Have you ever gotten a ticket of any kind?

[wolf_Q]

No I have never gotten a ticket. *knock on wood*

[Cataholic]

Johanna, if I go will there be additional court costs for taking up the court's time? I am really weighing the pros and cons of going because this occurred 50 miles from home and I hate the thoughts of driving there (have to be there at 5:00 PM) and getting tied up for several hours and making the drive home late at night. *sigh*

Pam,
This is how it works where I prosecute. If the person had NOT talked to the officer and gotten an agreement to a lesser charge- no deal. And, at least the officers I know are decent, and hardworking. They are just doing their job. It isn't personal (well, most of the time). In the courts that I am familiar with- there isn't any additonal fine imposed for having a trial, so, explain away. I am not sure what the explanation is on a speeding ticket....unless it is a broken speedometer, being chased by the mob, or a medical emergency. I would imagine the officer will testify that he is qualified to operater the laser, that it was in working condition, and that he was certain he had your car in view. So, IMO, tough to 'beat' a speeding charge. And, usually, you would only be arraigned that night (must be a mayor's court you are appearing in, since it is at night, and from my experience, they are much easier to deal than a county court), and your case would be continued for trial- when the officer could be there.

So, MY advice? Pay it and move on. One ticket isn't going to set you back that far. And, I wouldn't tell the insurance company voluntarily, but, they might ask it as part of a yearly renewal. Then, of course, you would have to tell them.

Any more Qs, just pm me, okay?
Johanna

[Cataholic]

I was caught contravening a red light in 2005. I was behind a lorry in a roundabout. I wasn't even aware there were traffic lights there until it was too late to stop. My first time in that area and I wasn't used to roundabouts having traffic lights (no roundabouts with traffic lights in my area).

Is there any other American scratching their head at this, or, is it just me?


I am ONLY teasing you, but, I had to stop and think what this really meant..he he he....lorries, and roundabouts and contravening red lights.

[Pam]

Thanks Johanna. My thoughts are right now to just pay it. I was getting so many suggestions from my co-workers on how to avoid the points (tell the judge that I have been driving for decades and this is my first ticket and also that I was on an unfamiliar road and did not see the speed limit sign.....). All of these things are true, but I really don't have it in me to fight. I was doing wrong and that is that.

[zoey]

Yes. I got a speeding ticket awhile ago. There's a highway that the speed limit goes from 50 to 30 mph. in a distance of about 1/4 of a mile.
The area where it turns to 30 mph is at least a mile & 1/2 before the red light. And, in my opinion, no reason for it to be so slow there - no schools or much of anything but highway. But I wasn't watching my signs. So I opted for a 6 months expongement, my county offers. Since i didn't receive any citations or infractions for 6 months after the speeding ticket, the ticket is stricken from my record.

[AllAmericanPUP]

i've had 3 speeding tickets, 1 no insurance ticket and i got about 3 parking tickets when i was in school

[finn's mom]

I've gotten speeding tickets, a parking ticket and tickets for my registration being expired. I've never had points taken off. I've always just paid and moved on from there.

[areias]

Never had a speeding ticket, had 1 moving violation from an accident I was involved in, and had three parking tickets.

From the accident, I was going around a corner, saw some really pretty motorcycles and got distracted for a second, looked back at the road and only had enough time to say "Oh s&#!" before I hit a truck that was stopped to turn onto another road. They gave me a ticket for 'following too closely'...yeah no kidding buddy! I wasn't following him, I just turned the corner and hit him.

The three parking tickets I could have fought I suppose. One, I was at a parade at the club strip in Tampa, and I parked in a parallel parking space in front of a house. The other side of the road said No Parking, but...this side didn't. There went $30.

Another, I was at college, and I had taken my parking hanger off for some reason...and forgot. I got two warnings because I didn't come back to my car that day at all, and I guess they saw it twice? So when I left, came back, parked again...and forgot to put it up there again. I got a ticket that time. And then again at college, I had moved out but still had my parking hanger and I was visiting a friend, I didn't even think about it and came back and I had another ticket. Geesh.

[davidpizzica]

I've had one parking ticket for parking beside a yellow line and not in a parking space, and I was pulled over for speeding and warned and not ticketed ( I had my dad's old '83 ciera which couldn't go over 40 on a good day!). My dad got an unusual warning. He had just gotten a new windshield and they cut out the inspection sticker part off of the old one and put on the dash. He was pulled over for not having the stickers stuck on the new windshield! He somehow got them sticking on the new one.

[signorelli21]

well after reading all of your replies i think it best not to divulge too much info on my driving history, but i will say that i have had quite a few tickets ( 30+) but now i save the drag racing for the track and try to be more carefull around the police, lol.

anyway, take my advise and get a lawyer, they will just reduce it to a faulty equipment and pay a fine, no points or traffic school.

at one point i was getting so many tickets that i stopped going to my lawyers office and just mailed them to him with a check and he would take care of them, i still don;t have any points on my license.

[CathyBogart]

I was pulled over once. The day I got my license. I was driving my ex's car and the registration tag was expired. I was .

No tickets yet *knock wood* but there have certainly been times where I've deserved one!

[Maresche]

1 speeding ticket in my whole driving career of 12+ years. It was about a month before I graduated from college. I was doing 43 in a 35 and the police officer said she'd normally let it go but there had been a fatal accident there a few months earlier and she couldn't do it anymore.

Anyway, I had to pay a fine and borrow money from my mom so I could make it to graduation (I had everything budgeted to the last penny before the ticket). It was the first time I had to borrow $ from them while in college and they'll never let me forget it was because I got a speeding ticket.

[Edwina's Secretary]

I got the most retarded ticket EVER. I came to a complete stop at a stop sign, but according to the MP I didn't wait for a full 3 seconds before proceeding. *3 SECONDS* That is some kind of bologna!

Seems to me when you are stopped enough to have your car roll back slightly and you look both ways you have stopped plenty
It was just a military police ticket so all that happened was my husband's commander told him to tell me not to do it again

I had one of these tickets. It is a big money maker for the Chicago police. I was driving a stick shift so HAD to stop.

But the law is complete stop look right, look left, look right again. (Even though it was a T intersection.)

I took the class. That was many, many years ago.....