Fighting a speeding ticket

[dufremle]

As most of you know, I am fighting the speeding ticket I received on Dec 31. I figured I would give you an update as it is scheduled to go to court April 4. I didn't get to talk to the lawyer yet, but I did talk to the person who handles the county court cases. Here is what she told me...

The first hearing date is when it is decided if the ticket will be dismissed or if I can get probation. I do not have to attend this hearing. If the ticket is not dismissed, then I have the option to take probation or request a jury trial. The ticket will be dismissed only if the officer has not sent in the paperwork for the ticket. My attorney will know the Friday before the court date if he has sent it in or not. If I get offered probation she said I should take it as that is the only way to keep it off my record.

This is what pisses me off. Basically I will lose if I request a jury trial. The cop does not need to prove anything about the ticket, other than the fact that he wrote me a ticket for speeding. There is no paperwork required from him other than the ticket. According to the law, the ticket is proof that I am guilty. He doesn't have to prove that he got me on radar, or that the radar gun was even turned on. He doesn't have to prove that it was me that he was pointing the radar gun at. Nothing. He said I was speeding and that is all the court cares about. It is my word against his. She said in the 8 years she has been working there she has never seen anyone win a jury trial for a traffic case. Not one.

I would have had to hire a lawyer anyway to get probation as Precinct 4 does not offer probation at all. I'm hoping the cop didn't file the paperwork, but he probaby did. I expect to get probation.

Next time I'm running. Screw this shit.

As far as the photo is concerned, they can take whatever photos they want. So there is nothing I can do about that.

[Telomere]

That is shitty. Next time, take a picture of his car..license plate and all. Then call into the station and report him for speeding without his lights on. The only time a cop is allowed to speed is if there is a fatal accident (at least in Hurst, anyways). But when citizens call in and report cops for not obeying the law they are trying to enforce, they get their asses reamed by the Chief!! So call him in for running a red light or some shit...if it is a trooper, you probably have to call it into the closest state trooper barracks. That is probably why some of the other guys run too.

Isn't there a spot on the ticket that says something about signing the ticket does not mean you are guilty???

Maybe we should make a database (or webpage) for those cops that harass those on sport bikes...

[dufremle]

Actually, there is no law that says they are allowed to speed. They get away with it because it is considered an 'emergency situation' and I don't think any judge would prosecute them if they were on a call.

This brings up the question of 'pacing'. They can pace you and give you a ticket for speeding. I wonder if they can do that if you are following them and they are speeding. I would think not.

Edit: Signing a ticket is not an admission of guilt.

[milesmiles]

that's crazy, so what's up with these people getting a lawyer for 100bucks and the ticket getting dismissed?

[U-Turn]

"Fighting a Speeding Ticket"
in
the
"Politics & Religion"
section.
-

[fixxervi6]

What was the speed, why didn't you just do a no contest and defer it?

By the time you go through all of this headache it would have been cheaper faster and easier.

[dufremle]

"Fighting a Speeding Ticket"
in
the
"Politics & Religion"
section.
-

I figured it could get political.

[dufremle]

What was the speed, why didn't you just do a no contest and defer it?

By the time you go through all of this headache it would have been cheaper faster and easier.

Already stated...

I would have had to hire a lawyer anyway to get probation as Precinct 4 does not offer probation at all.

[fixxervi6]

What was the speed, why didn't you just do a no contest and defer it?

By the time you go through all of this headache it would have been cheaper faster and easier.

Already stated...

I would have had to hire a lawyer anyway to get probation as Precinct 4 does not offer probation at all.

Oh....damn...... where is Precinct 4 so I can avoid it at all costs?

[dufremle]

Not sure, but I got the ticket on 820 near White Settlement.

[fixxervi6]

I guess the only way would be defensive driving then?

[dufremle]

From what I understand, no. They only offer pleading guilty or fighting it in court.

[fixxervi6]

Well then we need a precinct map, that's a mega load of shit.

[fireblade]

PD Map

[fixxervi6]

Bitchin!

Looks like 820 is the boarder of it.

Damn shame because that section of 820 rarely gets clogged with traffic.

On the flip side, I'm uber paranoid about speeding on the main roads anyway, 820/183 etc, for this very reason.

I wouldn't mind so much if there wasn't insurance BS attached to the tickets, I'm willing to pay a big fine, but the problem is the damn insurance companies use it as an excuse to drain your blood.

[Bewst]

I drive on 820 to 30W every day. From Lake Worth to 30 is nothing but cops. I saw 3 people pulled over within 1 mile tonight, just before the Lake Worth bridge. They are out there daily

[fixxervi6]

This is also why I avoid holiday riding.

Last time I was out riding on a holiday, I thought I was toast, more than once.

[sckego]

Jim Lollar. 3 tickets, one paid the fine but no points on record, the other two straight up dismissed. $40 per violation. Whambamthankyouma'am.

[Striple]

Jim Lollar. 3 tickets, one paid the fine but no points on record, the other two straight up dismissed. $40 per violation. Whambamthankyouma'am.

I tried him with my last ticket. The original fine was $239 for running a yellow red light in Arlington. I paid $40 in exchange for deferred adjudication. Still had to pay the $239, but kept it off my driving record. Jim Lollar's office told me that it really depends where you got the ticket. In Arlington, tickets are apparently rarely dismissed.

When I still lived in New Orleans, I had an attorney that would get any ticket dismissed for $50. Back then I used to collect tickets like they were going out of style. Speeding, reckless driving, etc. - all dismissed, no sweat. Those were the days!

[milesmiles]

I wished we lived in one of those states that if you get pulled over you could pay with cash right there. From what i've seen the tickets are much much lower to pay if you do it that way.

[DemonDuck]

I wonder if I should get one of those lawyers for my license plate thing? It is in the same Precinct.

[Firewa11]

I had a 250 dollar ticket that I decided to get representation on a few years ago. This was for a ticket I got on a section of I-20 right before it had previously gone from 60 to 65 (just before the Rest Area), state boy got me doing 82 in a 60. Not sure what precinct it was, but I would have had to go to Weatherford court house to fight it. I paid the lawyer $75, and he got me probation. I ended up paying almost $500 for laywer, ticket, and probation fees, but it stayed off my record. And this was for a ticket that didn't offer deferred disposition but it did offer defensive driving. But, I had used my defensive driving 'yearly free pass' for a ticket I got a few months before that.

[DarcShadow]

I wished we lived in one of those states that if you get pulled over you could pay with cash right there. From what i've seen the tickets are much much lower to pay if you do it that way.

We do, you just tape a $50 to the back of your license.

[Firewa11]

I wished we lived in one of those states that if you get pulled over you could pay with cash right there. From what i've seen the tickets are much much lower to pay if you do it that way.

We do, you just tape a $50 to the back of your license.

Or if you're a chick you can just blow the cop... or if you're Rhino you can "get inside" the male cop.

[Rhino]

I wished we lived in one of those states that if you get pulled over you could pay with cash right there. From what i've seen the tickets are much much lower to pay if you do it that way.

We do, you just tape a $50 to the back of your license.

Or if you're a chick you can just blow the cop... or if you're Rhino you can "get inside" the male cop.

That doesn't work on cops, they have to sit down for a lot of their job. As you know, when I'm done that can be...uncomfortable.