Speeding ticket

[Mike C.]

Guys, while driving from Boston to NY this weekend I got a speeding ticket in Connecticut. 80 in a 65, though I was really going 86. The price is for $291. Ouch, this sucks. Should I pay it, or let it just go away? Should I just plead not guilty and have a shot at getting it reduced? This is the first time I've even been pulled over, i can't believe it. I can't ask my dad about this, cause he'd kill me.

 

[GQgeek]

I got one for doing 150kph in a 100 zone about 3 months after getting my licence. The way it works up here is you get a probationary licence for 2 years and you only get 4 points (instead of 14 or 15).

Anyway. My ticket was 5 points and $300. I did'nt want to lose my licence, so i took it to a lawyer and she handled it for about 200-250 bucks (cant remember what i paid her exactly). I'm still gonna have to pay the fine, but she got the points knocked down so that i dont lose my licence (which would suck cause i'd also have to begin the probationary period from scratch.

That was last october and i still haven't paid the fine, nor will i have to until everything is settled, which she said takes about a year.

If you get a big ticket, it's worth contesting, but you need a lawyer. If you go in front of a judge and try and bs your way out of it, he'll tell you to pay the fine and you'll lose full points. A lawyer will just call up the prosecutor and you might not even have to go to court. Believe it or not, nobody wants to tie up the justice system with speeding tickets.

 

[GQgeek]

Oh and she also told me that in the future, if an officer asks you if you know why you were pulled over, always say no. If you say yes, it goes straight in to his notebook and it can make contesting the ticket a lot harder. It's commonsense, but i'm sure that there are lots of people that admit to being aware that they were going over the limit.