Seeking a way out of speeding ticket

  • Thread starter Thread starter oldunion
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The discussion revolves around a user who received a speeding ticket classified as "reckless driving" and is concerned about the implications for their father's insurance rates, as the car and policy are in the father's name. The user has a history of 3-5 speeding tickets and is contemplating whether to pay the ticket or contest it in court, despite the distance to the court being two hours away. Participants suggest that with multiple past tickets, the chances of successfully contesting the ticket are low, and they discuss the possibility of attending traffic school to mitigate insurance consequences, although this option may not be available due to the user's out-of-state license. They also share strategies for contesting tickets, such as delaying court dates and questioning the calibration of speed measurement equipment. The discussion highlights the complexities of traffic laws across different states and the potential impact of a reckless driving charge on insurance rates. Overall, the consensus leans towards the difficulty of contesting the ticket successfully, especially given the user's driving history.
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I had one accident in 2003, and i believe 3-5 speeding tickets since then.

the last speeding ticket i got was 2:10 am doing 85 in a 65. My charge was "reckless driving by speeding" the amount to pay is 191 dollars. I have the money order written out, but my father pays for insurance and this would disappoint me if i had to tell him.

the way it is rigged up is that the car i drive and the insurance is in his name, i am just a happenstance driver so the insurance company does not know i exist. so far on his policy i have gotten 2 or 3 speeding tickets, my memory is not so good.

i want to know if this ticket will affect my fathers insurance rates, like i said his bill is clean.

also, if i do decide to go to court (my license is from pennsylvania, i live in north carolina, and the court is in virginia 2 hours away) is there any chance the charge will be thrown out? Someone was tailing me and i could say that i wanted to get away from him because he wouldn't leave and i was getting nervous - partially true btw. or should i just pay the ticket because there is no way the charge will be dropped?

thanks
 
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With 3-5 past speeding tickets, you won't get it thrown out most likely. They probably won't even believe your story.
 
Does Pennsylvania not have the "Traffic School" option?

Here in California, anyone who gets a ticket can avoid getting it on their permanent record, and by extension can avoid the insurance company finding out about it, by attending a "Traffic School". This is about eight hours of class time going over all the traffic laws and rules. You still pay the fine, but there are no insurance consequences.
 
Here if you pay twice the ticket price, they drop the ticket, it doesn't go on your record. I had two of the evo child's tickets erased that way. It's all about the money.
 
zoobyshoe said:
Does Pennsylvania not have the "Traffic School" option?

Here in California, anyone who gets a ticket can avoid getting it on their permanent record, and by extension can avoid the insurance company finding out about it, by attending a "Traffic School". This is about eight hours of class time going over all the traffic laws and rules. You still pay the fine, but there are no insurance consequences.

Yah but your not allowed to do it if you've had a ticket in the 18 months prior to the ticket in question's issuance.

Evo's thing is crazy. Thats not fair... I wish i could have just skipped traffic school and payed twice for my speeding ticket. Wonder if its the same for red light running there... its a $360 ticket here for red light running!
 
Pengwuino said:
Yah but your not allowed to do it if you've had a ticket in the 18 months prior to the ticket in question's issuance.

Evo's thing is crazy. Thats not fair... I wish i could have just skipped traffic school and payed twice for my speeding ticket. Wonder if its the same for red light running there... its a $360 ticket here for red light running!
Check with the traffic court where you live, you might be surprised to find out they have the same deal. I think there might be a limit to how many you can pay off within a two year period.
 
interesting, my last ticket was most likely only 3 months ago. (summer month). ill have to call the courthouse on monday, but for driving school you have to have an NC license and i dont.
 
Check this site. It is worth fighting, the ticket may not be dropped but most people who fight will be able to get the fines/points reduced.

http://www.motorists.org/issues/tickets/index.html
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Pengwuino said:
Yah but your not allowed to do it if you've had a ticket in the 18 months prior to the ticket in question's issuance.
No, I'm pretty sure you can only attend traffic school once every 18 months. That is: regardless of how many tickets you have, you're only allowed to make one disappear every 18 months with traffic school.
 
  • #10
zoobyshoe said:
Here in California, anyone who gets a ticket can avoid getting it on their permanent record, and by extension can avoid the insurance company finding out about it, by attending a "Traffic School".
Here in California? And all this time I've been thinking you were from New Zealand! Don't know how I got that idea in my head. :confused:
 
  • #11
zoobyshoe said:
No, I'm pretty sure you can only attend traffic school once every 18 months. That is: regardless of how many tickets you have, you're only allowed to make one disappear every 18 months with traffic school.

Oh yah, your right.
 
  • #12
jma2001 said:
Here in California? And all this time I've been thinking you were from New Zealand! Don't know how I got that idea in my head. :confused:
New Zealand? No. I grew up in New Hampshire, though. They're both New.
 
  • #13
i love bureaucracy and red tape is my favorite :cool:

The lawyers for virginia cost more than my ticket, and driving there in gas will cost more than i have probably. i honestly was trying to lose the guy behind me, but i doubt if its enough to get it reduced. blast...signing away the money order as i speek.
 
  • #14
iv read about a couple of things you can do that usualy work out. first is delay as long as you can, do anything and put it back as long as you can each and every time. if they officer doesn't show, you win and he's more inclined not to show if he doesn't remember you. the other benifit from delay is you can question the officer about the circumstances of the incident and "i can't remember"s play in your favor. dress well when you show to court. the other thing is to ask about when the equipment used to measure your speed what last calibrated. apparently these things have to be recalibrated annualy or something because there is a margin of error that emerges.

iv never been to court to fight a speeding ticket so i don't know how well the above actualy works, the place i got this stuff off of said it works great. you might be able to check on google for finding ways to beat tickets
 
  • #15
devil-fire said:
iv read about a couple of things you can do that usualy work out. first is delay as long as you can, do anything and put it back as long as you can each and every time. if they officer doesn't show, you win and he's more inclined not to show if he doesn't remember you. the other benifit from delay is you can question the officer about the circumstances of the incident and "i can't remember"s play in your favor. dress well when you show to court. the other thing is to ask about when the equipment used to measure your speed what last calibrated. apparently these things have to be recalibrated annualy or something because there is a margin of error that emerges.

iv never been to court to fight a speeding ticket so i don't know how well the above actualy works, the place i got this stuff off of said it works great. you might be able to check on google for finding ways to beat tickets
You can usually only delay traffic court once.
 
  • #16
Always contest your tickets. Always. Especially in Canada, here in BC half the time the police man doesn't even show up, so the judge has no witness, no choice but to throw it out. (well - it used to be that way, they're fixing it up now)
 
  • #17
Evo said:
You can usually only delay traffic court once.
Well you could always accidently lose your passport when traveling over seas. Maybe you get delayed at customs for a few days, maybe you miss your court date. Maybe they have no choice but to delay again. :biggrin:
 
  • #18
Smurf said:
Well you could always accidently lose your passport when traveling over seas. Maybe you get delayed at customs for a few days, maybe you miss your court date. Maybe they have no choice but to delay again. :biggrin:
You'll have a warrant for your arrest waiting for you. :frown: They don't mess around.

Here if you can't take the time to go to court, an attorney will take care of everything for only $100, plus the double fine. (you learn a lot when you're the parent of teenagers ) It amazing what they can "fix". I :!) my attorney.
 
  • #19
Evo said:
You'll have a warrant for your arrest waiting for you. :frown: They don't mess around.

Same here in CA. A parking ticket will be the least of your problem if you think you can get "delayed". They give you like 4 months to appear here so they wouldn't buy any of this "delayed" crap.
 
  • #20
Since they made it a reckless driving ticket and not just a speeding ticket, I'd say fight it. You might still have to pay, but maybe you can get the "reckless" part dropped since it was 2 AM and probably empty roads where you weren't endangering anyone by your speeding. The reckless part will be a bigger ding against your insurance than the speeding. On the other hand, sometimes states don't talk to each other. I got a speeding ticket in OH when I was still living in MI. I just paid the fine because OH doesn't share with MI for some reason, so it never shows up as points in MI, and when I moved to OH and got a new driver's license, all record of that ticket disappeared into oblivion (I was a little worried it would reappear when I moved to the state where I got the ticket, but it didn't happen).
 
  • #21
Moonbear said:
Since they made it a reckless driving ticket and not just a speeding ticket, I'd say fight it. You might still have to pay, but maybe you can get the "reckless" part dropped since it was 2 AM and probably empty roads where you weren't endangering anyone by your speeding. The reckless part will be a bigger ding against your insurance than the speeding. On the other hand, sometimes states don't talk to each other. I got a speeding ticket in OH when I was still living in MI. I just paid the fine because OH doesn't share with MI for some reason, so it never shows up as points in MI, and when I moved to OH and got a new driver's license, all record of that ticket disappeared into oblivion (I was a little worried it would reappear when I moved to the state where I got the ticket, but it didn't happen).

ugh, i wish it wasnt so far away. is there any way to check if VA shares with NC?
 

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