Ticket
 

Today i got my first ticket and the officer said i was doing 45 in a 30 on a long stretch of downhill. My car was in neutral and i let my car coast down and i saw the cops too late hiding behind a snow bank. I have a clean record and i was wondering if it is a good idea to fight this ticket in court. i just turned 21 is that information helps.

Always fight a ticket in court if possible, in most cases they are looking to give steeper fines in exchange for keeping a clean driving record. The clean record will pay for itself in insurance costs that rise with having points on your license and in most states if you are going under 100 they will have leeway.

Do a driver education course, online if possible. Even if they don't drop the ticket, the course alone will reduce your points. Your state might also offer some kind of disposition to get out of the ticket.

One thing I love about Texas, I can get 2 tickets a year without anything going on my record. I've gotten pulled over so many times here and almost nothing has stuck. It's really quite a miracle. I've had 2 or 3 warnings, two tickets disappear into thin air, and the rest I just take the disposition or the driving course and they drop it, and both of those can be used annually.

You have to be one crazy sob to rack up a bad driving record in Texas if you ask me.

Wow, you got a ticket just for that? Cops in my area wouldn't bother with me for doing that. Just the other day I saw someone speeding at least 20 mph over the speed limit to beat a red light in front of a cop and there was no pursuit.

Glad I live in Cali, where going 90 on the freeway with a 65 limit is considered "normal" (given there's no heavy traffic).

Don't coast down a hill in neutral...

Not familiar with laws in Connecticut, but in NC we can use a Prayer for Judgment (PFJ) that will get you out of the ticket - you only owe the court costs, I believe. Ticket doesn't go on your record or insurance. The sticky point is that if you get another ticket in something like a two year period, both tickets come back on your record. You may have something similar in your state.

Otherwise, I would just go to court and ask for a reduction. Get it reduced to 9 over and it shouldn't count any points against your insurance, so your premium will not increase. Just pay the fine and court costs and be done with it.

If this is your only ticket, your "good driving record" will probably wipe it and you'll just end up paying court fees.

always fight tickets

Thanks for the feedback. Any tips on how to approach the jury and officer in court? Telling them I have a clean driving record.

Really depends on the state. Everyone told me to fight a ticket I got in PA that was written for 10 over, but in the comments the cop wrote just the number "76" which was the actual speed I was going, which was 21 over. One of those roads where nobody goes 55 and I was following traffic and got picked out of the bunch. In MD, they usually let everyone off easy for a first offense, which this was, so I went to court. I got there and the judge told me that she saw the number 76 in the comments of the ticket, and if I even argued my case that I could be charged for the 76mph instead of 65 I was written up for. I said have a nice day, and went and paid the fine. I don't know if they treated me different for being out of state or what. I guess I should be happy the cop only wrote the ticket for 10 over in the first place. I'm confident from what Iv'e heard about my own state may have worked with me a little more being my first offense.

Man up, and pay up...

I second the man up and pay. Take a class so your insurance doesn't go up much. It will eventually go down at 25. Just don't get caught next time.

Side story: I got my first ticket in 12 year when I moved to Indiana. I found out that you can pay a fee on top of the speeding ticket so they don't put it permanently in your record. My first thought, I'm bribing the the local government.

If you have a clean driving record, complete an easy 20 dollar online safety course, and go to the court and say sorry I screwed up, here's what I did, they will almost definitely throw your case out.

You might even end up with a better record than before with the points bonus from the course. Assuming your state works that way, TX and VA do.

Go to the district attorney's office first. They might be able to drop it for you. I've got nothing on my record because of that. You'll probably still have to pay court costs. If that doesn't work, then go to court- there's a pretty decent chance the officer won't show up. Also, ask for the calibration records for whatever device they were using. Most places require that they keep them properly maintained.