You can call in witnesses, including any passengers in the car when the ticket was issued. Plan your questions. You can question the issuing officer, including about his or her memory and training with speed-clocking equipment.
These lawyers typically specialize in DUIs and more serious cases, but some take speeding ticket cases. Considering the costs, hiring a lawyer is likely worth the money if your ticket is particularly expensive or could result in the loss of your license.
In some areas, you must request mitigation in writing. Typically in mitigation, you admit to the offense and present information that would lead a judge to grant you leniency.
Outcomes may include:. You take a driving course instead of paying the speeding ticket. The ticket is reduced to a lesser fine. There are other possible ways your speeding ticket can shake out. For example, depending on where you live:.
Your state may waive your first moving violation if you take a driving course. How much trouble depends on your state: You could be arrested or have to pay larger fines, or your license could be suspended. NerdWallet writer Philip Reed contributed to this report. Compare car insurance. ZIP code. I own a home I'm married I'm a veteran Good driver. Demerit points do not affect insurance rates unless the points accumulate points to a licence suspension.
Where you are a novice driver , the demerit points may suspend the licence. If you plead guilty with an explanation you must appear at the court and stand in front of the judge. All the judge is allowed to do is reduce the fine.
Upon conviction the ticket immediately goes on the driving record. Any demerit points are applied and the conviction is available to your insurance company.
Many court clerks have been ordered and encouraged to schedule drivers for early resolution and first attendance meetings. The courts want people to plead guilty, so they save money by not scheduling court hearings, and scheduling officers to appear in court. This system is set up to save the court system money regardless of your rights and the affect s of a conviction on your driving record and insurance.
The court does not care about you, what happened, your clean driving record or the bills you have to pay including how much your car insurance is. If you do decide to met the prosecutor, they will offer to reduce the ticket down to the next level, for example:. Most reductions offered on first attendance or early resolutions date are not worth doing, as the insurance will still be affected.
Whether the ticket goes from a 4 to 3 points or even to no demerits, the ticket goes on the driving record affecting insurance for 3 years. Any conviction on your driving record will affect insurance for three 3 years, regardless if there are demerits or not. Police most often rely on the basic speed law after an accident. The reasoning is that you were driving too fast, no matter how slow you were driving, because you were in an accident. The difference between fighting a basic speed law ticket and a speeding ticket for going over a presumed limit is that the government has the burden of proving you were driving unsafely.
With presumed limits, it's flipped: Once the government shows you were driving faster than the presumed limit, it's up to you to prove your speed was nevertheless safe. In other words, the officer must testify that given the road, weather, or traffic conditions, your speed was unsafe.
Before you testify, you'll have a chance to listen to what the officer says and to cross-examine him. If you work quickly, you'll have the opportunity to tailor your testimony to his answers.
For example, if the officer's testimony focuses on road or weather conditions that might have been unfavorable, you could testify as to the aspects like good visibility that go the other way.
If you were involved in an accident, it's best to talk to an attorney about your case. In addition to the penalties for a speeding violation, you might also be facing a lawsuit. Getting an attorney's assistance in this situation is a good idea. The information provided on this site is not legal advice, does not constitute a lawyer referral service, and no attorney-client or confidential relationship is or will be formed by use of the site.
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Grow Your Legal Practice. Meet the Editors. Speeding tickets are, by far, the most common moving violation. If you want to fight your ticket, here are some things you should know about. If you want to fight a speeding ticket, it's important to know: what type of speed limit you're accused of violating: "absolute," "presumed," or a "basic" speed law, and how the officer measured your speed pacing, aircraft, radar, LIDAR, or VASCAR.
This article covers the first piece—the different types of speed limits. Absolute Speed Limits Most states have some absolute speed limits. Presumed Limits "Presumed" speed-limit violations are a little more complicated but give you far more flexibility in building your defense.
Basic Speeding Laws The concept of the basic speed law is even trickier. Find Out the Type of Speed Limit You Are Accused of Violating The first place to look to determine what type of speed limit you were cited for violating is the ticket itself. Here are a few things to keep in mind: If your state's laws refer to a "maximum" speed limit or says something like "unlawful to exceed" or "no person shall drive in excess," it is most likely an absolute limit.
If the law says it's merely "prima facie unlawful" to exceed the posted speed limit, without reference to maximum limits and it doesn't flatly forbid driving at a speed over the limit, the speed limit is likely presumed. Basic speed laws normally say something like "it is unlawful driver faster than is reasonable and prudent " considering the current traffic and road conditions or specifically name the various road and weather conditions that require drivers to slow their speed.
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