spider418

1. Never, ever pay the ticket right away. Always call the court and get a court date. Most of the time court appearance alone will give you a few point reduction. Exception are out of state tickets which do not transfer points to your state. Keep in mind that the cost of the ticket is really the points you get. Depending on where you are a 4 point speeding ticket may cost you $1000 - $3000 in insurance surcharges over the 3 year period.

2. Get a police report. Look for inconsistencies. Was the police officer in his jurisdiction? Did he get your lic plate right? The errors are far fetched, but you may be lucky. If you find an error it has to be a major one. By pleading not guilty and going in front of the judge you are giving up your best option - prosecutor deal.

3. The best chance you have of getting off or at least reducing the fine is making a deal with the prosecutor. If all the paperwork is correct you have little to no chance going against a local cop with a radar reading in front of the judge. Gear all your preparation towards the short talk with the prosecutor. If this is your first ticket get a copy of your record from DMV. Do not take the first deal he offers. Get ready to plead, beg, or do whatever else you have to do. Your ideal goal is to get a fine with no points. Educate yourself on the all the offences and the points attached to them. Find a related one which is close or more in fine but carries no points. Careless driving? When you get to court, try to position yourself close to be in the beginning of the prosecutor line. At the end of the day he is more likely to give automatic minimum point reduction deals and less likely to listen to you. Do not act confrontational. Again at this point he/she is your only chance.

Good luck!

Please feel free to add more.

jussnb

I've been ticketed around a dozen times, but I've never accumulated ANY points. I don't go in there acting like some hot shot. I simply tell them that I may have been driving faster than the speed limit and give them my reason for doing so.

I follow up by saying that I don't think I was going as fast as the officer indicated, but that I trust him, his judgment, and his ability to use the tools he has at his disposal to measure my speed. (Cops and judges hate to be disrespected.)

I finish by saying that I am not an habitual speeder (a lie), and that I made a mistake. I realize that speeding is not smart, and that I've learned my lesson by paying the fine. I just don't feel that I need to learn my lesson every month by paying higher insurance premiums. I tell them I won't speed, and I ask them for a break...and I've gotten one EVERY SINGLE TIME.

Yeah, I pay the fines, but I've never been given any points. Not cheap, but way cheaper than higher insurance. Maybe it's my boyish good looks or my charm Maybe it's just that I don't go in there acting like a jerk. Dunno. All I know is that it works for me.

Auditude

cops arrange their day in court to cover everyone they ticketed for that week. Try to get a continuance on the cops day off then you plead not guilty and there is no other witness. If rescheduled with same cop he may not recall your particular case after many weeks and may not dispute your BS.

slacker

My self esteem doesn't suffer if I kiss a little *ss in my own interest now & then.

hamproof

you got off, when I am paying 30% more on some part of my insurance premium for avoiding the red light and going through K-Mart. Life sucks!

jussnb

for as many cases as the magistrate sees in a day, I don't think he/she is going to waste his/her time pulling all of your records for a minor traffic violation.

I don't have any proof of this, but it stands to reason.

Alf Arkin

That a $200-1000 fine is nothing to a rich man, but you're just a poor working class shmo and that you won't be able to pay your rent . . . and end up having to sell drugs just to survive, etc.

BOOSTD

yes they do, there's just a "0" next to point count. and they do pull your record.

spider418

to get things off your chest. It will do zilch towards reducing your fines. In an ideal world the fines are used to enforce the law. In reality they are tax supplements, income sources for local towns. I got snaged on a steep downslope local street going 40 in a 25. My foot was on the break and I was rolling downhill in neutral. The quirk is I would not be on that street if it wasn't for a detour they put up from a 40 MPH street I usually take. How is that for a speed trap!? That town is known for living off the ticket fines.

boost-addict

It's hard to claim hardship, when your European Import has 10G worth of mods 8-)