BG Legal: Court for speeding tickets

[Melena]

Getting an attorney this short of notice is going to be hell and expensive. Just be natural and don't say anything dumb.

[Ikith]

Getting an attorney this short of notice is going to be hell and expensive. Just be natural and don't say anything dumb.

Going to get a continuance according to the attorney I'm going to hire.

[Quixon]

Yeah get a continuance or just call the court house and tell them you would like to adjourn the case to another date.

Just let them know you are in the process of trying to find an attorney to represent you, and they should grant you the adjournment/continuance no problem.


Another Funny Story outta NY regarding Speeding Tickets:


New York was tired of paying LEO's overtime a few years ago. So they decided that police officers no longer attended traffic court proceedings. Instead of going to court and dealing with the cop, the state sent an assitant DA there. A handful of judges from my area were throwing out EVERY SINGLE ticket that was written, b/c the Officer was not there as a witness. Some of them would only throw the ticket out if the accused brought it up during the proceedings. Others would just throw everything out at once haha.

I had court during this time period, and the court house was FILLED with fucking people. So many, that there was 20 people that had to wait outside (+the 60 or so inside). The judge asked, "Are Officers "x", "y", and/or "z" present for tonight proceedings." No response of course, as there was an assistant DA there instead. The judge wrote a couple notes down on a pad of paper, and then said, "All cases are dismissed, enjoy your night." And we proceeded to all go home lol. Fucking awesome I tell you.

NYS recently switched back to the old way of doing things to my knowledge.

[Ikith]

Yeah get a continuance or just call the court house and tell them you would like to adjourn the case to another date.

Just let them know you are in the process of trying to find an attorney to represent you, and they should grant you the adjournment/continuance no problem.


Another Funny Story outta NY regarding Speeding Tickets:


New York was tired of paying LEO's overtime a few years ago. So they decided that police officers no longer attended traffic court proceedings. Instead of going to court and dealing with the cop, the state sent an assitant DA there. A handful of judges from my area were throwing out EVERY SINGLE ticket that was written, b/c the Officer was not there as a witness. Some of them would only throw the ticket out if the accused brought it up during the proceedings. Others would just throw everything out at once haha.

I had court during this time period, and the court house was FILLED with fucking people. So many, that there was 20 people that had to wait outside (+the 60 or so inside). The judge asked, "Are Officers "x", "y", and/or "z" present for tonight proceedings." No response of course, as there was an assistant DA there instead. The judge wrote a couple notes down on a pad of paper, and then said, "All cases are dismissed, enjoy your night." And we proceeded to all go home lol. Fucking awesome I tell you.

NYS recently switched back to the old way of doing things to my knowledge.

Will have to go into court and ask for a continuance instead of doing it over the phone. They said they can leave a note and I can hope he gets it in time and reschedules it or just come in and ask for a continuance to get my attorney here.

[Quixon]

Will have to go into court and ask for a continuance instead of doing it over the phone. They said they can leave a note and I can hope he gets it in time and reschedules it or just come in and ask for a continuance to get my attorney here.

Ahh. Def play it safe and go in then. I missed a court date once because I was an idiot and went to the wrong fucking court house. I went to Town of Newburgh instead of Town of New Windsor (they are bordering towns near me, and I could of sworn I was pulled over in Newburgh). I actually called the correct court the next morning and explained what happened, they granted me the adjournment but I had to just fax the judge a letter explaining what happened.

I'm lucky enough to have many cops in my close circle of friends and family. 9/10 times I get pulled over I don't ever get the ticket, the other times a phone call from one of my LEO friends gets everything taken care of.

Of course this is for minor shit like speeding and minor traffic violations. I don't go around driving 100MPH in a 30MPH in a red convertible assuming my friends will get me out of it lol.


Good luck. I'm sure the lawyer will take care of everything for you.

[Milks]

I got a speeding ticket a little over a month ago. 80 in a 60 on the interstate within Birmingham city limits.

My court date is next Wednesday, but my ticket still isn't in the system when I call the automated number, nor is it available to pay online. I've tried to get a live person on the line, but whenever it offers to transfer me to the next available clerk, it simply rings for roughly 2-3 minutes and hangs up.

Any idea what's gonna happen? I plan on going to my court date. This is my first ticket, so I have no idea what's going to happen when I walk in there. If the ticket still isn't in the system on my court date, will they simply throw it out?

[Haiko]

You might be in luck then! The cop who wrote you the ticket might never turned it in so you pretty much saved..You should go to court still to be in the safe side on the court date and see what's going on and what you want to do.

[Milks]

I might be in luck, but what happens if the ticket shows up eventually? Then does that mean I'm responsible for it? Regardless of whether he turned in the ticket, I still received the ticket. If I present my ticket that never happened to a judge, will I basically be biting myself in the ass?

[Cyn]

Is your name on the online court dockets?

And for that matter, is there a price listed on the ticket or just "must appear"?

[Milks]

I dunno where to find online court dockets, so no idea. I tried looking, but wasn't sure exactly what I was looking for besides Alabama online court dockets.

And no, on my ticket there is no monetary value or $ amount that I'm supposed to pay. I think they assume I'll call the number on the ticket that tells me what to do. However, since when I call that number my ticket isn't in the system...

Where I signed at the bottom it says "I promise to appear in court at said time and place or otherwise comply with the provisions of this complaint and instructions of the notice part of this ticket." I don't know if that means that yeah, I must appear or what.

On the back of the ticket, it says

3. You do not have to appear in court for the following offenses unless you have been convicted of, or plead guilty to, two or more traffic violations during hte preceding 12 months (parking tickets excluded):

Speeding, Driving on wrong side of road, Failure to dim headlights, Failure to stop at railroad crossing, Failure to use a child restraint, Failure to wear safety belts, Failure to yield right of way, Following too closely

Does that mean I don't really even have to go to court at all? Fuck this legal shit, laws are for bitches. lol

[Cyn]

20 over may not be classified as simply speeding. It sounds like you need to go to court and face a judge. That's generally the case for shit like reckless driving (like... going twenty over) and driving with a revoked license. There may be some chance that you're not on the docket, but I doubt it.

If you just plead guilty you'll probably end up with a fine (usually about a hundred bucks here in Raleigh) and a court fee that amounts to extortion. Last time I got popped I wanna say my court fee was like $140.

[Milks]

The ticket has the Speeding box checked. There is a reckless driving box, but it isn't checked.

[Cyn]

All the same, not going to court would be foolish.

[Milks]

Oh I know, I'm gonna go to court regardless, I just wanna know if they're not even gonna call for me or anything. lol

[Haruk]

does anyone know of a good excuse to extend the court date if you really don't have one?
definitely wanna try my best to get out of this one, have no real good defense so I'm thinking my only way to get out of it would be to just extend and hope the cop doesn't show up

[Cyn]

Oh I know, I'm gonna go to court regardless, I just wanna know if they're not even gonna call for me or anything. lol

https://pa.alacourt.com/frmDocketListSearch.aspx?Loc=1

Your state has a fucking terrible website. Maybe check this a few days before your court date to see if you're on the docket? My county has dockets posted well in advance, makes things so much easier.

does anyone know of a good excuse to extend the court date if you really don't have one?
definitely wanna try my best to get out of this one, have no real good defense so I'm thinking my only way to get out of it would be to just extend and hope the cop doesn't show up

In most cases the DA can continue a case as well, as far as I know. Pretty sure the cop would need to fail to show up several times to get out of it completely.

Your ability to obtain a continuance is severely limited, most judges won't give you one if you've done it 2-3 times already. However, having an attorney can net you more, because they can claim discoveries and shit. Court system is kind of fucked, honestly.

[wipers]

Just pay your speeding ticket and stop speeding. You will lose if you defend yourself.

[RKenshin]

6 years of 'speeding,' only had one ticket.

Clocked going 92 last summer in a 65 at 2:30 AM on a Tuesday night in the middle of no where on a unlit highway. I was way too careless, I figured there wouldn't be any cops out at that time on a normal weekday... much less at that stretch of the highway. He was camping with his lights off in the breakdown lane.

Ended up getting the ticket dismissed though for a good driving record lol.

I say 'speeding' only because I don't do it everywhere, and quite frankly my car doesn't quite push past 90 aside from a downward slope. Which is still pretty damn fast, but even at that speed I occasionally run into people that pass me.

I probably put too much effort into avoiding cops, but it seems to work well. I tried to bring it down to a sort of science... Generally, I go by the following guidelines just as part of my normal driving habits. I do almost all of it without thinking about it now, so it doesn't actually distract me from driving.

(spoiled for list size)

Spoiler: show

- For the most part, save the speeding for the highways. Suburban areas tend to be more strictly enforced, and it's much more difficult to spot a cop car. I stay within 5-10 of the speed limit for anything under 45, and usually 55 too.

- Know what model the cop cars are, including the untagged cop cars. I know the model, color, rear and front lights for all (or like 99%) tagged/untagged cop cars in RI, CT, MA, and NY. On that note, I hate old people that drive grand marquis.

- Always be aware of the every car you're passing. Just an obvious one, many tickets come from people just speeding by cop cars.

- Be aware of the cars behind you, and coming up on you. Some of the cops in this area just speed at around 80-95mph down the passing lane until they catch up to someone going a similar speed, easy ticket.

- Keep an eye on the cars merging onto the highway when you pass an on-ramp. I usually glance over quick, just to be sure a cop car isn't unknowingly merging into the traffic. It's rare, but when it happens you can get caught easily.

- Try to see as far down the break down lane/highway mid-section as possible. Most of the time, the ones that camp on the side of the road are easy to spot far before they can accurately hit you with radar.

- If you ever have any possible reason to think that you're coming up on a cop car (whether in traffic or on the side of the highway), or one is coming up on you, slow down. Always better safe than sorry. Don't need to be 100% sure before slowing down. Or even 50%.

- Stay in the right lane whenever possible. Left lane is not for driving; it's for passing. You're far more likely to get pulled over/caught speeding in the left lane than the right. If there was some sort of a statistic for this, I'd bet like 90% of all tickets are given to cars speeding in the left lane. Oh, and use your damn signals when you lane change, and don't rush it or swerve/weave [too much]. It looks (and is) less obvious/reckless.
*Also, if another car is also speeding with you... They'll just about always be pulled over instead of you if you're on the right.

- Slow down on turns or when coming up on any form of a 'billboard.' By billboard I don't mean a literal one, I just mean anything that could potentially block sight of a good portion of the road/breakdown lane/highway mid-section. Could be a truck, brush, a bridge, an actual billboard, whatever.

- Watch the break lights of the cars ahead of you. You should kind of be doing this anyway, but seems like many people don't think much of it. Almost every time cars ahead of you are coming up on/passing a camped cop car, they hit or at least tap the breaks. If you see a bunch of people breaking for no apparent reason, odds are there's a cop. Slow down regardless to be safe.

- Be extra careful at night. For obvious reasons, it's much harder to spot a car at night. And they can sit around with their lights off now too. Usually best to play it safe and stay within 5 of the speed limit at night unless you're familiar with the area and where cops camp, because they'll pull anyone over in hopes of finding a DUI.

I think that's the gist of it. There really isn't much room for getting caught doing the above, unless you mess up.

Probably helps I'm also driving a 93 Camry. D:

I know most frown on speeding and I'm not attempting to justify it (and for the most part I loath the drivers that recklessly speed), but I'm just bored and felt like posting about my experiences with it. As far as why I speed, it honestly helps me pay attention more. I start to get distracted/lose focus (in worst scenario, drowsy) if I just sit in one place in traffic at one speed without any other care in the world. The way some people around here drive I don't like sitting in a congested pile of cars either. Or really, near any cars.

[BerenTebogo]

You're still alive?

[Cyn]

You're still alive?

Seconded. And in general no less.

Bored much?

Edit: And jesus dude, you wrote a guide on speeding.