emswim

I was driving home from school today, and wasn't paying enough attention to my speed- just going with the flow of traffic. I got pulled over and ticketed for going 74 in a 60. Getting pulled over really scared and upset me, as I didn't realize I was significantly over the limit and it was my first time ever being pulled over. I have definitely learned my lesson and will be more careful in the future. I was afraid my parents would be really mad, but they said they know it was just a mistake as I am normally very responsible with driving and the rest of my life.

My concern is this: the officer gave me a court date, and I will be studying abroad at that time. I am calling the court first thing Monday morning; hopefully they will let me just mail in the fine. Do you think there is any chance they will make me appear in court? I am really scared that they will make me go to court and I won't be able to study abroad. Is there a chance of this, or am I worrying too much?

ucsd_ucla_dad

I don't think you'll have a problem - especially if you're not contesting it. Depending on your jurisdiction, you may be able to just mail in your fine or go to where they take care of traffic tickets and pay there right away. If you really want to, you might also be able to have a court date much sooner since a lot of time these are really "on or before" a particular date (read the fine print on the ticket). Sometimes appearing before a judge can result in a reduced fine since they'll know it's your first infraction.

Your other option (depending on jurisdiction) might be to pay some fine and do a traffic school so it doesn't go on your record and impact insurance rates. These traffic schools around here can be done in a day and I've heard there are some online ones as well.

But don't worry, I'm fairly certain your study-abroad won't be impacted and you'll be able to take care of this.