First Ticket

thecraft · November 2, 2007

Advice?

Draenor · November 2, 2007

Slow Down, or obey the posted speed limit.

Nytemare · November 2, 2007

Slow Down, or obey the posted speed limit.

LOL...Noice....good advice for the future

Advice...for the present,

Fight the ticket. Show up to court, If the cop is there or not, plead not guilty. If the cop is there he will present evidence, if its good enough, you'll have to pay the ticket, if he's not there there is no evidence , or the evidence is not conclusive, you'll get off with it.

Thats about all you can do.

ZZ327 · November 3, 2007

get a radar detector. $40 bucks or so at WAL MART. The first time it goes off when and you see a cop, its paid for itself. The best investment ever

Zembonez · November 3, 2007

DPS or local cop?

If it was a local... fight it. You have a 2 in 3 chance of getting off in most Texas towns.

If it was DPS. Sign up for defensive driving class and get it dropped... 1 wasted Saturday and you don't save much $$$ but no ticket on your record.

dietz4ibanez · November 3, 2007

I have a friend that is a lawyer for traffic violations and such and I pay her just about the same as the ticket cost and she handles it so I dont have to go to court. The last ticket that I had was for a 60 in a 45 and she got it reduced to 5 over so it wouldnt go on my insurance...

Schmids5.3l · November 3, 2007

Slow Down, or obey the posted speed limit.

I wanted to say that but didn't want to sound like an ass

I read a long article on this subject once, but have forgotten most of it. What I do remember is getting the court date pushed back everytime it's coming up. Using excuses like illness, work, family ect. I think you can go a year +. After that I forget, something along the lines of what Nyte said, but it's easier getting it cleared. Traffic court/speeding tickets are just there to get money for the most part.

When you eventually get to court act and look nice, and don't be an ass. I got a failure to control ticket taken off, because i went to traffic school, then I took a 'skid' class that I DIDN'T have to take but took anyways. The ticket was taken off my record. From what I remember, around here if you get a ticket you go to traffic school (optional), and if you pass a written test with a 90% or better the ticket is taken off. I got an 89% but the skid class changed the judges mind. My good buddy went thru at the same time for a speeding ticket and got an 86%, I laughed at him.

Edit: that makes me remember the funny part. I went to skid class with another person I went to middle school with, some kid I thought fell off the face of the planet. Anyways he stole his moms brand new mustang and went joy riding drunk, with no license or insurence, and wrecked it into a parked car. I thought it was halarious.

06Hayabusa · November 3, 2007

Slow Down, or obey the posted speed limit.

LOL...Noice....good advice for the future

Advice...for the present,

Fight the ticket. Show up to court, If the cop is there or not, plead not guilty. If the cop is there he will present evidence, if its good enough, you'll have to pay the ticket, if he's not there there is no evidence , or the evidence is not conclusive, you'll get off with it.

Thats about all you can do.

Agreed. Here in Mi. the cops are known for not showing up. Call and change the date a few times. The cop will bet busy and lose interest. Show up on your belated sceduled date. No cop, No ticket.

SilveradoLAX7 · November 3, 2007

Advice from one Texan to another...

You basically get a freebie in our state. Once every 365 days you can take an online safety course (read: grab a few cold ones and punch some keys on a Tuesday).

So then you need to evaluate your situation. The way I see it there are 3 options:

1) pay the ticket

2) take the online defensive driving course

3) Fight it in court

with my insurance it was cheaper on my last ticket to avoid the paper trail and take the online D. driving class.

--Jay

Rosedog · November 3, 2007

Advice?

Fight it, fight it, fight it... Did you admit guilt? Did you acknowledge why you were pulled over? Hopefully you said "NO". Check the ticket for goofs, varying dates, wrong time. It works...

Without reading all the other post, did you get tagged with radar or laser? Radar is easier to beat but I've beaten two laser tickets.

However, if they offer some sort of traffic school and you don't feel confident enough in your argueing abilities you might want to take that. The downside is that you may only be allowed to take it once every so many years. You may also want to consider hiring a traffic attorney, it may cost you $200 but it may save your insurance and time.

On a side note, the last ticket I fought and won (all by affidavit) was for this past summer when I got tagged with laser doing a 105mph in a 60 in a Dodge Grand Caravan (rental) going through the BFE side of Eastern Oregon, of course I had no idea why I was pulled over, it wasn't me, presented a copy of my driving record to establish a patteren (to the judge), ect... When the OSP handed me the ticket for $1,403.00 I did my best from laughing out loud in his face, so yeah I framed that letter when it said DISMISSED!

If I was smarter when I was a teenager I would have fought them back then... but for the past 10yrs I've been fighting them and winning them without the help of a traffic attorney. Up and down the west coast (CA, OR, WA).

Read up on the net, there is plenty of help/pointers out there You got a ticket. Now what?

Wingnut · November 3, 2007

Man, you have a '95 model truck with NO ONSTAR?

You should have run from them mofos! Not like they could have shut off your truck or something.

Nytemare · November 3, 2007

Man, you have a '95 model truck with NO ONSTAR?

You should have run from them mofos! Not like they could have shut off your truck or something.

LOL...thats funny

November 7, 2007

DPS or local cop?

If it was a local... fight it. You have a 2 in 3 chance of getting off in most Texas towns.

If it was DPS. Sign up for defensive driving class and get it dropped... 1 wasted Saturday and you don't save much $$$ but no ticket on your record.

+1

Remember that now in Texas, you're on the points system so tickets will add points to your insurance. Take the defensive driving, buy a radar detector and watch your speed.

I have a couple of local cop buddies and one DPS trooper buddy who go by the "9 you're fine, 10 you're mine" philosophy but that's risky.

Draenor · November 7, 2007

Slow Down, or obey the posted speed limit.

I wanted to say that but didn't want to sound like an ass

I couldn't resist.

First thing I usually do is talk to the prosecutor(usually a D.A.) and work a deal before the arraignment date. If I cant work something out, then I go to court. If it is a small town, like mine, they will gladly take your fine plus a little extra and it stays off you record. Or you can use the buddy system and "fix" it.