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Speeding ticket advice

  1. #1
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    Speeding ticket advice

    Well, it finally happened. 88 in a 55 on 95s, estimated/LIDAR. $335 or so. First speeding ticket ever.

    My main question is: is there any easy way to calculate whether or not this is worth pursuing in traffic court? What kind of insurance implications are there typically for a violation like this? I have 7 points on my record from a DUI back in 2012 but it's pretty much spotless other than that. The $335 fine doesn't bother me, it's just I don't want the insurance to become a pain in the ass since I am on so many different policies for my own company, family, and of course my policy

    I briefly Googled traffic attorneys in the Boston area and they seem to be more tailored towards habitual offenders where a particular speeding ticket is the difference between a license suspension or not for them. Obviously that is not the case for me, my premiums would just go up (I assume). And then again, I'd need to calculate if the increase in premium would outweigh the cost of the attorney, otherwise it's not really worthwhile.

    On a side note, do these cops have rear mounted radar guns or something? I actually saw them sitting at the rest stop facing the other way and while I may have tapped somewhere close to 88 on my way towards them, I was well under 80 by the time I actually got to them or passed them. Those sons of bitches are good

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  2. #2
    xxaarraa
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    Re: Speeding ticket advice

    Quote Originally Posted by mickdaddy View Post
    Well, it finally happened. 88 in a 55 on 95s, estimated/LIDAR. $335 or so. First speeding ticket ever.

    My main question is: is there any easy way to calculate whether or not this is worth pursuing in traffic court? What kind of insurance implications are there typically for a violation like this? I have 7 points on my record from a DUI back in 2012 but it's pretty much spotless other than that. The $335 fine doesn't bother me, it's just I don't want the insurance to become a pain in the ass since I am on so many different policies for my own company, family, and of course my policy

    I briefly Googled traffic attorneys in the Boston area and they seem to be more tailored towards habitual offenders where a particular speeding ticket is the difference between a license suspension or not for them. Obviously that is not the case for me, my premiums would just go up (I assume). And then again, I'd need to calculate if the increase in premium would outweigh the cost of the attorney, otherwise it's not really worthwhile.

    On a side note, do these cops have rear mounted radar guns or something? I actually saw them sitting at the rest stop facing the other way and while I may have tapped somewhere close to 88 on my way towards them, I was well under 80 by the time I actually got to them or passed them. Those sons of bitches are good
    Fight the ticket.

    A) Wait till the last few days before your deadline to respond, plead not guilty, get a "pre trial conference" date. That should delay everything to about 8 weeks from today.
    B) Call in a few days before your pre-trial date and request a postponement. Make up a really good and genuine-sounding reason. They sometimes will grant it, so that pushes it out some more. If you are granted the extension, another 4-6 weeks will lapse.
    C) Go to pre-trial and you will meet with a clerk, not judge. He will try as hell to get you to plead guilty, and offer you a reduced offense. His goal is to get rid of as much of the case load as possible and avoid trial. Stay firm. Say you didn't speed. He will ask how fast you were going, say you don't remember, but you weren't speeding. Burden of proof is on them not you, you don't have to answer anything other than "I wasn't speeding, I don't want a deal, I want to go to trial" Stay firm. Be polite. Do everything you can to be generic and not stand out. Use "sir" liberally when addressing clerk.
    D) Show up to trial. This should now be about 14-16 weeks from today. Wear your best suit, shave and look your best. Most of the time the officer won't show up, so your case will be automatically dismissed. If officer does show up, request the judge to verify basic facts and ask some basic common sense intelligent questions - how he clocked you, does he remember who was in front of you, when was his equipment calibrated, when he last got his training certifications renewed etc. The cops have seen all this before so they may have convincing answers, but it's worth asking nonetheless. The fact you are respectful and making an appearance in court in itself will get you a reduced sentence.

    Do the above, and best case = ticket never happened. You are out two half days from work to go to pre-trial and then to actual trial.
    Worst case = reduced fine and points, and you have delayed the whole thing by 4 months. Renew your insurance for another year while this is ongoing to lock in rates.

    Speeding tickets are simple. Unless you were sighted for reckless or DUI etc. no lawyers needed.

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    Last edited by xxaarraa; 09-04-17 at 06:52 AM.

  3. #3
    Lifer Garandman's Avatar
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    Re: Speeding ticket advice

    I got a ticket in 2007 and company had lawyer on retainer. Called him up and he said, "Don't take me, wear a coat and tie, tell the Magistrate you're sorry, you have to drive for work and the insurance surcharges will be a financial hardship, and it won't happen again."

    One Magistrate, one time, but Just about everyone who showed up with a clean record got off, while those with tickets in the last few years usually got stuck. So definitely fight it.

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  4. #4
    Lifer Garandman's Avatar
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    Re: Speeding ticket advice

    Quote Originally Posted by xxaarraa View Post
    Fight the ticket.

    Wait till the last few days before your deadline to respond, plead not guilty, get a "pre trial conference" date. That should delay everything to about 8 weeks from today.
    Caveat. Did this once and it arrived a day late. That makes you automatically guilty and they add a late fee to boot.

    Now I send it right in.

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  5. #5
    Lifer
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    Re: Speeding ticket advice

    Will the hearing officer or magistrate be able to seethe prior dui?

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  6. #6
    Angry Gumball RandyO's Avatar
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    Re: Speeding ticket advice

    Quote Originally Posted by mickdaddy View Post
    I briefly Googled traffic attorneys in the Boston area and they seem to be more tailored towards habitual offenders where a particular speeding ticket is the difference between a license suspension or not for them.
    every ticket is one step closer to being habitual, the best way to avoid a second offense is to never be convicted of the first offense

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    RandyO
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  7. #7
    Lifer capitalcrew's Avatar
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    Re: Speeding ticket advice

    Quote Originally Posted by RandyO View Post
    every ticket is one step closer to being habitual, the best way to avoid a second offense is to never be convicted of the first offense
    This is very true. I have been let off a bunch of times simply because "it looks like you stay out of trouble".

    Don't have any advice for ya though, sorry man.

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  8. #8
    Lifer
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    Re: Speeding ticket advice

    Quote Originally Posted by mickdaddy View Post
    Well, it finally happened. 88 in a 55 on 95s, estimated/LIDAR. $335 or so. First speeding ticket ever.

    On a side note, do these cops have rear mounted radar guns or something? I actually saw them sitting at the rest stop facing the other way and while I may have tapped somewhere close to 88 on my way towards them, I was well under 80 by the time I actually got to them or passed them. Those sons of bitches are good
    LIDAR, in case you didn't know is also known as 'laser'. Which is a pinpoint beam, not a radar broadcast. Radar reads the highest speed in the cone. Laser reads specifically the vehicle pointed at. Officers can still make errors, but much less probability that they were reading a different vehicle in case you start to wonder. While some (most?) police cars have rear-mounted as well as front mounted radar units, most laser is a handheld gun. Some units are more like binoculars.

    When you say facing 'the other way', do you mean headlights pointed at you? Or facing the same direction as traffic flows? Does seem odd that they'd be aiming a laser gun backwards over their shoulder. Are you sure the officer wasn't standing next to the car as you approached?

    I think the explanation on the 'estimated' checkbox is to say they first visually estimated your speed to be excessive before applying a measurement.

    If you gave attitude during the stop, that'll likely be in the officer's notes. And I'd bet they note whether or not you gave a speed, or admitted to speeding during the stop.
    Quote Originally Posted by xxaarraa View Post
    Burden of proof is on them not you
    I'm not sure that's true. This is not a criminal case. I forget what the term is, but it's something less than that. Basically, is it likely you did it?
    Quote Originally Posted by SteveM View Post
    Will the hearing officer or magistrate be able to seethe prior dui?
    Assuming that DUI was in MA, I believe the answer is yes. Not sure how it works if received outside the state, but I believe more serious violations like that are shared among states through different agreements than lesser violations and shared more readily.

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    Re: Speeding ticket advice

    Quote Originally Posted by aldend123 View Post
    LIDAR, in case you didn't know is also known as 'laser'. Which is a pinpoint beam, not a radar broadcast. Radar reads the highest speed in the cone. Laser reads specifically the vehicle pointed at. Officers can still make errors, but much less probability that they were reading a different vehicle in case you start to wonder. While some (most?) police cars have rear-mounted as well as front mounted radar units, most laser is a handheld gun. Some units are more like binoculars.

    When you say facing 'the other way', do you mean headlights pointed at you? Or facing the same direction as traffic flows? Does seem odd that they'd be aiming a laser gun backwards over their shoulder. Are you sure the officer wasn't standing next to the car as you approached?

    I think the explanation on the 'estimated' checkbox is to say they first visually estimated your speed to be excessive before applying a measurement.

    If you gave attitude during the stop, that'll likely be in the officer's notes. And I'd bet they note whether or not you gave a speed, or admitted to speeding during the stop.

    I'm not sure that's true. This is not a criminal case. I forget what the term is, but it's something less than that. Basically, is it likely you did it?

    Assuming that DUI was in MA, I believe the answer is yes. Not sure how it works if received outside the state, but I believe more serious violations like that are shared among states through different agreements than lesser violations and shared more readily.
    There were two of them and they were both parked in the rest area facing the same direction as traffic flow. I actually saw them well ahead of time and slowed down to under 80 before I got near them and eventually passed them. I don't know the range but the dude must have beamed me from quite some distance. I didn't see anyone outside their car so they must have done it turned around over their shoulder or something.

    No attitude, guy asked me how fast I was going, I told them I was going 75 when I saw them, and then he told me nah bro you were doing 88 and wrote the ticket. He didn't even take my registration. It was in and out in under 2 minutes. Based on the responses here and from everything else I read online, I am definitely going to want to fight this mainly as a preventative measure to protect myself from any future incidences.

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    Last edited by mickdaddy; 09-04-17 at 04:03 PM.

  10. #10
    Lifer Garandman's Avatar
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    Re: Speeding ticket advice

    They may have had someone farther up the road with the gun. On the MA Pike they use a red cargo van with a "Save our bridges" bumper sticker. Then they have up to 4 chase/ticketing cars down the road.

    With the prior DUI, you might want to lawyer up.

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  11. #11
    Lifer
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    Re: Speeding ticket advice

    If it was a straight section of road, they can get you from considerable distance. Especially since the laser gives them a sighting scope, and the precision required to know which car is the high number. Could have had time to get in the car before you noticed. But since there were two, I'm guessing it's more like what is being described by Grandman. I've never seen it in new england, but I believe down south it's more common for an officer to stand on an overpass and work radio with police cars ahead of them.

    You'd better be prepared to explain why you admitted to 20 over assuming it's in their notes or the officer remembers. The officer's notes will likely be available at the hearing to the police representative who shows up for hearings.

    The unfortunate state of our speed enforcement is very frustrating the more you think about it. 88 in a 55 makes you sound like some lunatic on paper, but I doubt even the officers think people ought to be going 54mph on that road.

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    Last edited by aldend123; 09-04-17 at 06:06 PM.
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  12. #12
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    Re: Speeding ticket advice

    Quote Originally Posted by aldend123 View Post
    You'd better be prepared to explain why you admitted to 20 over assuming it's in their notes or the officer remembers. The officer's notes will likely be available at the hearing to the police representative who shows up for hearings.
    No real help for you at this point, but for future reference, NEVER admit to what speed you were going. A simple no or not sure if they ask, while not exactly "miranda rights" you do not need to directly answer a question that would self incriminate you, it will never help and can only hurt.

    My only other advice, network and make friends with people in the law enforcement / court community , I've gotten off on seriously heinous tickets due to "friends&family" connections And get a top quality radar detector, mine saves me weekly, always amazed how few people use them considering the prevalence of always on radar and increased enforcement at lower thresholds.

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  13. #13
    Angry Gumball RandyO's Avatar
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    Re: Speeding ticket advice

    the distance in which they can get you with laser is variable, color (reflectiveness)of your vehicle can make a difference, but as you get closer and they can pinpoint a reflector in your headlamp, color no longer makes a difference, it would be harder to aim at the smaller frontal area of a motorcycle, but that pesky headlamp that is always on day or night, gives them a good target to aim at

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  14. #14
    Lifer Stromper's Avatar
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    Re: Speeding ticket advice

    In Connecticut anything 20 over or anything ABOVE 80 is supposed to be automatic suspension
    I do not know if this is true for you or strickly adhered too.

    What I have done in times of trouble stand at the court steps, observe lawyer signs, walk in until you find a lawyer that does
    traffic stuff at the court house. They will rip you off but remember

    A ticket that bad will be counted back to ALL your insurances for up to 6 years

    Maintain that you were NOT going no where NEAR 88 the ticket was NUTS

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    Re: Speeding ticket advice

    Fight them.

    I got 3 tickets in 1 month and got off on all of them. This was at college, and I had a clean record before.

    If you don't have anything to sweet talk them with (EMT license - can't have speeding tickets to work as one. Or any other licenses/hobbies/etc) then ask for community service or to donate money to a charity. Most courts will throw out the ticket but make you donate the money to a charity of their choice. Beg for that option.

    2/3 tickets I was given the option to donate to charity. The third was in RI where they automatically dismiss a ticket if you have a clean record for 3 years.

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    Last edited by DucatiGuy; 09-05-17 at 09:12 AM.

  16. #16

    Re: Speeding ticket advice

    And I-95 being a 55mph limit is a joke

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  17. #17
    Lifer
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    Re: Speeding ticket advice

    Quote Originally Posted by Stromper View Post
    In Connecticut anything 20 over or anything ABOVE 80 is supposed to be automatic suspension
    I do not know if this is true for you or strickly adhered too.
    MA does not have comparable law with explicit numbers, nor do most states. And in CT, it's 85 not 80. CT can cite for a lower charge, but if you read the actual law, it does say up to 85. See subsection (c).
    Quote Originally Posted by DucatiGuy View Post
    If you don't have anything to sweet talk them with (EMT license - can't have speeding tickets to work as one. Or any other licenses/hobbies/etc) then ask for community service or to donate money to a charity. Most courts will throw out the ticket but make you donate the money to a charity of their choice. Beg for that option.

    2/3 tickets I was given the option to donate to charity. The third was in RI where they automatically dismiss a ticket if you have a clean record for 3 years.
    I'm under the impression the charity donation is more common in NY and CT than it is in MA. I don't think I've ever met anyone in MA who has done this. It still may be an acceptable option, as I think the courts can basically give the okay on any agreement between you and the prosecutor.

    And RI, that dismissal is only good for under a certain amount of speed. I want to say 14mph over. Don't think it's required to be automatic either. If you did something 'exceptional', I don't think they are required to grant it.

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  18. #18
    Dr Q : Last resort Medic Qfactor's Avatar
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    Re: Speeding ticket advice

    send bottles of finest scotch to trooper(s), magistrate, clerk(s), everyone you can get a name for.


    ...and start believing in miracles too.

    Q

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  19. #19
    its in my blood caloots's Avatar
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    Re: Speeding ticket advice

    I just got one yesterday.. can't stand it.. most of the speed limits are a joke..
    I was on a road with trees on both sides. Towing my bike.. cop passed me and turned around and pulled me over.. claims I was doing 55 in a 40.. I don't even know cuz I was paying attention to driving..it was a road with hills twist and turns.. I think I had just come down off a hill too..
    This kinda Shit gets to me cuz it's not like I was intentionaly speeding.. I'm certainly not dragging my brakes down a short straight hill as to stay under a speed limit.. on a low traffic road.. in the middle of nowhere

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  20. #20
    Lifer Garandman's Avatar
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    Re: Speeding ticket advice

    Where was that?

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  21. #21
    its in my blood caloots's Avatar
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    Re: Speeding ticket advice

    Quote Originally Posted by Garandman View Post
    Where was that?
    Coming back from Palmer trackday.
    Apparently I was in Oakham

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  22. #22
    its in my blood caloots's Avatar
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    Re: Speeding ticket advice

    Quote Originally Posted by Garandman View Post
    Where was that?
    Coming back from Palmer.. apparently I was in Oakham ma

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  23. #23
    Lifer Garandman's Avatar
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    Re: Speeding ticket advice

    Bastards.

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  24. #24
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    Re: Speeding ticket advice

    update for you guys

    i paid $650 for a lawyer

    went to the initial appeal with the clerk in a private room and got laughed out there basically. 88 in 55 was too high for him to do anything other than reduce to a 69 in a 55 which doesn't help me so we appealed it and set the appeal date on today (day before thanksgiving, hoping cop wouldn't appear). it worked. cop didnt show up and was found not responsible. the ticket was originally $330, so all in all i paid about $320 to have this resolved and best of all no points on my license

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    Last edited by mickdaddy; 11-22-17 at 10:20 AM.

  25. #25
    ain't nuttin wrong w/that scubasteveRR's Avatar
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    Re: Speeding ticket advice

    NICE, win for the little man! congrats. $650 for both the clerk hearing and court room appeal hearing?

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