Very true, Rick. I agree that it's mostly about revenue, and not safety. But if an officer is going to "perjure" himself and essentially give me a fine less than what I truly deserve, I'm not looking that gift horse in the mouth regardless the principles. It's the admittedly uncommon stories of manufacturing up crimes/infractions that would have me steamed, though.

Yeah, I thought it was a gift when the Phoenix bike cop told me a few mos. ago there was NO fine or points if I did online traffic school. I even thanked him, thinking it was a warning.....until I got home and learned the online traffic school cost $300, way more than the fine. I don't consider it a gift when someone takes my wallet and gives me $10 for cab fare to get back home.

I agree with the generalities, except for the perjury remark.

I got 2 tickets at once a few months ago (total BS from the lousy city cops - claimed I was not wearing a seat belt b/c he couldn't see it; and a no signal for a turn, which was not really a turn - 2 turns clearly signalled). He told me I could get a fine reduction if I pled out. I was busy so I did, and also I recognize that your chance of not getting judged guilty is as close to zero as it is possible to get.

SO guess what? They only reduced the fine by $20, AND they slapped me with a driving restriction - a prohibition against driving from 2 am to 5 am or some such with an exception for work related driving. Not a big problem given my sleep habits, but it will look bad the next time I get stopped. And they do have everything on their computers.

So, watch out b/c they are HUNGRY for dollars, esp. right now.

Well, the real savings comes from not having your insurance premium raised for x years because of the ticket. (Which, considering how much I speed and how few accidents I've ever had over the past 2 decades of licensure, seems to have little correlation with safety.)

Our 17 Y/O daughter just got her first ticket, going 49 in a 35 at 11 PM on her way home from a friend’s house. The cop wrote it for 44 in a 35, said she could go to court and they would knock it down for no points.

We'll see what happens when she goes next month, but I've already told her she's paying any fine, traffic school, increased insurance premium, etc.

Let me know if calling again works for you. If not PM me and I will find out how my friend went about taking care of his ticket.

Thanks


T6DPilot- I was in the lead and took the bullet going over a hill. D*mn instant on!

No problem at all. His ticket was about 5 years ago IIRC, I imagine not much has changed in dealing with tickets and online traffic court since then.

PS: I have a great insurance agent in the area that makes a practice of not snooping around for trouble.

Verify this is correct, but don't overlook this little tidbit from a man in blue.

You can do an online traffic school in CA (costs vary widely), but I think you're still on the hook for the cost of the ticket. (It's been years since I've done traffic school, so my memory might be foggy.) But you get no "points" reported to any insurance exchange.

If there's truly no reciprocity, just pay the fine. If there is reciprocity, then you have to figure out if it costs more to pay the ticket and traffic school, or pay the ticket and take any hit on increased insurance premiums. Or just not pay the ticket and live life a bit on the wild side. Of course, then you probably won't be able to take part in any future Targa Californias...

I believe CA is not a member of the compact. And I also believe CA creates its own DMV record for anyone who gets cited in CA with a non-CA license. So it only matters if you get nailed there again and again or ever plan to move there.

I was prepared to do the online thing for my recent ticket in AZ. But I heard from a friend who did it that his insurance still found out about it and jacked his rates. That made me go to court and I won because the cop no-showed.

The thing with the "perjury" comment is a little harsh. Let's look at this from another standpoint.

Speedlimit is 70, cop clocks you at 90. Dutifully, you drop throttle, apply the brakes and come to a stop on the left shoulder.

In the process of slowing from 90 to a complete stop, did you at any time go 89? Did you go 83? Did you go 77, etc? And aren't all of those still speeding in the witness of the officer? Can he honestly stand there at that point in time and tell a judge with complete truthfulness that he witnessed you going 89? 83? 87? etc?

The speeding laws are written that you are at a certain speed. Not that you are at the speed only while accelerating, only that you are at a speed beyond the limit.

No matter how good your detector is, no matter how quick your reflexes, if you are clocked beyond the speed limit even while decelerating, you are still speeding. I know it seems like a ridiculous point to all of us as we have cars with good brakes and once we are "on the brakes" we drop speed fast, but in the law, doesn't matter. You are speeding.

angela

He also witnessed me going the speed limit on my way to rest. Either way, they always tell you what they clocked you at, even when they say they'll drop it down to the next lower fine tier. I have a hard time believing they do this to be nice, but rather to induce you to shut up and pay instead of fight.

Rick, they usually drop the speed to do you a favor and not get subjected to the higher fines or getting a reckless. When I was pulled over for 70 in a 55, the CHP told me he was going to write it at 68 - so I would not have the fine doubled. That's if you are nice. BE a dick to them and don't expect to lower fines or find yourself in the backseat for reckless, car impounded....

Yes, I know all about it. It's happened to me plenty of times and I don't believe for a second it's done out of the goodness of their hearts. It's still perjury too. If they pen f*cked everyone for everything they could get them on, the courts would be tied up forever. So they entice to you shut up and pay with a "nice gesture" of writing you for a speed at which they did not clock you - perjury.

Interesting short thread....
How many miles over the speed limit do you let someone go?

Seems a lot of these guys write at their own discretion. So, I don't think it's perjury for them to write you a lower speed. Hey, next time you get pulled over, mention that you don't want the "discount", do your voodoo and try and get out of it. If you do, great, if not, have fun paying twice the fine.

Heck, after reading this

I may try and fight mine. Since Noah930 can corroborate that there were cars going faster than 70 and that traffic was moving at that pace, was I truly speeding?

I'm not going to try to talk my way out of a ticket on the side of the road and I'm not going to call a cop a liar in court. I'm merely stating that they can write whatever they want on there, tell you it's not what they clocked you at and most people think they're getting a favor and thank the cop for it. That's how they want it to work. I'll keep my mouth shut, not say or do anything to make them remember me or think I'll fight it and then I'll take my chances in court every single time I can get there. I have only once ever come away empty handed. Remember, I got dismissed once when the judge told the courtroom she wanted to get home in time to watch Nancy Kerrigan skate in the '94 Olympics. Yes, it's all about safety and the law.

when i got tagged for speeding in Nevada the HP wrote me up for 5 over

If i plead not guilty his notes of my true speed would come into play. For instance he has what he radar clocked me at and his early visual of my tires being crushed in the sweeper at speed where his "professional eyeball speed" would come into play

If i plead guilty to 5 over it would not be reported to NY. He said Nevada does this and said he doesn't know if this practice is in other states

If i was tagged and plead guilty to 6 over it would be reported.


Yep... he was a nice guy.
He could have arrested me. Told me where his perch was, how/when/where he eyeballed my speed. Told me not to go more than 10 over in western states and HP shouldn't bother me.