How Do You Know if You Have to Go to Court for a Speeding Ticket

There's nil fun nearly the feeling you become when those blueish lights flash behind yous on the highway. Nobody wants to get a speeding ticket, and for good reason. If yous're convicted, a violation will:

• Affect  your driving record , possibly resulting in suspension of your license.

• Cost money upfront:  You'll pay the speeding ticket and any court fees.

• Cost more coin long term:  After a ticket, your car insurance rates can rise past hundreds of dollars per year.

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It's possible to lessen the impact of a speeding ticket or erase it, though doing then may be difficult. Here's what to know almost your options.

On the day you lot're pulled over

Information technology's likely you're reading this because you've already gotten a speeding ticket, so file away these tips in case information technology happens again:

• Inquire which method the officeholder used to determine you lot were speeding and write it down after.

• Say as little as possible. Anything you say can be used against yous if you get to court.

• Exist polite, don't argue, and attempt to exist unremarkable. If the officer can't remember you, he or she might neglect to call up details in front of a gauge.

• Later on, write downwardly everything almost the incident, including the fourth dimension of day, location and anything that might have affected the circumstances, such as obscured or missing speed limit signs.

Yous tin can then choose to fight the ticket in court, negotiate a lesser penalty or pay the speeding ticket and have the ding to your driving record and the higher insurance premiums likely to effect.

If you decide to pay the speeding ticket

Although paying a $50 ticket might not seem that bad, consider the true cost of a speeding ticket. Besides paying the initial fee, after a ticket, your auto insurance rates tin rising by hundreds of dollars per year.

For case, NerdWallet's 2020 rate study plant that:

• A 40-year-old driver with proficient credit and full coverage will pay $355 more than per yr afterward one speeding ticket, on average.

• On average, a forty-yr-one-time driver with good credit and minimum coverage will pay $148 more per year with one speeding ticket on their record.

If yous practise stop up accepting the speeding ticket, it's crucial to compare car insurance quotes ; some companies will heighten your rates more than others.

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If you decide to fight the ticket in court

If you plan to fight the ticket, y'all'll have to go to court, where a prosecutor will have to bear witness you were speeding. Even if you call up the ticket is unjustified, speeding violations are hard to beat.

If the officeholder doesn't evidence up at the hearing, you could be off the hook, just don't rely on that. If you ask for a hearing, plan to make your case and be questioned before a judge. Check the ticket to find out whether a state, county or local officer issued it and search online for traffic procedures in that jurisdiction. Expect up your state's motor vehicle code, advisedly read the speed law you allegedly broke and set to argue that you didn't.

As you prepare for court, you lot can:

• Filibuster the hearing.  This will give you more time to build your instance.

• Gather evidence.  Your best chances to win the statement will be if you have concrete proof you weren't speeding. Testify could include dashcam video or GPS data from a smartphone app, or photographic evidence that a speed limit sign was obscured.

• Inquiry speed equipment. Wait up the method the officer used to clock your speed, note its weaknesses and fix to present them. Education manuals include maintenance schedules y'all can question the officer virtually, and they may note radar gun weaknesses, for example.

• Make witness arrangements.  You tin call in witnesses, including any passengers in the car when the ticket was issued.

• Program your questions.  You lot can question the issuing officeholder, including virtually his or her retention and grooming with speed-clocking equipment. Stick to questions with short answers and avoid asking "why" questions.

Deciding whether to get a lawyer

If all this sounds similar more than yous'd desire to handle on your own, you can enlist a traffic lawyer to assist you lot. 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 specially expensive or could event in the loss of your license.

A traffic lawyer costs between $250 and $350 on average nationally, according to Thumbtack, an online marketplace for service professionals. A speeding ticket costs anywhere from $50 up to $two,500 in some states in the severest cases.

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If you decide to negotiate the punishment

"Mitigation" is making a deal with the prosecutor and court; it saves the jurisdiction money past fugitive a hearing while lowering your penalty for the ticket. Yous may be able to asking a negotiation before or at your hearing, but it'due south the court's decision, and then cheque on the court'southward website or telephone call to be certain. In some areas, you must request mitigation in writing.

Typically in mitigation, you admit to the offense and present information that would lead a gauge to grant you leniency. Outcomes may include:

• You pay all or some of the ticket, but information technology doesn't touch on your driving record.

• You take a driving course instead of paying the speeding ticket.

• The ticket is reduced to a lesser fine.

• Yous're given actress time to pay the fine.

Other possible outcomes

There are other possible means your speeding ticket can milk shake out. For example, depending on where you alive:

• Your state may waive your outset moving violation if you lot take a driving course.

• Yous could receive a deferral, in which case typically you lot'll pay a fine and your ticket will exist dismissed later on a period of fourth dimension if there are no further offenses.

Whatever you practice, don't ignore the ticket. It won't just become away on its own, and you'll be in much bigger trouble with the law. How much trouble depends on your state: You could be arrested or take to pay larger fines, or your license could be suspended.

NerdWallet writer Philip Reed contributed to this written report.

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Source: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/insurance/auto/how-to-fight-a-speeding-ticket

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