Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests Speeding Court Date Advice Needed (long post)

First off, don't make excuses. Own up to what you did, say it was a mistake, and ask the judge if there is anything you can do to make it not go on your record (in Oklahoma and Texas its called differed judification or a differed sentence) What that means is if you dont get another ticket in a set time period, the ticket is off your record; however if you get caught again, both will go on your record.

Also, the officer doesnt have to be in court for this being your first appearance. If you plead not guilty a court date will be setup, and the cop will be informed of this second date, and will most likely be in court if its a small town cop.

In most states 13 over will go on your insurance, and you being 19, is far worse than you just paying a one time fine. No, not having the money wont get you out of it, it might get you on a payment plan though. The way I got out of a 25 over ticket, in a small Oklahoma town (majority of funding for the city comes from tickets) with a $90 fine was something to this effect... Your honor, yes I was speeding, it was a mistake and unsafe for me to be going that fast, and I am not here to waste your time with stories. I am only asking for a way to keep this off my insurance record. I am a college student, and a ticket like this will hurt my insurance very much. So if there is anything I can do to help myself now, I am willing to do whatever it takes.

Best thing you can do is keep it off your record. Go to court with some ammount of money, so you can say, hey I got $30 I can pay right now, is there a way I can pay the rest on a weekly/bi-weekly/monthly time period.

Yeah what you quoted saying to the judge sounds really good. Have any of you heard of Prayer for Judgement? It is supposedly like a one-time thing get out of jail free type thing. This lets me pay a fine and no points guaranteed. Unless it's just in NC...I don't know. Although if I talk to the DA and explain how it was my first time and all the stuff i would say to the judge, maybe he would just drop it. Advice on PFJ please.

~Paul

13 over? Thats not bad at, dont worry bout it and pay the fine. I got mine for 29 over...thats when u gotta pull out the cash and get a lawyer and such...

Never heard of Prayer for judgement? Sounds from what you described to be like deferred judgement. The DA wont have anything to do with speeding tickets (not for 13 over at least) so talking to him wouyld probably be a waste of time.

Sometimes the judge will listen to you outside of court, but again most are too busy with real cases. What kind of a cop wrote you the ticket? Was it a local, statie, sherriff? What kind of town is the court that you have to go to in (podunk, big city, county court, etc...)?

Another good idea I had remembered after I wrote the first post was to go down to a lawyers office in the town that the court you are going to is in. Some lawyers are nice and will tell you what to do to get out of it, for no charge. Don't even think about paying a lawyer for this info, if they wont help you out with that little bit of info, just walk out and find one that will.

It was a Tennessee Highway Patrol who got me. It was on Interstate 75 going south toward Knoxville, TN. I was pulled over in Jacksboro, which is about 45 minutes north of Knoxville on I-75. It was a really rural steep section of highway, and this town only had about 2000 people in the year 2000. Anyways, I didn't have to go to court, I could have mailed in money and plead guilty. I didn't want to do this because that would be points for sure. I was thinking, if I say something along the lines of Yeah I was speeding it was stupid and unsafe so on, that's pleading guilty right there. I would be hit with court costs, the original fines, and get points. I know some people get sick of people like me trying to get out of their speeding tickets, but I'm seriously a good driver and really care about how this turns out. I mean I'm driving from Chicago to almost the TN/NC line for this court date (I would have tried to move it, but this was a way I could bring a load of stuff home from college cuz it won't fit in one trip, plus this will show that I really care).

So, do you think saying something like Yeah I was speeding please let me off with something that won't go on my record will screw me over because it's saying I am guilty?

Can't wait til this is over, and thanks for all your help. Court date is this friday at 1pm by the way. I will let you all know how it goes.

~Paul

Admit speeding, but don't say too much. Why would you say it was unsafe? Do you think it was? If not, leave all that out.

Don't mention anything about the radar detector (or lack there of), nothing about driving for a long time. Admit the guilt to speeding, but don't admit guilt to anything else (unsafe, tired, long drive). If you were truly keeping up with traffic, you can say that. Depends on how many people were on the road. Also, you said you were in the right lane, so that probably doesn't apply anyways.

There is a saying you may have heard: K.I.S.S.

If not, try this (its in BOLD):
http://www.acronymfinder.com/af-query.asp?String=exact&Acronym=KISS

Good Luck.

Just explain the situation you explained to us.

My guess is that he'll reduce it to a no points fine. If not, oh well. One ticket won't kill you.

Hey Paul, what color is your Tour? Just curious, because if it's red, that's why they picked on you. Red cars are a cop's favorite to pull over, if it's not red, well, you were probably the one they KNEW they could catch easily.

My advice, just plead guilty, apologize and tell them it won't happen again. Like it's been said, Judges don't like excuses, they'd rather see you own up to what you did.
Good Luck in court.

My car is red...lol. Well more like a dark red burgundy type color, but still red. My next car will be blue or dark green or black or something not red. I'm leaving at 1am CT for the drive. yay. Thanks for all the comments.

~Paul

Get a lawyer . With a lawyer you've got about 90% chance of beating the ticket. The lawyer will likely cost more than the ticket...maybe two or three times as much...but it's worth every penny. The amount your insurance goes up really adds up. Speeding tickets don't fall off your insurance or driving record for 3 to 5 years. That means your insurance rates are screwed for that long at least, unless you get another ticket. Then you will likely be paying double of what you were with no tickets! So say your insurance goes up only $30 a month. That's over $1000 in three years! I would drop $1000 on a lawyer in a second if he could get me off. They can never guarantee that they can get you off because it's unethical, but I've never had one fail me yet. I've hired at least seven over the last five years. I've got two more in the works. You have to remember that generally lawyers are smarter than cops.

Look, at the very least consult with a lawyer and find out what your options are. There may possibly be a good deferrment system or something to that effect in your state. Good luck!