel or something at least. The only thing that I'm slowing down for is 25 miles of traffic cones, and of course the GA trooper running the laser.
It's getting cheaper to hire a lawyer because you know that you're gonna get banged by the fine and the insurance increase.
If you must fight it by yourself try to find out if that state communicates with your state in driver's points, most do, if they don't then those points in that state doesn't matter. Try to change the court dates several times, cops are mostly overworked and underpaid like everyone else, so sometimes the date changes don't catch up with them, or sometimes they just forget. You could also do what a buddy of mine did, his parents owned a trucking company and every state they had a freight depot he had a license. one said
P. S. Shmedley, one was Paul S. Schmedley, one was Paul Sam Schmedley, you get the idea. You could also subpeona the unit and the paperwork and see if #1, the officer's radar certification is valid, and #2 see if the unit was calibrated THAT DAY IN THAT CAR. BTW, MD has the most pious speed nazis on the planet, they think busting someone for 5 over will change the world. Good luck!
http://www.rockymountainradar.com/
http://www.stalkerradar.com/
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/sound/radar.html
http://www.jammersstore.com/faq.htm
Knowledge is power my friend

and one more: http://www.paynofine.com/

Thanks, but fighting a radar gun is useless. I was caught with laser, and the unit number was written on the ticket under "comments" or something of that nature.

I got the ticket a couple weeks ago (mid january) and the court date is mid april...is this an unusually long time period? I thought it would have been scheduled sooner.

 

[blacksheep-1]

That was probably the laser ID or the cops cert #
and no, that's not unusual, they probably "group" the tickets together for that officer. BTW, are they requiring you to show up for court?

 

[04GTMustang]

yea you might be able to fight that. but i got my first ticket a month ago on my bike for 55 in a 45 and it was on a backroad at the edge of the county in the middle of the week around noon. the cops around our area def dont have anything to do. heck its not like i was riding like an idiot. before he even got behind me i had already pulled over and gotten out my paperwork because i saw him flick the lights on. i thought he might let me off with a warning because i was polite and all to him. But thankfully he knocked it down to failure to obey a highway sign it was a smaller fine.

id say fight it you might be able to win just because of ignorance or heck maybe the cop wont show.

 

[04YELLOWGT]

I dont know if this will work where your from as far as the points an insurance go. When you send in the check to pay the ticket, over pay it by like $2-3. Then when they send you a refund check back tear it up and throw it away. They can not add the points untill you are paid back and your insurance company isnt notified either. My brother has done this a few times here in Indiana.

 

[DCjuggalo]

I dont know if this will work where your from as far as the points an insurance go. When you send in the check to pay the ticket, over pay it by like $2-3. Then when they send you a refund check back tear it up and throw it away. They can not add the points untill you are paid back and your insurance company isnt notified either. My brother has done this a few times here in Indiana.

http://www.snopes.com/autos/law/ticket.asp

 

[2002GreyGT]

I would get a lawyer. A lawyer has gotten me out of some serious tickets, speeding dropped, 5 point reckless dropped to 1 point, etc.

Find a local lawyer to the MD area. Try http://tixnix.com/ my gf just used them to find a lawyer a few months ago and her ticket got totally dropped.

A common lawyer tactic is to postpone the hearing a few times, with any luck the new postponed date will be a date the cop won't show up and you get the ticket dropped. This is easy for a local lawyer, but for you it would be a hassel.

Depending on what state you live in, MD might report the tickets to your home state. Some states are good with that, some are slack. Also too many points in a short time will get you suspended (at least here in NC it will).

As for the myth that overpaying a ticket won't get you points...thats not true anymore. 5-10 years ago that worked, but I know people that have tried it in the past few years and still got nailed.

Then save up and get a radar detector and maybe even a laser jammer. I've got a BEL detector and a set of blinder's (m-10's) for jamming laser. I've been tagged with laser and never pulled over. Just remember that jammers stop working when you get with in 500 feet or something like that, but give you those few seconds to get from 75+ down to 65-ish.

Also see about going to school and getting the points you got from the last ticket removed. You can do online driving school now too.

Best of luck!

~K

 

[04YELLOWGT]

http://www.snopes.com/autos/law/ticket.asp

Intresting..... No joke though, my brother has done this and he still hasnt had any points added. Maybe hes just lucky.

I couldnt tell you if it works personaly, Ive never had a ticket.