<p>A while back I got a speeding ticket on a town road in CT (I forget the specifics about the speed…) - I elected to plead not guilty and go to court rather than pay the ticket. Friends had told me that there was a high probability that the fee would be dropped or significantly reduced if I showed up in court. So I packed up my 2 then-young children and headed off to the courthouse to wait my turn (figured I’d look more respectable that way 
)</p>
<p>When my turn came I headed in to the little room where the (??District Attorney?? I forget) was, looked repentent and hoped for the best. What I got was no reduction in the fine, but I was to pay it as a charitable donation (to the Special Olympics, I think). No points on my license, no reporting to the insurance company, and I was on my way. I was pretty satisfied with the outcome, except I was a little miffed that I didn’t at least get to pick the charity…</p>
<p>Another time (my ONLY OTHER TIME) getting a ticket, I was 17, going 25mph over the limit on Route 8 (a notorious speed trap). My dad had to take me to court, the judge gave me a stern lecture, and noted that if I was to pay the fine, that actually my parents would be paying it (indirectly). So he (the judge) GROUNDED ME for two weeks. And my dad held me to it! My brother, who got many a speeding ticket with no reduction in fine, never really forgave me for that!! :)</p>
<p>My court day was today. I showed up, waited my turn to be called into the prosecutor’s office. He talked to me on a hall day. 5 minutes conversation. When I mentioned that it was the points that really concerned me, he directed my attention to the fine prints on the ticket itself: which read something to the effect of “if you agree to plead guilty and send the check, we will eliminate the points”, and told me that I did not need to bother to come if avoiding the points was the main thing since I could just mail the check for the full amount. But, he reduced the fine by 2/3 anyway since I drove all the way to CT and told me the fine would go to a charitable organization. NO POINTS. </p>
<p>Regarding the sentiments on “personal responsibility”, etc: yes, in an ideal world, we should all fess up and fully embrace the total responsibility. However, our legal system “ROUTINELY” allows people to plea bargain to a lower charge to save the cost and overhead of conducting trials. People with money get away with A LOT by hiring an expensive lawyer.</p>
<p>Speeding is minor, minor issue, and as another poster mentioned, it’s to a larger degree a luck of a draw (or the opposite of it) to get pulled over. So, perhaps we can save moral outrage of “getting away light” to something more serious, like people getting away with a murder on a technicality engineered by expensive lawyers.</p>
<p>Thanks everybody for giving me the input I needed.</p>
<p>Wow. Good for you. I have never heard of this happening in PA. I have a friend who is a state trooper and he told my daughter that her only hope in going to court was for the ticketing officer not to show up.</p>
<p>^^ State Troopers jurisdiction is different versus local/county, not much one can do with the Trooper issue, local thing again, if the courts plea down, the local keeps the fines, not the state, so it is in the local departments best interest to impose a penalty (sort of an extra tax for getting caught breaking the law) and reduce to a lower charge. If you plead guilty the state benefits not the local jurisdiction.</p>
<p>Good job, science fiction. It really is luck of the draw although there are certainly lessons to be learned. </p>
<p>PA and NJ can be tough. My kid got a ticket in a small NJ town for having a headlight out (daytime). Headlights were on because they are automatically on. He knew the headlight was out but H wanted him to go the cheap route and get a headlight at Walmart and fix it himself instead of going to the dealer. He didn’t have the tools, so was driving with the headlight in the car. (didn’t tell the officer that, of course). I called the prosecutor- daytime, headlight out…-and they wouldn’t reduce it a penny.</p>
<p>moving violations are different than the headlight/tailight, no points and insurance with those so they wont budge on those.</p>
<p>Our village brings in about 30K a month in reduced moving violations that go right into the village account. Our village is one square mile.</p>
<p>My compliments to sci-fi. You didn’t hire a lawyer. You didn’t hire an expensive lawyer. You didn’t swear in, and/or then plead not guilty even though you knew you were guilty, in an attempt to negotiate a lesser charge. Coming forward with the truth isn’t always easy, especially when there may be punishment attached.
You didn’t do anything and everything to avoid the citation. On the contrary, it seems you admitted your guilt, but discussed your concerns for the consequences. It sounds like you had a calm and rational discussion with the authorities, and it worked out well.
While others here disagree; and some think you did “the worst thing you could do” by admitting this and paying the ticket, this sure sounds to me like you did the right thing. You were guilty, you knew it, you admitted it and were ready to accept it. I’m glad too, that it worked out so well. Doing the right thing doesn’t always work out so well, but as I said before, if we do the right thing we feel good about it.
My compliments too, to all those that helped raise you, and influenced you that the idea of <em>do all you can to avoid the consequences of your actions</em> isn’t the right thing to do.</p>
<p>Once again, younghoss, you are putting your own spin on the posts of others. It must be tough to live so far above the rest of the population! The point was not about “doing all you can to avoid the consequences of your actions”. The point was to obtain as favorable an outcome as possible, even if it involved (as it was certain to do) paying a fine. Consequences just don’t have to include hurting your family’s insurance and racking up points against your license.</p>