Traffic ticket and attorneys

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot 358]

Two days after I got a ticket for a moving violation, I got several solicitations in the mail from traffic ticket attorneys.

 

Just curious if anyone has used any of these guys and to what success?

 

It would be easy just to pay the ticket ($85), but if I can avoid the points or negative mark on my driving record, then maybe an attorney is worth it?

[iCARRY 0]

What is the ticket for? If you are normally a good driver and have no points on your license, most times they will work with you.

 

 

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[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot 358]

Unsafe lane change.  Spotless record otherwise.

[iCARRY 0]

Go to court. Most likely will drop the ticket to no points. Might be a higher fine, but no points saves you lots of money on insurance and if you get pulled over again you have a clean license.

 

 

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[scarecrow 0]

Last year I got a 2 point ticket in Buena Vista Township. Tried to pay $85 fine but was told court appearance mandatory. (This is becoming more & more common) I too received several solicitations from attorneys to represent me. Prosecutor said I could plead down to a no point offense but it would cost $475 in court costs. I had a clean record so I said no thanks and pleaded guilty to original 2 point ticket. Judge fined me $35 plus $50 in court cost. To my mind it’s nothing but legal extortion. And since it's been a year with no further violations I am now back to zero points on license. My insurance did not go up either

[mike 14]

Call your insurance company first and ask them if they will charge you a higher premium first.I beleive there is a statue for a reduced point ticket I beleive it is like 250.00 dollars.If your insurance company does not charge you any extra premiums.just pay ticket and take a safe driver course to reduce the points.Good luck with your decession

[Anselmo 87]

They used to let you plead to unsafe driving pay a $100 fine and no points and be on your way.  Now, I think they've raised the fine for unsafe driving to like $450. 

 

When you get to court, ask to speak with the prosecutor.  Ask him if he'll let you plead to unsafe driving.  Bring your checkbook.

[Urban Grunt 44]

My wife had a heavy foot while driving she used to go to court in her nurses uniform,prosecutor see's she's a nurse and works a deal, wife always walks away with no points and like $50 fine.

She now uses cruise control.

[ChrisJM981 924]

Call your insurance company first and ask them if they will charge you a higher premium first.I beleive there is a statue for a reduced point ticket I beleive it is like 250.00 dollars.If your insurance company does not charge you any extra premiums.just pay ticket and take a safe driver course to reduce the points.Good luck with your decession

This. Most companies don't surcharge you for a 2 point ticket AND if I remember correctly Geico WILL surcharge you for the (pleaded down) unsafe driving ticket.

[JackDaWack 2,895]

Like others said talk to your insurance company. I got a 4 point speeding ticket 3 months ago, went to court on my own. Spotless record. Dropped to 2 points and payed 130 bucks. Got my insurance bill and it hasn't changed.

 

A lawyer would cost about 1k they ain't cheap and usually charge a flat rate. No point ticket would about 400 bucks and then you have to waste time in court. Look at your options before thinking a no point ticket is worth the hassles, it usually isn't unless you are on your 2nd or 3rd speeding ticket. Some courts will give you the unsafe no point driving ticket with out a lawyer. I know I was offered it about 7 years ago with out a lawyer down in Clark twp.

[Stonecoldchavez 92]

You don't need a lawyer for traffic court. That is the biggest scam going. Municipal Prosecutor's want/need traffic court to flow. All they care about is their conviction % rate. If everyone challenged their tickets traffic court would be 10 hours a day. Go to court. Ask to see the Prosecutor (you cannot miss him their will be a line to talk to him). All he wants to do is plead out traffic tickets and make $$$ for the municipality/State. Ask him to plead guilty to a lesser charge for no points (if a 2 point ticket). 4 points may get plead down to two points most likely. Go before the Judge. He asks you about the charge being amended to the lesser charge; you say "yes". Bring your check book and pay your fine to the municipal coffers. Paying $1,000 for a lawyer for something you can do yourself for free is ludicrous.

 

The Municipal Prosecutor prays on the uniformed in court. As the average person has no clue as to how court runs or the laws involved. 6 months ago my Mom had a MP try to charge her $450 for a ticket the under the MVC code is no more than $100 dollars. She plead not guilty and refused his "offer". He was pissed. I gave her a copy of the Title 39 code indicating the max fine was $100. She presented it in court and she WON. The uninitiated in court before her paid the $450 because they did not know the traffic law and took the MP's "word".

 

S.

[Shawnmoore81 623]

Oh yeah, unsafe operator and you'll be fine. Bring your check book

[Jon 264]

IMO, pay for whatever the 2-point ticket is and take a Defensive Driving course to knock the 2 points off. That $250 penalty isn't worth it.

[High Exposure 5,661]

Call your insurance company first and ask them if they will charge you a higher premium first.I beleive there is a statue for a reduced point ticket I beleive it is like 250.00 dollars.If your insurance company does not charge you any extra premiums.just pay ticket and take a safe driver course to reduce the points.Good luck with your decession

This first. Otherwise, for routine traffic violations, the guys that hire a lawyer for $250 an hour and the folks that come in without a lawyer get the same deal every time.

[Shawnmoore81 623]

Yeah only bring a lawyer if you have too

[Shawnmoore81 623]

If they won't make a deal, which they should. Postpone and request representation. They will 100% grant that

[JackDaWack 2,895]

IMO, pay for whatever the 2-point ticket is and take a Defensive Driving course to knock the 2 points off. That $250 penalty isn't worth it.

that will knock points off your DMV abstract. Not your insurance abstract.

[Jon 264]

IIRC the insurance points go on even if you pay the surcharge.

[JackDaWack 2,895]

Yes. Some companies started catching on to the unsafe operation ticket. Not sure how it works. But traffic points are much more consistent among insurance carriers.

[Old Dog 19]

_{It is not unusual for clerks in various agencies to sell list to attorneys, insurance agents and others. I learned about that when I sold insurance in the early 70's.}

[Arbelest 29]

Unsafe lane change.  Spotless record otherwise.

Is that what you actually got pulled over for?

[KevD 0]

Is that what you actually got pulled over for?

Stupid right.. Thats what i was thinking.. cops filling quotas

[BlueLineFish 615]

Did you change lanes in an unsafe manner? If so then its not stupid. Just got caught

[heaterbob 53]

make them produce the video tape, put the cop on the stand, get your moneys worth.

[Arbelest 29]

Stupid right.. Thats what i was thinking.. cops filling quotas

I don't believe in quotas.  Maybe it was a slow day.

 

make them produce the video tape, put the cop on the stand, get your moneys worth.

The video tape starts recording after the lights are activated, so you won't get much there

[High Exposure 5,661]

I don't believe in quotas.  Maybe it was a slow day.

We don't have Quotas, I can write as many tickets as I want.

 

The video tape starts recording after the lights are activated, so you won't get much there

My DVR goes back and starts recording from 2 minutes before I activated my overhead lights.

[Arbelest 29]

We don't have Quotas, I can write as many tickets as I want.

 

 

My DVR goes back and starts recording from 2 minutes before I activated my overhead lights.

Performance Standards is the term I am used to hearing.  If everyone else on the squad writes 30 tickets a month and I write 5 obviously I'm not doing my job.

 

And a whole 2 mins? Must be nice, the newer ones we have I think go back 15 seconds. I'd have to double check that though.

[High Exposure 5,661]

The prior recording is a setting, I can go back anywhere from 15 minutes to 10 seconds. Our SOP is 2 minutes. I can also define an "event" to record at ay time during the previos 8 hours of my shift that the camera is on, whether it was recording or not.

[JackDaWack 2,895]

So its basically always recording 8 hours strait, and then saves specific data in that 8 hour period? whether it is tripped to save automatically or if you have to go back and manually pull it? maybe it the way you said you can go back  and "record" that's got me tripped up.. Its like having everything saved on RAM, and then moving it over to a Drive.

[High Exposure 5,661]

So its basically always recording 8 hours strait, and then saves specific data in that 8 hour period? whether it is tripped to save automatically or if you have to go back and manually pull it? maybe it the way you said you can go back  and "record" that's got me tripped up.. Its like having everything saved on RAM, and then moving it over to a Drive.

I think so. There is a hard drive with 8 hours of storage capacity of video at standard definition. As long as the camera is on it records constantly to the drive overwriting the older recordings. I can go back and pull data off the drive and burn it to a DVD by setting my own time parameters in the system.

 

When the light goes on, it automatically backs the video up 2 minutes and starts burning this to the DVD. The DVDs are removed and stored when they are full. They are kept as evidence for a certain time (I forget how long) in the event a Lawyer or resident requests discovery for their court case. After the time limit is reached, the DVDs are then placed back in rotation. If there is an arrest and there is any evidentiary value to the disk (for example a DWI, or an assault that the camera captures, the disk is pulled and entered into evidence permanently.