<p>Something to consider is to register the car in your son’s name and get an insurance policy in his name. Depending on his personal assets, he can get a policy for lower liabilty limits than your policy. Also, if the car is over 10 years old, it does not make sense to carry phyical damage on the car. The important thing is to remove yourself from the liabilty exposure as your child is now of legal age and should now be responsible for his own actions.</p>
<p>Wasn’t it New York that charged an extra fine on top of the fine for speeding when a speeder was going a certain mph over the stated limit? There was a thread on CC about it a while back.</p>
<p>So I just spoke to my insurance agent, who happens to be my friend. She said that our insurance company doesn’t charge for a violation, BUT since this is a four-point violation they may either cancel our policy or move us into a higher tier, which will effectively increase our rates. Has anyone heard of an insurance policy being cancelled because of one ticket? Seems absurd to me.</p>
<p>S is going to call court clerk tomorrow to see what his options are.</p>
<p>I’d be shocked if there’s not some way for him to get those points reduced. In some counties in Virginia, you’d probably have to hire a lawyer to do it - they have quite the racket going.</p>
<p>The correct response is “I was not aware of my speed, officer.” For $300 or so a traffic attorney will make it go away.</p>
<p>One of my friends was fulled over for going 20-over in a residential neighborhood at 1AM (he was also under 18 so he shouldnt even have been driving). Using the above method he avoided all further consequences.</p>
<p>I would try to get the points reduced to help your insurance rates. Have your son pay for any lawyer fees. That way it is still a learning experience. Some may argue that he should just pay it now, but the insurance rate hike will be harsh. 4 points will make a huge difference in your insurance rates. Personally I do not believe it putting your child on their own policy and carrying the minimum limits, Sure he/she would not have any assets for someone to go after in a bad accident, but wouldn’t you want to have enough coverage to take care of someone with bad injuries? His own policy is fine, but have decent limits.</p>
<p>
I haven’t heard of it for a speeding ticket. It happens for DUI convictions though.</p>
<p>Have him pay the fine and accept responsible for his mistake. What difference would it have made if he had been on the other side of the state line and received the ticket in Ohio??</p>
<p>The difference could be that not all states report back to the driver’s home state for speeding tickets. I got one in North Carolina 2 years ago. Just mailed the fine amount in as they do not report to Maryland. No points, no insurance hike.</p>
<p>I went with my dad to a court for his car accident a few years back. While we were waiting for his turn, we heard quite a few cases. There was one where a foreign student was caught driving without a license. </p>
<p>Judge said, “Do you have a legal license in the US?”</p>
<p>Student, “No.”</p>
<p>Judge, “I am sure you had a license in your country, all you had to do was to get an international license to drive legally here.”</p>
<p>Student, “No, I have never driven until I came to this country.”</p>
<p>Judge, “Try to work with me here.”</p>
<p>michone, My S got vitually the same speeding (80 in a 65 on the interstate) sophomore yr. on his way back to college after Fall Break. He was in an area 2 hours away from his college and the court date was set for exam week. </p>
<p>Our insurance agent advised to get a lawyer. Since I was not too pleased with S for getting the ticket to start with, I called him and told him it was all on him to work out. S searched on the internet for lawyers in the county where he got the ticket. He hired one over the telephone and sent him the money in the mail(cost $200…his $$). The lawyer appeared in court for him, got the ticket reduced to 9 mph over the speed limit (which kept our insurance from going up). S did not have to appear in court at all.</p>
<p>Another first timer speeding ticket in our house. Oldest child in school on the opposite coast. His first ticket in almost 6 years of driving - of course he was a couple of hours away from campus. The classic 15 mph over, he got caught in a transition area, missed the speed decrease.</p>
<p>All the lawyer solicitations have come to the home address - is that standard for NC? Not so for WA state, so we’re not sure how to help him sort this out! Yes, he was speeding and ultimately he will have to deal with any consequences. But this is a rock solid driver who has logged a lot of miles with no other violations. Sometimes a person does deserve a break for that first mistake. (I really can’t get too harsh with him - neither of his parents can claim that good a driving record at that age.)</p>
<p>I have sympathy for all of these young folks, having been there myself…but I’ve gotta say, the first speeding ticket is almost certainly not the first mistake.</p>
<p>Poor choice of words on my part. I’m sure there are few if any of us who can claim not to have made a driving mistake - unintentional or otherwise. Most of the time we are fortunate enough to avoid the consequences, whether it’s escaping the collision or not getting spotted by the authorities in the act. I’m not the naive parent who thinks my children can do no wrong - and I assure you my children would say I tend to the opposite!</p>
<p>Would first offense have been a better phrase?</p>
<p>My 70 year dad still gets speeding tickets. Every time he claims it’s a trap.</p>
<p>vulture, yes, we got tons of lawyer solicitations after S1 got the ticket. All the lawyers were ones in the area of our home but the actual speeding ticket (and subsequent court date ) were in a county two hours away, halfway between home and college.</p>
<p>As I said, he easily handled the whole thing via phone and email with a lawyer (in the county seat where the case would be heard). Got the ticket reduced (first traffic offense) . Insurance did not increase.</p>
<p>DH has never had a speeding ticket so has no empathy whatsoever…told S1 to handle it and pay for it himself</p>
<p>When I moved from SoCal to a small town I got two speeding tickets in the 1st six months, apparently in places other than SoCal those signs are a maximum not a minimum!!! I paid less than $100 on both fines combined , but my auto insurance doubled, this was before traffic school. I am all for any solution which prevents increases in insurance as long as the speeder has to fight through the bureaucracy and pay the fees.</p>
<p>My FIL got caught at 105# in a 55 back in the day, if her were not a senior at the time they could have taken him directly to jail for reckless driving. I do know that the fine was 4 digits!</p>
<p>S just spoke to the court clerk. The whole thing can be handled by mail. He can plead not guilty with an explanation and a copy of his driving record from DMV. Since he has a clean driving record and this is his first offense, the points will either be eliminated or reduced.</p>
<p>I just had a very stern talking to with S, letting him know that this can not happen again. Hope he listens. He was so scared by this that I think he will.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your great advice. CC comes through once again!!</p>
<p>Well, it’s a painful lesson at any age–but if it were my kid I’d expect her to pay the ticket and the insurance premium increase. </p>
<p>It might be worth him showing up in court in a suit, polite & contrite, to try to reduce the magnitude of the violation a little. The amount over the limit might impact the size of the premium increase.</p>
<p>That’s good Michone - I assume there will still be a fine or court costs?</p>