<p>^agreed, alwaysamom – I don’t think I’m being hysterical but I want to give this the appropriate level of attention and concern and convey that this is very serious and behavior that has devastating consequences.</p>
<p>Also agree with your point that DMVs might very well share info (a point bclintonk brought up in a very clear and informative post #13). I am already assuming NY will know and our insurance rates will go up, which is why I am definitely trying to find an attorney who can mitigate the financial impact.</p>
<p>Interesting side note - when the police officer handed her the ticket (it was Wednesday July 10) she said “show up in court next week Thursday”. Which would mean this coming Thursday, July 18, right? But the ticket says July 25 (which is obviously the next Thursday). I told D the printed info is probably the correct date but to phone verify. Right now her plan is to go the night before and stay with a friend so she can be there at 8 for the 8:30 time slot.</p>
<p>States definitely share information on out-of-state traffic violations, but what they do with it varies considerably. Delaware says they treat out-of-state violations by Delaware drivers the same as if they occurred in-state, so if NY convicts a Delaware driver of driving 40 mph over the speed limit, Delaware suspends that driver’s license for 4 months because that’s the penalty provided by Delaware law.</p>
<p>New York State, on the other hand, apparently just ignores the information on most out-of-state violations by New York drivers. Here’s what the NYS DMV says about out-of-state violations:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>However, an alcohol- or drug-related moving violation in any state results in an automatic 6 month suspension by the NYS DMV; and failure to respond to an out-of-state ticket results in suspension until the matter is cleared up.</p>
<p>So it sounds like your D won’t get her NY driver’s license suspended, but she probably will lose the privilege of driving in Delaware for 4 months (including possibly the return trip from her court date).</p>
<p>Also, NYS DMV is very clear that because insurance companies use their own point systems, DMV’s policy of overlooking out-of-state violations doesn’t necessarily mean you’re off the hook on insurance rates.</p>
<p>YOUR D was very lucky that the cop caught her speeding let her go, my cousin was speeding like that in N. Carolina in middle of the night, he was put in jail on the spot with handcuffs and require a bail bond before he was released, court appearance? Are you kidding? The family had to take a field trip from MD.</p>
<p>Hire a local lawyer who is specialized in traffic ASAP. Do not even think of consult any other lawyer, they have nothing to do with it.</p>
<p>Yeah, I wasn’t going to consult another lawyer – I was going to ask the lawyer I knew who has the Delaware connection if they knew of someone who dealt with this stuff all day long.</p>
<p>My neighbor’s teen son recently got a Delaware speeding ticket. But, the father is a high ranking cop, and was able to “take care of it” - whatever that means.</p>
<p>Same kid got an underage drinking citation in OC for during beach week. That one requires a court appearance. Waiting to see if the father can make that go away as well.</p>
<p>We let S1 continue to have his truck at his college. He lived and worked off campus. It’s a good thing he had a job. He had to pay all expenses related to the speeding ticket including the lawyers fee and court costs. Lucky for him he didn’t get any points added to make our insurance increase because he would have been paying for that too.</p>
<p>We had paid for a couple of minor fender benders for him when he was in h.s. so all our generosity was worn out by time he was in college.</p>
<p>To follow up regarding putting children’s vehicles in their own name, someone emtnioned their spouse. As far as spouses, you are probably pretty much on the hook for each other’s accidents and judgements. I do know that in most cases the “insured” person refers to the “named insured and spouse” this would be clarified in the definitions section of your policy. I doubt that a spouse would be immune from a judgement against the spouse who caused a horrible accident. The only way I could see it would be if all your assets were separately owned etc. I wouldn’t worry about car titles in the case of spouses, unless I knew my husband was an irresponsible idiot on the road…</p>
<p>In CA I am not sure you can have your children to insure their car independently, until they are 24? I still have to put DD on my policy when she returns for summer vacation and if she wants to drive.</p>
<p>Spouses titling cars individually is something to run past your own attorney for advice. Maybe it is better for some, maybe not. Too, check what jointly owned assets can be protected from judgments against one spouse by being owned specifically ‘joint tenants by entireties’ including assets like bank accounts.</p>
<p>[Florida</a> Commercial Law: How to Protect Personal Assets from Personal Injury Judgments](<a href=“Florida RALMS”>Florida RALMS)</p>
<p>“Yeah, I wasn’t going to consult another lawyer – I was going to ask the lawyer I knew who has the Delaware connection if they knew of someone who dealt with this stuff all day long.”</p>
<p>Good plan!</p>
<p>There are lawyers that specifically deal with this kind of thing, and it’s not expensive. In Washington state, we hired a lawyer for $300, all he did was go to court and deal with these issues, knows the prosecutors, the judges. The reason we even hired a lawyer is because a cop gave my son a speeding ticket in a school zone, not realizing that I was jogging a few blocks away, and I knew full well that he was stopped and clocked outside of the school zone.</p>
<p>We showed up at the court with our charts, notes and pictures…which irritated the prosecutor, which was too bad, because he had a defense. His lawyer talked to the prosecutor for a minute, and when it was my son’s time to go up to the stand (gulp), wearing nice clothes and cleaned up, the prosecutor said, “This is a criminal court, we don’t have time to waste on this sort of case. We’ve agreed upon a deferral.” So he couldn’t get a ticket for another year or he’d have to pay both of them, slowed him down for a year.</p>
<p>It is well worth the money, don’t try to save a couple of bucks on something like this, sounds like you’re going the right way. The lawyers know the system, and just make her pay for it if you like. I’m sure she’ll get some penalty, but at least she’ll have representation.</p>
<p>thanks busdriver – I can’t tell you how upset I am by this whole thing. I brought the ticket in to work with me (assuming I’ll have to email it to a potential attorney so they can advise me). If I don’t hear from D’s friend’s mom with a referral, I’ll just start calling those people who advertise on dmv.org (which is not a government site, BTW). I am convinced a sharp attorney will help us navigate this process and keep D from saying or doing something stupid. I know NY & NJ attorneys who routinely go to court to fight tickets and are good at it; I’m going to ask them if they know of a colleague in Delaware.</p>
<p>I feel for you, I can only imagine how you feel. Probably like screaming with stress and worry. You are totally right about the attorney, but it seems like you don’t have much time…and if you don’t get that referral, at least someone is better than no one. Or maybe if the lawyers you’re referred to are busy, they can at least send you some names in Delaware. I hope you find one today.</p>
<p>^thanks for giving me a little push to get this done today. Just got off the phone with an attorney – he said he could represent her, or she could do it herself. He told me what she should say (but I have no confidence this kid, alone, in court, could reliably do it). Honestly, I don’t know if I could do it. He said “all she has to do is ask a police officer to reduce the speed and they’ll knock it down.” Sounds like he does this all the time. </p>
<p>I’m going to call a few other attorneys (see if they say the same thing) but I’m tempted to hire this first guy and have him represent her. There’s too much at stake.</p>
<p>I’ll keep you guys posted. Thanks everyone for the info and support.</p>
<p>And I can only hope that your D is every more stressed out and worried about his than you are, so that she will learn a lesson and slow down! Knowing kids, it is all too easy for them to translate almost anything into an “Oh, Mo-om” situation. Good luck, and let us know what happens.</p>
<p>" He said “all she has to do is ask a police officer to reduce the speed and they’ll knock it down.” Sounds like he does this all the time."</p>
<p>Hmm, the time to ask the police officer is when he/she is writing it. It is too late for the police to do anything about it now, it’s on its way to court. Don’t know why the lawyer would say that. I’m no expert, but that doesn’t make sense. It seems that the court could reduce the speed, or the fine, or give a deferral (doubt it, at that speed, though). Any lawyers on here?</p>
<p>I’m all for hiring someone who does this all the time, but for him to say that she should just go to court and ask the police officer to reduce the speed, and he’ll do it…sounds weird. Unless I misunderstood. Definitely talk to more lawyers, don’t let her go it alone. It will be a learning process for her with the lawyer, still terrifying, and will have a better outcome.</p>
<p>“Hmm, the time to ask the police officer is when he/she is writing it. It is too late for the police to do anything about it now, it’s on its way to court.”</p>
<p>^This. </p>
<p>H got a speeding ticket a few months ago and when the cop was done writing the ticket he took out his Homeland Security badge and asked if this would make a difference. The cop said, “why didn’t you show me this before I wrote the ticket!” He was able to get someone he knows at state police to get the ticket reduced to non moving violation, even though it was our town’s police who issued the ticket, but still had to pay $100. After that the SP gave him two special cards with his name and title on it and supposedly if we are ever stopped all we have to do is show the card and we will be sent on our way. I don’t ever speed so probably will never need to us it, but H had a heavy foot and can be absentminded, so.</p>
<p>I thought it was strange too. He rattled off some other terms like “ask for probation before judgment” then she can pay the fine and she won’t get points, and if they don’t agree, ask them to transfer the case to court of common pleas.</p>
<p>Check with the lawyer you spoke to. I am pretty sure your D can go to court, atempt to bargain it down with the prosecutor but if there is no deal offered she can then state that she would like it postponed so she can consult an attorney.</p>
<p>Here in NJ they have this “amazing” (sort of) deal. They call it “unsafe driving”. It is a plea deal they offer where they reduce the charges to Unsafe Driving which is a zero point ticket for the DMV. It has bigger fines, but no points. My son did it when he got a failure to yield ticket. I’m not sure he needed to do it since he didn’t have any points of his license, but it was what he chose.</p>
<p>My mom (retired lawyer) came along and was willing to go in with him for the little conference but he went himself and came out with this deal. He had tried to plea to a different offense (forget what it was–something about obstructing traffic) without the big fine but didn’t manage that, and pleaded to unsafe driving.</p>
<p>My point is that he did it himself. I am almost positive that if you want to plea bargain to a lower offense (careless, lower speed, unsafe driving if they have it) that she won’t need a lawyer and that she can come back with one if it seems necessary. I also don’t know if they just offer this unsafe driving thing or if you have to ask for it, and of course who knows if DE has it. Here in NJ it was a way to increase revenue because even though it carries zero points it has a heftier fine than the offenses with points.</p>
<p>See if DE has this option, and see about coming back with a lawyer. Here in NJ most traffic cases are in municipal court. Everybody comes at 8 am and they eventually, when they are good and ready, start calling people into a little back room where an assistant prosecutor meets with them. I guess they confirm the charges and either make you an offer to plead guilty or I guess you can ask for a deal and probably at this time you say that you want to bring a lawyer if no deal is offered. Then finally the cases start and the prosecutor stands up and says case # blah blah and the reduced charge and then the defendant agrees they are pleading guilty and the judge assesses the penalty, which hopefully is what the person agreed to. </p>
Knowing kids, it is all too easy for them to translate almost anything into an “Oh, Mo-om” situation. Good luck, and let us know what happens.</p>