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Contesting a speeding ticket in court today. Any advice would be great.
JimJimBinks
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
At 4PM Eastern Time today I am due in court to contest a speeding ticket I got a few weeks ago.
This is my first ticket in about 8 or 9 years. My first speeding ticket ever, and my absolute first ticket in the state of Michigan since moving here in 2006.
I've never contested a ticket before, but I am pretty sure I wasn't speeding. According to the ticket I was going 38 in a 25, but the ticket is only for 10 over. I remember at least one car passing me just before I was pulled over.
I have a character witness letter from the person I carpool with saying that in the year he's been driving with me, I have never gone even one MPH over the speed limit because I don't see the point (He frequently makes fun of me for driving like an old woman.)
I'm thinking about picking up a copy of my MI driving record on my lunch break, but not sure if it's worth doing.
Basically, I learned to drive in California, where you're lucky if you can go the speed limit. Being able to constantly drive at the speed limit has been a strange adjustment for me. I never saw a point in speeding, I'll get to a place when I get there. Why break any laws?
My goal in fighting the ticket is to not get any points on my license, because I don't want my insurance to go up. A reduced fine would be nice but I don't think it'll happen. I plan on being very respectful, wearing a button up shirt & tie. Is there anything I should know when going in there? Any advice you can give me?
This is my first ticket in about 8 or 9 years. My first speeding ticket ever, and my absolute first ticket in the state of Michigan since moving here in 2006.
I've never contested a ticket before, but I am pretty sure I wasn't speeding. According to the ticket I was going 38 in a 25, but the ticket is only for 10 over. I remember at least one car passing me just before I was pulled over.
I have a character witness letter from the person I carpool with saying that in the year he's been driving with me, I have never gone even one MPH over the speed limit because I don't see the point (He frequently makes fun of me for driving like an old woman.)
I'm thinking about picking up a copy of my MI driving record on my lunch break, but not sure if it's worth doing.
Basically, I learned to drive in California, where you're lucky if you can go the speed limit. Being able to constantly drive at the speed limit has been a strange adjustment for me. I never saw a point in speeding, I'll get to a place when I get there. Why break any laws?
My goal in fighting the ticket is to not get any points on my license, because I don't want my insurance to go up. A reduced fine would be nice but I don't think it'll happen. I plan on being very respectful, wearing a button up shirt & tie. Is there anything I should know when going in there? Any advice you can give me?
JimJimBinks on
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I know in California if you haven't had a ticket in a certain number of years, you can request traffic school and it gets taken off your record.
Here I don't think that's the case, but I'm going to ask about it when I'm there.
but they're listening to every word I say
I guess my only advice is to not get your hopes up, I have to agree with Thanatos. I think your only real shot is if you get lucky and the police officer doesn't show. I've heard that if the police officer doesn't show up for your hearing, the ticket is automatically tossed out. If he does show, you're probably screwed. I have also heard that, in Michigan, they just don't do the traffic-school-instead-of-fine-and-points thing, at least not any more.
Take all that with a grain of salt, though. I am no expert, I've only had the one ticket, I didn't fight it, and I don't know anybody who has fought a ticket. All the stuff I just told you is stuff I remember reading when I was flirting with the idea of fighting my ticket. In the end, I just decided to suck it up and deal with it rather than fight it because, after all, it's not like I wasn't guilty, there were posted signs of the 25mph speed limit that I had failed to notice and I really was going 38 in a 25. That's not to say I blame you for going to the judge and trying to get some leniency, though. Having my infraction show up on my insurnace renewal forms for the next three years kind of sucks.
Good luck!
It was actually on Portage Road, shortly after Lover's Lane crosses it. Just past a different elementary school. Honestly it wasn't far from where you got pulled over.
I'm not getting my hopes up that he won't show up. Heh, maybe I should pull the Eagle Scout card
Anyway, I guess all I can do is hope for the best. I honestly don't think I was going that fast, I think he probably clocked someone else next to me. but if I was then yeah, I deserve the ticket. I'm just crossing my fingers that they won't put the points down. I can afford the fine but the increase in my insurance will be really tough right now.
See how many books I've read so far in 2010
The San Fernando Valley. I did most of my driving to and from school and work where traffic on the streets, on the 170, the 101, and the 405 were at their worst.
Michigan doesn't have a traffic school option. As a man of nearly 20 Michigan based speeding and traffic violation based tickets, I can give you some advice. First the guys a dick if you hadn't even had a warning in the past. Besides the point Fighting the ticket is always the best option, there is never any leniency if you just plead at fault. Second get a lawyer if you really don't want the points, third the points don't matter. If you are going to a busy area a lawyer isn't as necessary as the prosecutors tend to be willing to talk to you directly prior to the appearance (which means get there early, like lots) to try to lighten how many people actually go in front of the Magistrate.
When I said that the points don't matter I mean that in Michigan the only thing that matters is the ticket itself, they have a points based system on their own that they will apply for getting the ticket unless that ticket is thrown out. So what it means is for example one insurance agency for a 10 over they may give you 3 points as a first offender and 4-5 for your second incident. This means in 2 incidents in three years you could be considered high risk which means inflated insurance. Either way next major recheck of your history or if you make a claim or if you switch providers you will see a rate increase.
So really all you are doing is preventing 2-3 legal points from hitting your driving record and that only matters until you start to close into 12 which is about when you might lose your license.
In the future get your tickets in Lansing. 7 tickets in 3 years and no points.
In my opinion, unless the cop who issued you the ticket fails to show at the hearing (and that's unlikely to happen), you're going to have to pay the ticket. Excuses and explanations don’t get you very far, and tend to just annoy the magistrate hearing the case.
Best bet is to speak to the cop/DA and cut a deal that will lower your fine as well as any points on your license. Most time they will be willing to cut you a deal, so long as you were not a dick to the cop.
They will never lower the fine. My history has been even if they are willing cut points they will just call it something with the same fine amount. Twice I have gotten an improper start for going 10-15 over on the city.
Its because of the inter court traffic. Vegas is going have a bigillion CI's and Misdemeanors going in and out of their every day. Them having a 80%ish tourist population is also going to force them to give more long range options for handling said incidents. Michigan in every city is going to primarily be dealing with people from within the state. So really only court house traffic is an issue, but with only 3 big city areas and very little population outside of those cities means that if you get a ticket outside those areas your screwed.
In Clearwater I was screwed. In Howell I had got screwed twice and a police officer didn't show up on another. In Lansing 7 tickets no points. In Novi 3 tickets no points. In the mason court house for 4 tickets I had 2 points removed for each ticket (2 zero pointers 1 one pointer and 1 two pointers when finished). In the rare and usually not used for it (Okemos usually sends me to Mason) Merdian court house I was screwed. Livonia 1 ticket 0 points.
Now I say this with the fact that I usually got a lawyer and always got one for cities I was unsure about.
The officer and the magistrate were very nice. They ended up not giving me the points, but I had to pay the full fine, which was all I was looking for. When I approached, the officer explained that he was using laser tracking and he had my car in his sights, so there was no way I was NOT speeding. I admitted it was my first time on the road, explained that it was my first offense, and said while I had obviously gone over the speed limit, I was hoping to not have the points on my record. The magistrate thanked me for being the most respectful person that had come before him all day and took the points off. I showed up in a button up shirt and a Star Wars tie. The two guys ahead of me were wearing shorts and flip-flops with almost sheer tanktops, and basically acted like over privileged white teenage pricks. If those are the kinds of people he has to deal with all day I feel kinda bad for him.