Wondering if anyone can share their experience and let me know how it goes.

Whenever I get a speeding ticket, I call SPER straight away and organise a payment plan.

 

In my defense I was passing a semi and I sped up so I don't spend too much time on the side of the semi.

So basically, you're guilty?

 

Basically, yes. Technically, I'm just doing something I learned in my BRC-MSF course. Spend as little time as safely possible when passing to avoid being in a blind spot or the side of any vehicle. Just trying to have some grounds for my plea for mercy, which is suggested by the cop by the way. He said he was trying to look out for me, said he hates to write me a ticket, but he's gotta do his job and I respect him for that. Anyhow my court date is next month and as of now my fines is $185. Any amount lowered would help or maybe even forgiveness.

 

I guess another way to rephrase my question, what is the process of showing up to court for speeding violation? So far I got my ticket, the fines amount and a place to show up. Guess maybe I'll get further instructions once I get to the courthouse.

 

Well, it's kinda hard to justify. Going over the speed limit is breaking the law, I understand that. The speed limit on the interstate I was on is 70 mph. Most vehicles on that interstate is travelling at an avg 80 mph. So the cop can actually pick anyone he feels like and pull them over for speeding. I got singled out for being the fastest on the road at the time, plus I'm on a motorcycle, I pretty much have a big target on my back for him to pull me over. Another thing that threw me off was that me and many other vehicles passed him a few miles back. I didn't think he was ever going to pull me over, guess 5 miles down the road he decided he to pull me over.

 

Look, I'm not going to keep hammering on this as its pointless but understand everything you just wrote does not justify you going over the speed limit and is BS you are trying to use to convince yourself it was alright; like it or not, traffic flow or not, YOU were in the wrong, broke the law and were caught and punished doing so. I'm assuming the cop followed you so long trying to determine whether or not the bike was stolen and if you'd run, that's sort of SOP around here.

Now that the facts have been established (I'm not saying my above statement means you should never speed or I'm an angel but you need to understand you were in the wrong no matter what and an ******* judge will present that to you that way) you can go on. Go into court with the mentality you did wrong, and want to minimize the damage as much as possible. You can use some of your explanations as reasons you weren't paying attention but if the cop followed you as long as you stated my guess would be you didn't slow back down as fast as you should have nor was your passing speed "reasonable" in his eyes, stuff again you need to know.

What is it you want to do, lower the fine or lower the points?

Every state is slightly different but most have a "forgiveness" program where if you go to traffic school or don't get a ticket in the next year (that's what we have in Minnesota) the point go away but it costs more money on the fine. If it's lowering the fine and you're fine with the points you'll have to simply ask for a lowering of that fee. They'll go over all that in court with you. Ask questions, say your sorry, and do what they ask without being overly defensive and you'll probably get help. You can even state the officer (never refer to them as "cops" in court, only officer) said you should go to court, I did that once and it helped; lots of times officers write notes on the ticket which can help you (he was curtious, I told him to go to court, traffic was light, etc.) because the judge or court official can see those.

You need to determine how much your time is worth. No offense meant but $185 is pretty cheap and I've have a hard time not paying it and being done rather than wasting an afternoon for $50. Just remember to be straight and they'll be straight back.

 

What state are you in?

The way it usually works is you go to court on the day it says on your ticket and you plead your case. If you plead not guilty, they set up another court date where you testify against the officer. If the officer does not show up on that date, you win by default. This second process cost the state money, and some states even charge you for it. So their goal is to get it all settled on the first court day, which may require them to lower the fines some (but still more cost effective than setting up the second court date).

If you plead guilty, you tell your excuse or whatever sob story, and the person usually removes your points and possibly lowers the fine. The main thing is the points, they're usually lenient with that (assuming you have a clean record) because all they really care about is the money.

Another option is to contact a traffic lawyer, which is what I usually do. They take care of everything for you, including going to court on your behalf. In most cases (at least for me), they get your ticket lowered more than the amount of fee they'll charge. Example, ticket is $185, their fee is $85. They get your ticket lowered to $90 and remove the points.

And the main thing of course, is removing the points.

 

Well, it is bitter to swallow - but it is what it is.

I would take the defensive course or most likely go on a "no ticket" probation "clean" period for 90 days (that's how it works in my area). Goal is to move past it in the most clean way as quickly as you can, with the least amount of headache.

 

What state?

in Cali the ticket would be more like $350.

and they have "no mercy" if you dare show up for court.

 

I'm actually in the same situation, got clocked at 75 in a 55 in Cali on the highway 45 heading to paso robles (which if you know the area nobody goes 55-60 on that road). I have court on the 30th of this month for it and was hoping to drop some of the fees. But apparently that isn't going to work in Cali^ (I'm not actually from the area and I have a legitimate situation and story that led to the speed I was clocked at) but now I'm second guessing going to court. Any suggestions from riders in Cali?

 

I'm not trying to plea not guilty, I want to plea for mercy and hope to get my fines lowered and no points on my license. I just never been in a courtroom before and have no idea how the whole ordeal will go down. I've dealt with speeding tickets before in the past, I just call the number on the ticket and pay over the phone. I got one on the border of Georgia n Florida going 81 on 70. That ticket did ask for a court appearance but when I paid in full before the court date I didn't have to show up. Same with ticket now, should I pay it in full before next month I won't have to show up in court. Figure I try going to court this time, see what kind of term I can negotiate. So far my game plan is to show up before the judge and acknowledge what I did was wrong and promise to do better by abiding to the posted speed limit.

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Kind of hard not to pass someone when you can't go over the speed limit in which they're traveling. I can't say I have EVER seen anyone on the road pass another vehicle without "speeding", unless the vehicle they were passing had their hazards on, or was slowing to pull over, or something of that nature.

 

Not at all correct. In the truest sense of the law there should be NO reason to pass someone going the speed limit if you are going the speed limit yourself. That's the thing about passing and the catch.

Now, having said that there are usually limits to what you can do (and how fast you can go) to "safely" overtake a vehicle to complete and make a safe pass but it's usually pretty vague in distance, time and interpretation so you're treading on thin ice but in my state it's 10mph over the limit while overtaking another vehicle. But you must immediately return to the speed limit once the pass happens. I got nicked in my truck several years ago for that exact thing, he waited to see how long I would take to slow back down to 55, I didn't and peaked at 70 so I got nailed.

But again, the interpretation is the key: if you are all going the speed limit there "should" be no reason to pass unless the other driver is doing something wrong, unsafe or illegal. How an officer judges that can be the trick and may be the reason the OP was tailed for a while as well.

 

I pass cops all the time, if they're going below the limit. Most people are afraid to, cracks me up.

 

Find out if you can plead guilty, not guilty, or no contest. There are specific differences between them; you should plead no contest if it's an option. Read up a little about it.

 

I have passed an officer once that I can remember. I went over the speed limit and I needed to get into the right turn only lane. He did not pull me over or question it. I was probably doing about 20 mph over when I passed him. The officer was probably doing the average 5-10 mph over the speed limit himself. Guess it's not such a big deal in New York. :dontknow:

 

(I live in Cali)
I extended the court date via online as many times as it let me (twice) then you show up to the courthouse and they ask if you wanna pay the full amount, just say you wanna plead not guilty and they'll set up a court date, roughly a little over a month. So at the point you actually go to court it's been roughly 3 months, if the cop shows up the judge will tell you that if you change your plea to guilty he/she will reduce the fee & if the cop doesn't show up then your case is dismissed and you don't pay squat. My cop actually showed up but he waived my speeding charge :]

 

I did the other MSF course and it was dismissed or something.