Anybody ever contested a speeding ticket?
 

I've just been pulled over in Ohio for 'Doing 80' in a 65 zone - it is possible but I genuinely don't think I was going that fast, it was rush hour and there was so much traffic I don't think it's possible.

Has anybody ever been to court to contest a ticket? This is my first offence so I'm hoping to be able to at least go to speed school and avoid having the ticket on my record.

More importantly, is there any possibility that contesting in court could affect my visa renewal when I come around to renewing my H1B?

I'd love to hear anybody's ideas!

Re: Anybody ever contested a speeding ticket?
 

Mr Weeze ignored the whole thing for a few weeks and the next thing was he got a letter saying it was being dropped for being incorrectly filed. He is very lucky though :)

Re: Anybody ever contested a speeding ticket?
 

First, it will not affect any renewal.

Second, which state?

Usually here in GA, it's 82 or 15 over the limit they ticket you for. This is because 15 is the cut-off where the ticket has to be reported to Atlanta abd you get points on your license, which can affect future tickets and should be reported to your insurance company so they can up the rates!. Below that, it stays at county level and usually, the cop will offer to reduce it.

The reason for this is not because he wants to be nice, but because if they send too many 'revenue tickets' to Atlanta, they'll get jumped on.

Re: Anybody ever contested a speeding ticket?
 

Here if you let it go to Court the fine doubles.

Re: Anybody ever contested a speeding ticket?
 

I just googled it and some of the results included:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4895159_figh...cket-ohio.html

http://www.dmv.org/oh-ohio/fighting-...fic-ticket.php

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/arc.../t-908178.html (interesting remarks about cops from small towns...apparently they always show up in court...!)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-20001248-38.html

There are loads of videos on Youtube on how to contest a speeding or parking ticket. Many tickets seemed to be issued mainly for revenue raising. I've often heard that motorists (or their attorneys) have questioned the accuracy of the radar guns, asking when they were last tested etc. Tbh the fines in Ohio seem rather low to me, but that's because I've been stopped in New Jersey and upstate New York :blink:

Re: Anybody ever contested a speeding ticket?
 

It's worth doing just to not get the points on your license which will likely affect your insurance come renewal.

How you do it depends on the state. In ME, you need to appear in person even if you use a lawyer and if it's on the interstate, you need to appear in Augusta. In MA, they have a generic cop in Boston that does all the speeding tickets these days so you can't blag out of a ticket because your cop didn't show up at court any more.

You get one free pass in MA though...but then again in MA, you also get points for non-moving violations and as a friend of the missus found out, it is an arrestable offence to drive in this state without having your drivers license to hand, unlike most places where it's just a ticket - It was 3am and his daughter had just gone into labour and he forgot his wallet.

Re: Anybody ever contested a speeding ticket?
 

Twice I have gone to traffic court in Westchester County, NY in my lifetime to contest a ticket. One was for going through a yellow light which turned red after I was under it and the other was for not stopping long enough at a stop sign (have to count to ten the officer said before going).

Both times the officers did not show up and both times the charges were dropped.

If he has you on radar, then you were going that fast. I can tell you from experience that our roadway is 55 mph and I usually go 60 to 65 mph just keeping up with the slow lane while on the extreme left people are passing me like bullets from a gun. My car is so very very quiet that I could be keeping up with them and unless I look down at the speedometer, I would not know what speed I was traveling at. My husband has experienced this also when he has driven my car.

Re: Anybody ever contested a speeding ticket?
 

I got pulled over by a state trooper the Saturday before Christmas 4 or 5 years ago for "allegedly" doing 87mph in a 55mph area. I had hubby and the kids in the car the weather was clear road conditions were perfect and it was on a down hill section of the interstate where the limit changes from 65 to 55. They sit there waiting for people like me :frown:

I had a totally clean driving record, not even a parking ticket, never been stopped for speeding in the UK or the US before.

Doing 30 over the limit in NY can result in instant licence removal at the scene, 12 points and a ban. Fines are increased as not only do you have to pay the ticket you also have to pay some state fines too, can't remember what they were.

My then boss who lived in CT but whose business is in NY had an attorney who just dealt with the companies traffic offences in NY, he took on my case. Points were reduced to 4, fine was $200 and change, attorneys fee was $300. I didn't have to go to court the attorney went on my behalf. He actually said to me prior to the court date not to worry as the courts are just after the money, as long as they get something from the ticket they are happy.

I don't condone speeding but if I was going 55mph on that particular road at that time I'd have been the exception!

Re: Anybody ever contested a speeding ticket?
 

I may have been passing you when I got pulled over then ;)

Re: Anybody ever contested a speeding ticket?
 

How many lanes in your direction, which were you in, and how long had you been there?

If your speed was measured by radar, did you ask the officer to calibrate the radar gun, or ask when it was last calibrated?

Regards, JEff

Re: Anybody ever contested a speeding ticket?
 

In CA if the cop that gave you the ticket and this maybe by county as well, but if the cop does not show up for the hearing then the ticket is dropped....been down that road ;)

Re: Anybody ever contested a speeding ticket?
 

Yep - I have and I know others who have as well. Sometimes you get lucky and the cop doesn't show up in court - then you just deny you were speeding. If the cop does show, you can usually bet your life that the judge will believe the cop. In that case, just apologize, maybe come up with a reasonable excuse (if you have one) and ask for your (hopefully) good driving record to be taken into account. That's what I did and I had the points waved and my fine slightly reduced. It's definitely worth trying to avoid points on your license for insurance purposes.

In my case, I was cited for driving 62mph in a 30mph zone. The problem was that I wasn't familiar with the area and wasn't paying enough attention to the speed limit signs. It was a 6 (yes, 6!) lane divided highway (3 lanes in each direction) but it had a 30mph speed limit because it was going through a residential area. However, I have a 4 lane divided highway near where I live with a 50mph limit. To be honest, there was no way that I was going 62mph. When I saw the cop step out with the radar gun (at the bottom of a hill), I immediately glanced at the speedometer and saw that I was going 56mph just before I applied the brakes. I wasn't going faster than 56mph beforehand because I was still accelerating away from a stop just prior to descending the hill. So there's no way the cop should have obtained a 62mph reading unless the radar equipment was faulty. That's the story I gave the judge and he seemed to believe me.

By the way, I was also on H1B. Contesting in court did not affect my ability to obtain a green card and finally citizenship. Standard moving violations such as speeding are not problematic as long as (a) you don't have an excessive number and (b) you are completely honest about disclosing them. Contesting in court is not going to affect you in matters of immigration. However, more serious violations such as DUI/DWI could have more serious consequences up to and including deportation in extreme cases. Just one reason why I advise people to obtain US citizenship asap.

Re: Anybody ever contested a speeding ticket?
 

Wow, if they enforced that one rigorously they could cut Westchester property taxes by 75% or more!

Re: Anybody ever contested a speeding ticket?
 

I know someone who was stopped for speeding on the Taconic Parkway in NYS a few times, and he would always show up to contest it, and the officers never came to court and consequently, as with you, the charges were dropped.

Re: Anybody ever contested a speeding ticket?
 

I disagree. The radar's used here in MA sit on the inside of the windscreen. That is in no way able to get an accurate reading from a car; the beam simply hits some part of the car, which is against the manufacturers operational instructions advised by ACPO [1] for the LTI 20-20[2]. The beam should be targetted against the licence plate to avoid any slip effect from occurring. MA cops use the Kustom Signals KR-10 which is radar, NOT laser. As a result, if there are other cars on the road, then the device is near next to useless as the radar signal is going to be bounce all over the other cars.

It amazes me that you can get caught speeding based upon a KR-10 reading when other cars are in the vicinity.

[1] http://www.pepipoo.com/files/ACPO/RP...ice_Nov_04.pdf
[2] http://www.pepipoo.com/LTi2020_screen.htm