I agree that the traffic court situation seems completely upside down and it seems like the court will believe whatever the officer says just to make a buck for the state. Ive never really understood what the reasoning is behind giving someone a ticket for doing say 10 or so over when theres nobody around and the driver is putting nobody in danger by driving that speed. It seems like its more dangerous for the officer to dart across traffic and speed up to significantly more than the speed limit just to catch you. That being said I find myself constantly slowing down because getting caught doing even 3 over the speed limit would basically make my insurance premiums more than I paid for the car.

 

Absolutely not. By pleading not guilty you are simply asserting your constitutional right of due process to force the state to prove its case against you. Like you yourself said, this is America and under our legal system we are supposed to be considered innocent until proven guilty. A plea of not guilty is nothing more than the assertion of that right.

Unfortunately, in a kangaroo court like traffic court, the reality is that you are usually presumed guilty simply because the cop says so and his word is almost always considered absolute proof. A sad state of affairs......

 

Not sure if you can keep this off your record. Your only choice is to contest the ticket. If you just pay it I would imagine it's on your record. If you fight it you will probably get the same result and possibly have the fine reduced. Also you might get lucky and the cop won't show up. Either way you have no choice but the try and fight it.

But as a previous poster stated, "if you can't do the time, don't do the crime." It would be a shame to have to sell your car because your insurance is so high that you have no choice. Being a relatively new driver, (as compared to me for instance,) it's probably a good thing to cool your jets. You don't want to end up a statistic!! It can happen so quickly.

 

Keep the hard driving for the track, slow on the streets. Safer, cheaper, a ton of more fun. Besides, you wan't people to see who is driving that sweet piece of machinery, not just the vehicle...

 

Yea im going to call and see if i can get it deferred so it wont count on my my record and go from there

 

I see you're in florida. Me too. Here's what I know about how this works in FL. There are a couple of ways to avoid points.

1. Pay the fine and then request traffic school.

2. If you have a clean driving record, go to court and plead no contest. The judge will most likely give you a fine and withhold adjudication which means no points. He may also sentence you to traffic school.

3. Fight the ticket, plead not guilty, hope the cop doesn't show up. That's about the only way to beat it outright.

4. Call a law firm like The Ticket Clinic. They're all over Florida and are very good at what they do. They'll probably get you a reduced fine and no points.

Now, here's the thing, you are only allowed to opt for traffic school a certain number of times in a certain time period. For example, if you opt to go to traffic school for this ticket and then a few months later you get another ticket, you may not be able to voluntarily go to traffic school for that one.

BUT, if you go to court and plead no contest or not guilty and the judge himself sentences you to traffic school, that doesn't count against yu. You can go to traffic school as many times as a judge sends you and they don't count against your limit of going voluntarily.

All that said, I AM NOT A LAWYER and am only telling you what I know based on my own experiences. My honest suggestion to you is to hire a company like the ticket clinic. You don't have to do anything - just send them the ticket and their fee and they do everything else for you and will make sure you don't get any points on your license. They will file all the necessary motions and they will go to court for you. You won't even have to go to court yourself so it'll save you the hassle of having to take time off from work or school or whatever.

 

One ticket in a year, take the course.
Two tickets in a year, it is not an option.
Trying to talk your way out of a ticket? Denial...

So, should you ever try to talk yourself out of a ticket?
Should you ever talk yourself out of driving in a spirited manner?
Is it ethical to drive 5 over the limit?
If you do, should you just send in the money even when you are not caught?
Ethics.. Where do they start and where do they end?
Radar Detectors.. Ethical?

Hmm.. In fact, burning fuel and polluting the air, Ethical?

So, I am not saying to lie. If they ask, were you speeding..
Ask the Judge.. Was I speeding?
If the Police Officer is not there, then what is the Judge to do?

Hmm, do you use Bug Spray? is it ethical?

Interesting, but the subject of who gets a ticket and who can walk away without one is an interesting study in rights and in ethics..
You do not want to lose all of your rights, but they are fading fast..
Driving is a privilege, but living without a license is hard.
Insurance companies pay for radar guns, not for safety issues, but for higher preimum issues..
Is that ethical?
A ticket follows you and nails you every six months for the next three years. Insurance companies buy one gun, but that produces a lot of written tickets.

Do not be wreckless or careless.

Do you return items to Walmart? Is that always ethical?

I am not saying, do not be ethical, but are we always?
Just saying.. In this case the price is quite high for the offense. Is it fair?

Yes, I do agree, this is an interesting subject with many sides..

I have always just paid the ticket and forgotten about it, but I have had so few it really does not really matter.. None of them are reflected on my license (Safe Driver), but I have driven in a spirited manner before and may do so tomorrow..

Safety is a major concern for me. The Mini Cooper has a lot of safety built in.
Learning the skills of driving does have a few benefits, but being dangerious does not.

If you are truly wreckless, you need to take it to the track!

 

OK, so by your own admission you hit the afterburners and were travelling 75-80 MPH...

Alright I can see where youthful exuberance can lead to this and you made a mistake.

Unfortunately for you, you're still guilty and as mentioned by motor12, the police officer could have made a reckless driving case out of this but he chose to cut you some slack, not let you off the hook.

Perhaps you should be thankful because it seems that the officer is trying to make an object lesson out of this for you. He could have burned you for your exuberance but chose instead to make you aware that the excessive speed you were carrying is a transgression of the law by issuing a ticket for only 7MPH over the limit.

I hope that you do take away something positive from this encounter with the law niquemarshall, though at the moment it seems bad. You made a mistake and unfortunately you got caught. We all make mistakes and in some cases we have to be accountable for those mistakes. You're only 20 and you have many "driving" years ahead of you so if this infraction helps to remind you too keep your enthusiasm in check then it is a lesson well learned... if not then next time you may not be so fortunate.

As for testing the limits of your MINI perhaps you should check out your local region of the SCCA and do a PDX or BMWCCA and do a track day. It's legal, and you get instruction from learned people who can better help you get the most out of your MINI.

Good luck in the future!

 

In Mass and CT, if you pay the fine, you are not assessed points on your liscence. Thats what it says on the ticket at least.

 

I also believe in owning up to a ticket if I believe I was speeding, I am a very safe and alert driver, I understand police are trying to do their job, and I happen to be excercising my freedom to use the gas pedal. lol.

I witness people all the time who are horrible drivers, who wont even drive the speed limit. While statistically most accidents are caused by speeding, I believe that attentiveness and alertness are also large players as well.

 

I'm not sure I buy that. Do you have a cite to any support for your assertion that "most accidents are caused by speeding?"

 

I dont have a source, its just something I've always "heard", however I did some googling and found an example from england,

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...es-reveal.html

a source that disproves what I sad btw...

this was an actual statistical study, I couldnt find anything quickly from the US, but would be willing to bet that its similar every where else.

thats good to know at least.

 

Since in your state you don't get any points on your license, I can see why you feel that way. I'm sure you'd feel a little differently if you knew that paying the ticket and admitting guilt was going to cost you not only the cost of the ticket but an astronomical increase in your insurance rates for the next 5 or 10 years.

 

This has been a very interesting discussion, so now I wanna join it!

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I think you are both correct. Morally, if you state that you are "not guilty" when you know that you are, you are lying. No two ways about it, you are lying.

But you have the constitutional right to have the government prove you are guilty rather than admitting guilt. So basically, you have the constitutional right to at least one lie.

[QUOTE=MiamiGuitarMan]Unfortunately, in a kangaroo court like traffic court, the reality is that you are usually presumed guilty simply because the cop says so and his word is almost always considered absolute proof. A sad state of affairs./QUOTE]

How else should it be? Testimony of a witness IS evidence. The LEO says you were speeding, that is evidence. You say you were not, which is also evidence. Is it a stalemate then? The judge has the right to evaluate the credibility of the witness, whether their testimony is believable or not. The LEO will be seen as (a) just doing his job with (b) no vested interest in lying. You, however, will be seen as having a vested interest in lying -- to keep from paying the fine.

If that is all the evidence there is, what do you think the outcome should be? If every person who just said "nuh huh, did not" got off, you may as well abolish traffic court altogether.

 

I like where you're going with this!!!

Seriously, traffic enforcement in its current state is nothing but fund raising through extortion.

And I hate to say this but cops lie all the time. And despite what they tell the public, they most definitely have quotas in some form or another.

 

So what is the solution, anarchy? Drive however you like, no traffic enforcement, no traffic court? Sometimes life is a balance between the lesser of two evils, the number of times a police officer lies about a traffic infraction versus the number of people who speed or drive recklessly? I'll go with the cop. As for quotas, with the number of people who are ACTUALLY speeding, I bet they don't require lying to fill!

BTW, I have gotten a few speeding tickets in my time. Number of times a LEO lied about me speeding? None. Number of times a LEO let me slide? MANY. LOL Happened just the other day. Got to a nice hill where most cars lose speed, got in the left lane and hit the gas, probably doing 70 in a 45 (no houses around, nor intersections) came around a slight bend and saw a LEO up on the right pointing right at me. I started slowing down, everyone in the car was saying "you are busted," and the LEO stuck his hand out the window and just waved me on. Whew!

 

i think cops are more upset I am not some hot blonde girl than the fact that I am speeding.

 

Now that was funny!

 

How much is traffic school? And is it guaranteed to not count on my driving record

 

Yea im going to bite the bullet and pay the fine.. ( Cold air intake will have to wait) However i will try to see if i can get this incident off my driving record... After all, i wanna make the best of this situation

 

I don't know off hand but again, my suggestion is to hire a lawyer who specializes in traffic cases. Look for The Ticket Clinic in your area. If they don't have any offices near you look for the closest one and see if they can refer you to someone. If you go to traffic school, let the judge send you instead of you volunteering. If you hire a lawyer and it's your first offense you probably won't even have to go to traffic school.

 

My R53 was in the shop, and I had an R56 as a loaner. I left my radar detector in my R53.



Oops.

 

Ooo a laser ticket.. yeah fighting those tickets are damn near impossible.

 

Cops can get you for speed greater than reasonable. Plain and simple you got caught doing something wrong just pay the ticket and move on

 

My traffic court was 75$ plus the cost of the ticket but all five tickets I've had havnt made it on my record thanks to traffic school! It's worth it and super easy we ate pizza and just watched a movie on defensive driving the proffesor sign off on our paper work and it was over. But it does take 4 hrs but worth it!