Ticketed! What are my chances?

[PHaller]

I got a ticket for speeding. I got it for 38 in a 25 zone but when I stopeed and he wrote the ticket I was directly under the 35 MPH zone sign. I took a picture of it and went to court. I showed up with all the stuff and appeared before the judge only to find that that apperance is to plead. I had to schedule another appointment to argue the case with the officer present. I still lost and had to go to traffic school. I spent 2 days off work to try to beat a 65 dollar ticket.

Go to school and be done with it!

-Paul R. Haller-

 

[Jetson]

It you check this website and their parent organization, you will get a lot of information on how crooked some of the ticketing scams can be.

http://www.texasmotorists.org/

They will give you info on how to fight it and names of lawyers that handle traffic tickets for reasonable fees in your area. I have never taken a defensive driving course. I live in the Houston area where driving over the max speed limit of 55 means you are 15 mph below the safe speed limit on many roads in the area. I fight that type of ticket because I don't want the gov't to be rewarded for being bad. I won't take defensive driving because the gov't gets an easy income off those fees also.

 

[ddesau]

Ticket

I would say that you should ask for a Court Trial. But first try to research Texas Law to see if the law allows the officer to issue you a citation for a violation that HE DID NOT OBSERVE. In some States - the motor vehicle allows one officer to contact a second officer and advise him of the violation - BUT it usually applies only to speed violations (ie: radar). Once you have the law in front of you then you can detemine how well you will do in Court. In any event - going to Court would be the best answer - as the Officer may not remember that he was not the one who observed you run the light.



And if the other officer who made the observation does not show up - you have a better chance of beating the ticket. Be ready to explain to the Judge that you did not feel that you ran the light andf that you haven't had a ticket in 30 years ( this may be enough for the Judge to dump it).



But you are much better off requesting a trial. .

 

[merryman]

A few observations from one with 32 years in court;



1. Almost any scheme you come up with, the court has allready seen about a thousand times, and about all you will do is give the clerks another laugh

(I liked the one about the unresolved item----do you really think everyone working in a court system would be that dumb. ?that they would leave something like that in the control of the person receiving the ticket? get real. )

2. The groups and organizations that set out to help you fight the tickets/charges are generally running right with Don Quixoti-----jousting those windmills with generally the same degree of realism. Their ideas about the way the system works has one thing in common with item 1 above; they provide the court staff with their daily laugh.



3. While it is true that occasionally an officer wont show (generally in Oregon that gets him/her disciplined), and other things can go wrong in any system, the only approach that really makes sense is to simple go in and tell your side of the situation and play it straight. The thing that will turn a Judge off faster than anything and make him/her suspicious of your story is to see you trying to pull something "cute"



Good luck



Vaughn

 

[Pit Bull]

I got a ticket once when I was 18. Before I went to court I talked to my sister since I knew she was dating a cop in our town and might know someone. My sister was 22 and the cop that gave me the ticket was the one she was dating. Went to court and the Cop told the prosecutor that he did not remember the incident and I plead not guilty. I was found Innocent Some times it came in handy having a good looking older sister.

 

[Sled Puller]

Originally posted by The patriot

I'd fight it. If you lose, I've heard that if you over pay the ticket (yes you've read this correctly) the court will send you a refund of the overpayment. DO NOT cash the courts check.

This will show in their computer as an unresolved item, and will not issue you the points until it's been resolved.

I've never actually done this myself, but I've heard that all the computer systems are basically the same, and it should work in almost all systems.

Choice #2.

Good luck.

Eric

I tried that once with a bogus ticket from South Carolina. Could not go back and fight it. Figured it could not hurt.



Guess what?



They kept the money!