Rep Power: 336

ok so im traveling up this road its a 35 mph going to my buddies old house 2 help him move some more stuff out. im going between 40-45 just crusing talking to my friend in the passenger seat about stuff. pass a car then pass a cop sitting onthe side of the road. he turns his lights on pulls out and im like **** im busted.

he turns on the lights and i pull off on a sideroad. pull as far over as i can turn off the car, turn on the interior lights and wind down the window. he walks up asks me if i knew why i was stopped i told him speeding he asked did i know how fast i was going i said between 5 to 10 over and he said i got you going 51 in a 35. i told him theres no way i was going that fast b/c when he pulled out i looked at the speedo. he asks the usual where are u heading gets my id and my friends id and dissapeers for a good 20 minutes. at this time i knew i wasnt just gettin a warning.

so heres the kicker. he made several mistakes on the ticket. 1st one where it says body style he wrote 2 door i have a 4 door. on height and weight he wrote height for weight and weight for height. traffic was light on that road casue i only passed the one car b4 he pulled me over. in the offense section he checked speed 51 in a 35 over limits radar and unsafe for conditions. he checked and circled that one. it also listed the conditions he checked as following
pavement-dry
visibility-night
traffic- moderate
area-residential ( i dont even consider this road residential b/c theres maybe 12 houses in the area i got pulled over in)

now im just wondering should i take this to court and fight it? the ticket is only for 104 bucks but still i dont want 51 in a 35 going to my insurance ( in ohio points arnt transferred to kentuckians only insurance) im going to call my cousin whos a cop tomorrow ask him then talk to my dad whos an ex cop.

sorry for the small novel i typed here i just wanted to get all the facts across so you guys and gals can help me make a decision

oh yeah the court date assigned if i want to fight it is 3-12-07

thanks!

 
Rep Power: 336

I think if you would've had this plate on your car he would've let you off with a warning:







But seriously, discrepencies on a ticket like height for weight and wrong color/body style aren't going to get a ticket dropped in court. Now if he were to write Thomas A. Clancy on the ticket and your name is Wilbur. B Jenkins, then I think you have a winner, but this is not the case. Now you have some good options here to consider:

You could try to fight it in court, hope that the officer that issued the ticket doesn't appear and get the ticket dropped. But more than likely they make it a point to show up at court and hand it to you. So unless you have a damn good reason why you think you should have the ticket dropped, like there was no speed limit sign within 10 miles from where you were pulled over, then you might have a case. But most likely the law works in favor of the police and law enforcement. So if you go try to fight it in court and the cop does show up, expect to pay the fine on top of court fees and possibly get points on your license.

If you haven't gotten pulled over many times before, and your state offers Driver Improvement courses in order to reduce the fine and prevent you from getting points, then I think this would be your best option. Usually to get a discount on the fine, and have to take a course online. Once it's all said and done you can learn from your mistakes and forget about it.

The other option would be to try to get a Traffic Lawyer. I have known people that have used them and they usually get it taken care of, but be prepared to spend almost double of what your fine was because not only do you have to pay the lawyer but you will have to pay the court fees also. Usually this could cost almost double what your fine was. In your case since the ticket was only $104, it wouldn't be too cost effective to use a lawyer, but you could benefit by not getting any points or raised insurance premiums.

So there are some good options to consider, and all I can say is that I tried to fight a ticket before without a lawyer and it was not good. And I had a pretty good case too. But they didn't want to hear it and if it is just your word against the cops, they are going to side with the cops. Sucks and isn't fair, but what are you gonna do.

Good Luck

 
Rep Power: 0

I'm sure it's different from state to state, but here in VA, I beat a reckless driving ticket. I was doing 78 in a 55.

The very next day, I got my car calibrated which came back with results of my car being 5mph off which meant I was really going 73 in a 55 (now a speeding ticket not reckless anymore) Also the same day, I went to a local shop and had them print me up a receipt saying my speed sensor was changed. I did this all quickly to show initiative to get the problem fixed and the judge noticed. The calibration cost me $35 and it brought the ticket from a multiple hundred dollar misdemeanor to a $95 speeding ticket. It depends on what you do to fix your mistake, how you present yourself in court, and if the judge is pissed off at his wife--- sux but it's true.

I also just recently beat a following too closely ticket that I got from an accident. What it boiled down to was I did defensive driving. The case was dropped... no court fees, no fine. I spent $60 on the class but I think it was worth it. Good luck to you... BEAT THAT TICKET

 
Rep Power: 247

Just fight it. In Indiana if there is basically anything wrong on a ticket you can get it dropped. Basically the courts here think that if you were doing whatever wrong and a cop noticed it then he should atleast be able to notice that you weigh 150lbs not 6'1" or however many doors your car has. If he can't even get that right when its sitting right in front of him then you probably don't deserve the ticket. Just my 2 cents.

 
Rep Power: 336

well im from ky and i got the ticket in ohio and the nice thing about that is points do not transfer over in ky so traffic school and options like that are out of the question. i just dont want the hike in my insurance. what im going to do is call my lawyer and my cousin whos a cop today and see what they say. i might just bite the bullet and pay it. i dont know yet ill let you guys know

 
Rep Power: 0

yep fight that Bia

 
Rep Power: 336

lol i already paid it and the court date has come and gone lol