<p>Well, we were looking forward to having our expenses go down a bit, when DS appears tonight with a speeding ticket he got today (16 mi over the limit). I am recommending he go to court and see if he can get it reduced/dropped. He is currently on line researching this topic. Aside from hoping the cop doesn’t show up at court, do any of you have helpful tips, leads, particularly useful website links etc to aid in this? Yes I know he can just pay it and learn his lesson. I am looking for additional pearls of wisdom… please.</p>
<p>As a Mom of 2 teenaged drivers, I’d definitely recommend that he pay it, rather than try to fight it. It will have more reinforcing value in keeping him from speeding in the future. Since my primary concern is my kids’ safety, I want them to be given reasonable consequences early. In my kids’ drivers ed class, the teacher (an off-duty cop) said they were exceptionally vigilant about stopping teens who were speeding – even if only about 10 MPH above the speed limit-- for just this reason.</p>
<p>He will pay whatever price (cost, time, severe constant parental hassle, etc) is indicted. But, if the ticket is for less than 15 mi over the limit (which is why I suspect it was written for 16) the fee is higher, there are points on one’s license and it is reported to the insurance carrier (and rates jump). He’ll learn his lesson no matter what. That isnt the issue- really.</p>
<p>Definitely have him go to court - the experience will be humbling (re: Momof3’s concerns) and they probably will reduce the penalty, which will help with your insurance hit. And a parent should go with him; when one of my kids was in that situation the officer suggested that he appear, and the judge commented on the fact that he had a parent with him. It showed that he had told his parents - many kids just go and try to hide it. And of course he should pay his own fine.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>D’s bf got a speeding ticket shortly after getting his drivers’ license. In our state, there are three options one can mark on the back of the “ticket”:
- Agree/committed the violation, check enclosed
- Agree/committed, but I’d like to explain the circumstances
- Disagree
If you mark 2 or 3, you’ll get a court date. If you marked 3, you will most likely pay the fine and extra on top, because it is impossible to argue with a radar gun. The BF marked 2, came to court with his mom, basically cried a river that he was a good kid, honors student, just stupid and would never, ever do anything like that again. His fine was forgiven, but was ordered to fork out about the same amount for a defensive driving class. The ticket did not go on his driving record. He was very lucky that the judge was in a good mood, and the fact that the BF had a cute face helped a lot, too. It was a very humiliating experience for him.</p>
<p>Good luck,
Son was fortunate to be able to take online traffic school to keep off record. It came at a time when he was saving to pay off insurance debt-crash course of when it rains it pours.
Let us know how it goes.</p>
<p>I’m sure this varies by state. I’d say don’t go to court. Just pay. I’ve never heard of anyone saving $ by going to court.</p>
<p>Is the place a known speed trap? Does your kid insist that he WASN’T going
that fast? A friend of mine thought she had evidence in her favor and went to court. It just ended up costing her more time and $. Where I used to live you could keep first offenses off your record if you paid promptly–maybe this only works in small towns, but ask the clerk about it.</p>
<p>DS is on line researching the pros/cons of court, and wants to see if he can do an on line defensive driving class. We would like to avoid the insurance rates going up, and I think it is worth a shot. DS is on a summer sports team and was on his way to a game after work, so I suspect he may have been going faster than he should have (though perhaps not as fast as they are claiming). He could plead nolo, but I am not sure that is the best strategy. </p>
<p>Thanks-- I will keep you posted lamom.</p>
<p>If he was actually speeding that much (and I don’t see how you prove he wasn’t) then I don’t see the benefit in going to court. Yes the judge might be in a really good mood and let you off… but they could also see it as someone who’s wasting court time and doesn’t want to accept that they did something wrong thus making you pay even more with court costs. At the end of the day he did commit a violation (you can’t really fight the radar gun) so I don’t really see what the point in going to court is. </p>
<p>One speeding ticket isn’t exactly going to destroy his record. I say pay the fine, learn the lesson, and move on.</p>
<p>There are lots of poorly calibrated radar guns, and I don’t know how the speed was calculated. It is common for them to pick a speed just above a “cutoff” to negotite from. Online drivers safety classes are loked aat favorably by the state (and not a bad idea anyway-- DS should have to do something like this) and may get the ticket reduced so insurance isn’t affected. Paying the fine is a short term issue. Insurance rates are a long term issue-- for the parents (he pays part of it)</p>
<p>jym, I would not recommend bringing up the “poorly calibrated radar guns”. A friend got a ticket issued by an off-duty cop w/out a radar (cop was driving behind this guy) for going 90 in a 60 mph zone (friend swears his jalopy can’t go that fast without falling apart). He brought this up with the judge who scolded him for not trusting the authorities :eek: But he did get away with a defensive driving lesson and no record of the ticket. Friend said there were a lot of “teenage punks” (his words) in that class!</p>
<p>
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<p>That may be true, but I don’t think going into court suggesting that the cops are incompetent or don’t know how to use their equipment is likely to earn you many bonus points with the judge.</p>
<p>If it were me, he’d be responsible for (a) paying the fine, and (b) paying the difference in the insurance rates as long as he was on the plan (I might start paying the difference in insurance rates myself after awhile). I wouldn’t be interested in any arguments that he wasn’t going that much faster than the limit, and I wouldn’t be interested in any attempts to evade the consequences in court.</p>
<p>I really don’t think that this is the best moment to teach him that his parents are going to help him try to evade the consequences of his misbehavior. Certainly he should believe that his parents love him and will always support him as a person, but in the relatively near future he’s going to move to a living situation with almost no parental oversight and lots of opportunities to make mistakes – including the kind of mistakes that can really mess up his life.</p>
<p>Here’s what I did when I got a ticket for running a red light:</p>
<ol>
<li>ignored it (hoping unsuccessfully that it would go away) for a week</li>
<li>called the precinct, found out it would “only” be $83 to plea guilty</li>
<li>told my dad, asked him not to tell my mom (he did), decided to plea</li>
<li>found out that if i plead guilty and paid the $83, I’d lose a huge discount on my insurance and cause it to go up about 10%</li>
<li>figured I should call a lawyer</li>
<li>called a lawyer (one of the traffic ones that advertises “fix your ticket for $40” etc) and e-mailed her my information and copy of my ticket</li>
<li>paid $40 to her and waited for my decision from the court</li>
<li>running a red light was reduced to parking in front of a fire hydrant, fine increased from $84 to $110. end of story</li>
</ol>
<p>moral: DO WHATEVER POSSIBLE TO GET MOVING VIOLATIONS OFF YOUR RECORD. With many insurance companies, 2 moving violations (speeding, running sign/signal, accident, etc) causes rates to increase. For State Farm, if you wreck your car (I’ve done that too), the only reason your rates increase is because you lose your accident free discount. On the next offense within three years, your rates increase because you move into a higher risk bracket. This is bad. For something as easy to fix as a speeding ticket, it’s definitely worth your while to call a lawyer and get it taken care of.</p>
<p>It’s a little embarrassing and kind of pricey, so make him do the work to get it cleared. But really, don’t just fight it or plea guilty unless you absolutely positively cannot get it fixed–and realistically, you can pay your way out of anything (such a great message to be sending!).</p>
<p>My two cents!</p>
<p>Ummm… how did running a red light turn into parking in front of a fire hydrant? Were you parked in front of a fire hydrant or did they just make that up?</p>
<p>(^^That is an interesting transformation, indeed!..)</p>
<p>It is not just about rates. Here are our state laws about teenage driving. Two strikes, and you are out for 6 months:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Been down this road with D1 (“just call me lead-foot”) several times.</p>
<p>Here if you go to court and lose, you still have to pay the fine, but also court costs which can double the original fine. (Metro Court really does not like having its time wasted.) And court proceedings are pretty straight forward–either you’re guilty or not–no amount of “good kid” pleading is going to help.</p>
<p>But our state does have a special option for first time teenaged offenders–traffic school. D had a choice–plead guilty and pay the fine or attend a 1 day traffic school which was 6 hours on a Saturday. Traffic school kept the points off her record (and she would have gotten 2 for doing 87+ in 65 mph zone) and actually cost <em>less</em> than original fine. BTW, the traffic school was held at the driving school right next door to the high school. Terribly convenient! </p>
<p>Unfortunately, D1 is now 23 and still racking up about 1 speeding ticket per year. I’m just glad she’s not on my policy anymore.</p>
<p>From what I’ve read, our county looks favorably on the driving school thing, and may reduce the # of miles on the ticket if he does the program (this is a good thing-- but we wont know til court). DS (who is 18 so the consequences are different) said the officer was pulling out of a parking lot when he pulled him over, and “showed him the laser gun” from the side. I am not sure if the gun was in fact even on, as DS said he didn’t see a digital readout of any kind - lust the profile of the radar thing (he was understandibly uncomfortable, having never been in this situation). DS is awaqere he will pay any/all fines, driving class fees, etc. Still worth pursuing, IMO.</p>
<p>Having survived three teenage boys and watching my nieces and nephews go through this, my humble advice would be to let him handle any consequences on his own and not try to reduce any penalties. Mine got only one ticket each. They paid the fine and the increase in insurance for the duration. My nephews were always advised to fight it. They have fought it many times. I think the lesson they learned was that whatever they do, mom and dad will find a way around it. </p>
<p>I know how you feel. A policeman once claimed one of mine was going 50mph after turning the corner and going just a few hundred feet. I found it hard to believe his car could accelerate that quickly, but in my opinion, that just showed him he should be driving even more carefully while a teenager with policemen around who are that picky. But you are distinctly sending the message that authorities are out to get him, or not to be trusted. And that anything he does wrong will be defended by you. JMHO</p>
<p>jym, eons ago was coming back from a wedding, about 1 am with wife and MIL. Pulled off the interstate to get gas, and rather than get back on for two exits, I took the main state route. Hadn’t had any alcohol, and definately was not speeding. As we crossed town lines, a spot notorious as a local speed trap I deliberately checked my speed. I was within three mph of the posted 35 mph limit.</p>
<p>In the mirror, was the flashing red light. I pulled over, and cop was going to write me for failure to obey posted speed and use of a radar detector. He said he saw the red “on” light as we passed. </p>
<p>I was driving my father’s vehicle, as ours was being serviced. The radar detector was mounted on the dash, but not plugged in. As I handed him the license and registration, I told him to flip the license for my new address (we had just bought our house and moved), and to note that the vehicle was registered in my father’s name, not mine. I offered to plug in the offending device and show him a green (not red) “on” light. His response was a snide no. </p>
<p>He handed me a citation with my old address, and incorrectly listed me rather than my father as registered owner of the vehicle. I asked him to correct both. He refused, and told me to sign it unless I wanted a failure to obey officer charge as well. I signed it and added note that operator address and owner info was incorrect.</p>
<p>I called the station the next day and repeatedly for a week and left messages for the officer and for the duty sergeant for that shift. No response from either.</p>
<p>I went to court. Brought the radar detector, showed the judge the “green” on light. Gave him my license with the address change, and the registration in my dad’s name. Judge shook his head, and threw out the charges, and apologized for wasting my time.</p>
<p>Depending on the circumstances, it pays to go to court for a traffic ticket.</p>