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Got a speeding ticket. Pay it, or go to court?

iMac-Knight said:
As long as you under 20 miles over the speed, it won't hurt your insurance. 70 in a 50, would hurt, but 67 in a 50 would only hurt in fine, not points. One reason it pays to be nice to the cop.
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about your sig "Breaking News!! Microsoft reports the failure of Windows 7 Beta. Orders halt to new OS... "

legit? i saw in another thread something about a Windows 7 but i never really looked into anything because i hate windows xp as it is. but is there a failure of this Beta thing? :p
 
road-trip-03-g.jpg
 
They are pretty harsh over there in america. in the UK you can quite easily go quick without being caught. on the motorway the average speed, after rush hour is probably 80-90mph in the outside lane. well at least thats what happens to me:p

but you can go over 100, and if you look around and have a sat-nav with camera locations (that is updated) you can go on for some time.

although in the UK, and i presume other countries they have undercover cars. Here a common undercover car is a Open Vectra 2.5 litre, black with tinted windows.....youd think they were just doing it for the fun
 
I can't remember the last time i went the speed limit...


Only been pulled over once for going like 25 over and for doing a rolling stop.



I kind of think most cops have a good appreciation for muscle cars. ;)
 
I say go to court. You could get a break of some kind. When I've ever gone I was always pleasantly surprised to find I was able to get some kind of reduction on the fine.
 
Laws vary from state to state, and local practices vary from court to court, prosecutor to prosecutor, and judge to judge. There's little to learn from asking people what to expect from people posting from all around the globe.
 
I remember seeing a gizmo called the Road Warrior. It was about the size of a garage door opener remote and had one purpose: set off radar detectors. The one I saw came with the book "Trolling for Tail Lights". I wish I could find one of those things now...

Also, I agree with mac daddy. Sometimes if you call the courts ahead of time you might find you have more options then pay the fine or go to court. I got a ticket some time ago. When I called the court, it turned out they had a program where if you didn't get another ticket in two years they would drop it from your record. Unfortunately, a previous ticket made me ineligible (I hate Ohio...), but they did lower my speed and reduce the fine.
 
ucfgrad93 said:
It depends on how much your time is worth? How much was the fine? Will you have to take off work, miss class, etc. to go to court?

Personally, I've gotten 5-6 tickets in my life, I'm 42. Every time I have just paid the fine and not bothered with court.
Just don't be like this guy and try and string along the court. https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/590586/

Good luck and let us know what happens.
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I'm not string along the court. I'm trying to make ends meet so i can pay them. I went yesterday and paid $100 of it. Wish the judge could have responded to my letter asking if i could pay it in installments.
 
ejb190 said:
I remember seeing a gizmo called the Road Warrior. It was about the size of a garage door opener remote and had one purpose: set off radar detectors. The one I saw came with the book "Trolling for Tail Lights". I wish I could find one of those things now
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Radar frequencies are strictly regulated, and you need a license to operate a device over a certain power (the limit is pretty low I think, although you can get small novelty-esque units for model cars) in the K, Ka, and X bands.
 
yg17 said:
The fine is 88 bucks and the court date is in the evening so I wouldn't need to take off work, so I'm considering going. Worst case scenario, I pay the same fine and get the points, but if I can avoid the points, I'd like to.

I'm not about to hire the lawyer though. I'm not that desperate to get the ticket reduced.
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Are you serious!? $88 for going 17mph over the speed limit? I need to move wherever you are, cuz here you get a $95 fine for going 9 over.
 
Got my first ticket a while back. I just paid it and got probation for a few months. I'm off probation and the ticket is off my record.
 
I got my first ticket in my fourth year into my licence and well being a show off to my friends, i rightly deserved it. I was doing burn outs on the main street in the city, nearly side swiped a van at the time. And there was no hoon laws in Australia at the time, so i just copped a big fine. I was lucky i didn't get charged for dangerous driving, got let off on that, but still copped the fine on the chin.

Not cool, and i learned a very expensive lesson after that. And banned myself driving for a week (i wasn't working at the time, I took the Sydney buses from Bondi, where i used to live).

As long you learn your lesson and you don't do it again, just pay the fun and take it on the chin. Like I did. :)
 
Hoon laws in Perth, Australia are where Police can take your car away if you are using your car for anti-social behaviour, such as drifting, burnouts, drag racing. It gets confiscated for 24 or 48 hours, and you cop a huge fine.

It's a pretty controversial law among young drivers over here.
 
yg17 said:
I found out the hard way that the cops had a speed trap set up on one of our highways this morning....got nabbed for a 77 in a 60 (ouch, I know). I can just mail in a check for the fine, or I can appear in court. I'm not going to try to fight it. I know I was speeding, I know I'm an idiot, and I take full responsibility for it. But I heard that sometimes, the judge will be nice, especially to first-time-offenders like me and offer a defensive driving class in lieu of points on your license and increased insurance. Is this usually true, or should I just mail in the fine and save myself an evening of sitting in court?
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If you appear then chances are you'll get a reduced fine if you admit your guilt. But that's not the reality of where it hits, it's that your insurance premiums will increase dramatically. That's the bigger hassle so it's not worth speeding if you are cost conscious.

Abstract said:
I hate when people go to court in order to fight a ticket they know they deserved to get.
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But you're innocent until proven guilty in a court of law - no matter what the allegation, or that's how it used to be.

parrothead said:
If you decide to go to court make darn sure that you show up. If you don't, a warrant will be issued for your arrest.
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It depends on the state.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
First of all, good for the cops for catching people who willingly endanger innocent people on or near the roadway.

Secondly, try and find out when the traffic cop has a training day and reschedule your court date for that time - say your grandmother is sick or something. Courts and police stations don't coordinate that type of thing. Show up in court, declare your innocence, and if the cop is not there to counter your argument they let you go.

I had a ticket for an expired registration, because the mail lady lost the renewal letter. Anyway, I get to court and this blonde 40-something bimbo in a mini skirt is all flirty with the judge, chews her gum, stares at me, the judge ogles her a bit, and I had the whole fine - plus I had to wait over 2 hours because they overbooked. Pointed out His Honor's tardiness and piss-poor scheduling, explaining that as a consultant I charge $120/hour plus 50% for evenings and was missing almost 3 hours of work due to his lack of responsibility, but got another dirty look from Ms. Bubble Gum. Ah well.
 
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