I recieved a ticket on December 7, 2009.
I was written up for speeding (62 in a 45).
The officer wrote that my court date was January 11, 2010. I went there on the 5th to pay my ticket, and it was not turned in, almost a month later.
The clerk took a copy of my ticket and kept it for records, stupid me?
My ticket was turned in yesterday, January 13th.
I recieved a letter from the courthouse today saying that "THE OFFICER ADVISED OF AN INCORRECT HEARING DATE ON THE TICKET ISSUED TO YOU. YOU ARE HEREBY DIRECTED TO APPEAR OR PAY YOUR TICKET BY THE DATE BELOW:",... February 1, 2010.

Anyway.. my question.
The officer gave me a ticket for 62 in a 45.
The 45 was just changed very recently from 55.
My ticket states: "CHARGES: Exceeding Maximum Speed Limit (55 MPH).

Now, the court still has the zone I was in at 55 MPH; I still thought it was 55, needless to say I don't drive using the speedometer, or look at speed signs I have known have been 55 MPH my whole life. Is there anyway I can get out of this ticket or atleast try to have the fine lessened? Or will they just laugh in my face?

Thanks.

 

In NY, pretty much any mistake on the officer's part constitutes dismissal of the ticket. The fact that the zone is a 55 (regardless of what it was) would be grounds for dismissal or reduction to no point, minimal fine ticket. I don't how strict they are by you, but traffic court is a joke in NY, a 7 mph speeding ticket would become a $25 parking ticket.

 

Are you in danger of a suspension? If so, I'd get legal counsel. At least call the DA's office and talk to them to see what kind of a deal they can give you.

Downwardspiral, I wish it was that easy in my part of NY. Last Oct I got my 3rd ticket during the year, that means an automatic 1 year suspension. I was on my way home from work and was nailed doing 81 in a 65 zone, I was driving my white Kia Amanti, a large sedan. Next day I see the ticket was written up for a black XF, which happened to be sitting in my driveway that day. My first line of attack was to get it thrown out since the officer wrote it up for the wrong car - I must have handed him the wrong registration and he never realized it. But, this week I was told if I take a defensive driving class the court will reduce my points by 2 and I can keep my license. Speaking of the court being a joke, the judge looked like Satan dressed as a cowboy. Seriously.

 

Haha me to I got caught doing 85 in a 65 and he gave me a ticket for no seatbelt while driving a pontiac crossfire. I went in to see what would happen becuase its not the correct car, its not even a real car. They some how put the blame on me and put a additinal 25 dollar charge on the ticket. NY is what really pisses me off. My ticket was only 50 dollars but the surcharge was 85 dollars.

 

You got off easy. My first ticket last Feb. was next door to you in Tioga County, doing 70 in a 55 zone. Fine was $90 and surcharge was $145 for a total of $235. The town never reported it to Albany. I think they pocketed the entire amount.

 

My first ticket was $150, the surcharge was $114.50. = $264.50. Awesome.

This is my second ticket, I was pulled over a 3rd time, in someone elses car which the speedometer didn't work. swear it didn't work.
The state cop new my brother and called him, I got a warning for that one.

But what should I do to see if I can get a deal or something? Call the DA's office?

 

Call the DA's office. When I was at the hearing earlier this week, several others were there for speeding infractions and some of them had called the DA ahead of time and worked out a deal. I could have done that and saved myself the $375 lawyer fee. The lady just ahead of me called the DA directly and had her speed reduced by 10 mph with fewer points and a much lower fine. Worth a try.

 

Ask forum member oledoc2u for some advice. Not only is he a resident of Indiana, he's a retired police officer. So he can give you good advice on what best to do.

My experience in Pennsylvania is that the local magistrates (traffic court in other states) lean heavily towards the police officers. In PA, unless you can show some real evidence of misconduct or that you didn't do it, the magistrate will summarily ignore you and send you off to pay your fine. If you actually have legal reasons to fight the ticket, you have to apeal and go to a real court (magistrates are not real judges, they are often retired police officers that take a 6 week course on how to pretend to be a judge - they're not even lawyers).

 

thanks, Tom....not totally retired, but closer all the time....anyway, what county are you in, and what court did they send you too....county, local city? City officer, state, county sheriff?....every jurisdiction is a little different....there are traffic courts, there are regular courts that hear traffic violations...point being is what can you prove in court...how recently had the speed limit been changed, and who changed it? If it has been awhile, well, that won't hold up...but if were say in the last few weeks, the judge may take that into your defense....as for the screw up on the ticket, well, you should have waited to see if they would have subpoened your butt if they had no record of your citation...but as it turned out, he did finally turn it in....in the long run...unless there are other factors not mentioned, I would plead not guilty to the 45, if you feel the limit has just been changed from 55....but, the judge will tell you speeding is speeding, even if it is 56 in a 55....good luck

 

Tippecanoe County.
"IN THE SUPERIOR COURTHOUSE NO. 6"

 

State Police officer.

The crappy thing is, is the state that gave me the ticket is one of my brother's good friends. My brother has been wanting to be a cop for awhile and has over 40 hours of riding time with this guy. I have just never met him before and I didn't look at his name tag. Gr!

 

HowardJ, I'm from Tippecanoe County and all I can say is good luck. My past experience with traffic court here,a long time ago, wasn't to good. I even went before some guy I think from the state for a hearing and I thought he really did me right. When I got to the traffic school I found out that he had done the most he could to me. I think that there are a lot of new to the area Purdue students ( young people ) around all with thier own stories. I'm not knocking the students or young people at all there is just alot of them so try your best. Good Luck!

 

I got a 36 in a school zone of 25 a while back. Did a u turn and asked the cop why I was getting a ticket when I relaxed. Seems it was 4th of July in the middle of a week, a while back.
He said OH yeah, ok just scratch out the 25 and write in 30, I said no way and made him rewrite it. It became a non ticket in court. I brought up the ionital error in the officers mind that triggered the ticket. He was new and thought that I was John Freaking Dillinger or something till I gained m composure.

YOu pay these guys to do this so you should use the system and go to court, explain the deal and if your record is not that of evil kenievel youll probably do good. Never assume that it wont fly in court and dismiss it. To do that you need to wear a robe in public. Positive attitude and proper backup will help you. Find and document the changing of the limit so that you have that to plead dummy status IF IT LOOKS like you a chance with that.

Woody

 

if it is superior court, then they don't have traffic court...state police are hard to beat in court, as I stated, this is their main job, to run traffic and write citations...if your brother knows the guy, then have him call him. He can pull the ticket if he wants to, or appear and agree with your take on it...but, bottom line, is, your were caught speeding, whether 45 or 55 zone, speeding is still speeding, the 10 mph difference will get you another point though...so, I would plead not guilty, have a trial date set, and tell your side of the story...you won't be able to do that in the initial hearing, it is usually, how do you plead....guilty or not guilty...if you plead guilty, they fine you, if you plead not guilty, a trial date is set...sometimes though, a judge will look at you and ask why you think you are innocent...if he or she does, here's your chance...good luck...
it doesn't cost a dime more to plead not guilty...just your time...

 

You guys have it tough out there. Appearing in court for a minor speeding offence

Over here the Police can issue a fixed penalty of 3 Penalty Points on your driving license (Accumulate 12 points and you face a ban of upto 1 year) and a £60 fine ($100).

If you break the speed limit by 30mph or exceed 100mph on the motorway you then face a court appearance and a likely ban for upto a year.

The Police generally have a 10% tolerance, i.e you'd have to be caught doing greater than 33mph in a 30 mph limit or 77mph in a 70 mph limit before you get a ticket.

I got caught doing 84mph in a 70mph limit a few years ago and got let off after recieving a good telling off about my speed.

 

bazzer, it isn't all that bad here....mostly what gets you a citation here, is inattention...if you keep your head in your driving, not talking on the cell, texting, distracted for some reason...then you will usually see us before we see you....when I worked for the city, I would give everyone 5 mph, on the outskirts of the city, 10 mph....but, most of the citations written were either attitude, or excessive speed, more 15 mph over...I like your cell phone laws over there....wish we had them here...

 

I personally don't think the cell phone laws are tough enough. It hasn't deterred many people from still using them whilst driving which makes my blood boil.

We are also seeing more and more speed camera's and less traffic officers out on the roads. A traffic officer can place judgement whereas a camera cannot. On the plus side, GPS systems have camera locations stored so we simply slow down for the camera and speed back up once you have passed them.

 

well the camera thing is catching on over hear as well. I am working security tonight for the Sheriff's Dept, at a county owned hospital....I have 36 cameras at my disposal...I prefer to walk the beat, so to speak, and we have 2 cars for the campus area...but, the cameras pretty much take of the whole facility once we lock everything down...the only entrance is the ER area...which is open to the public 24/7...towns, are now adopting the camera idea, as well as the photos at stop lts, and speed carmera as well...won't need us old cops before long...