I got a ticket the other night from some A** hole Cop. Worst cop I've gotten a ticket from. I was going the speed limit when this guy comes up about 4-5 cars back and decides to ride my butt. So he does this for about a mile and then he turns the lights as turn down my street. He never told me that he clocked me , just said : "I Had to get up to 70 to catch up". I'm thinking, well If you had to pass 4 to 5 cars I would understand. The ticket says that ticket was based on "Pace speed"

I've gotten tickets in the past and I knew I was speeding, but this time I'm like WTF!!! I know my speedo is not 10 off!

I've never been to traffic court, so I'm not sure If can go in and win.

Any advice?

 

I would certainly fight it, and then be sure to tell the judge about how you were basically tailgated for all the way, and then the cop decides to bust you after you turn off into your neighborhood.

 

Heard that it's better to plea "no contest" than "not guilty"

 

You will NEVER win against a "pace" ticket. Your word against his. But still go to court. Sometimes you'll catch a lucky break and the officer won't show up. If that happens you can request the charges be dropped.

If the officer shows up just say, "Option #4 your honor." That means that you elect to go to traffic school and pay the fine, court costs and school fees. It will be a "court ordered" school so it won't count against any lifetime total of how many times you can elect to go to traffic school. Adjudication will be withheld and the points won't go on your license.

Not the best news you could have expected but that's my advice none the less.

 

I was paced doing 85 in a 55, IIRC. He cited me for reckless and I got an attorney. They got the reckless dropped to careless, and they were supposed to have a meeting with the occifer a few months later to hope that he didn't remember me. Come to think of it, I don't really know what those results were. I called them to find out and they never called back. Doh.

 

2002Z28SSConv: So if he shows up then just choose that option and not fight? I heard I can argue as long as they don't have their "Certificate of Calibration" on them.


Anyone know what the court cost are?

 

This is a case you will not win. The only way you have a very good chance of winning is if he does not have his Certificate of Calibration. If he does not have this, you most likley will win.

I can tell you now tho...He would not of gave you that type of ticket if he did not have a Certificate of Calibration.

Go to court.....Say no contest......the judge will send you to traffic court and remove the points if you have a good driving record. If you contest the ticket, points will remain on the licesnse if you lose.

Take the easy way out and say no contest. Long as you have a good driving history.

 

You can either argue your case or take the court ordered school. By starting to argue your case you forfiet the school option. If he shows up he WILL have the paperwork needed. They know the rules better than we do. The court costs are about 20 - 30 bucks I think. You pay the same court costs as you would by just going to the clerk of court and electing traffic school. It's not like you'll have to pay more if you go to court. Unless you argue and loose. In which case you will pay dearly in points, fines, court costs and probably school too.

 

Don't waste your time going to court. You may have not deserved this ticket but I am sure you, like all of us, have deserved to get a ticket at other times but were lucky enough that a cop wasn't around.

I am not saying this to be a jerk, just speaking from MUCH experience. It's NOT worth the headache.

Pay the ticket or go to the class if you have to. Don't let it waste even more of your time and thought by going to court. He WILL show up and you WILL get the ticket and possibly pay more due to court costs.

 

It may have changed but you used to only be able to elect traffic school once per year and five times ever. The advantage of wasting more time to go to court is that it is "court ordered" traffic school and it doesn't count against any of these limitations. If you get another ticket 6 months from now you won't be able to take the school option if you don't get the court ordered school now. You could still take that one to court but with a recent history of tickets and school he will be inclined to assign you an eight or twelve hour course instead of the four hour class.

I have only been lucky enough to have the officer do a no-show one time. That was in Winter Park and I had run a stop sign at 4:00 in the morning delivering newspapers. I've had other times that I've argued and really felt that I had proven my case and the judge still said I was guilty. They will assume like 5LITEREATER said above. You may have been innocent this time but you've done it in the past and gotten away with it.

The clerk of court can tell you if the '5 times per life' limitation is still in effect too.

 

I am not a lawyer, but I do average 10-20 tickets a month. I am a cop. I know, bad guy. I have been to traffic court several times and have never lost. I dropped one that I did not remember. I was on Chemo at the time and it was like 6 months after I wrote the citation.
Take the school. In my county, Escambia, if you goto traffic court, you cant take the school. Also if you goto court, there is a $20 fee.
Take the school. Like stated earlier, you can only take it once a year, or 5 times in a lifetime. I hear now you can take it online. Seems everyone tells me it averages 2 hours to finish.
If you take the school the cost of the ticket is reduced, but you have to pay for the school, so it evens out.

 

So it sounds like I need to plea no contest and go to school, since I won't win. I hate A**hole Cops. I have friends that are cops and they say I could win...but they don't show =)

So If he doesn't show up I could win, or it's still up to the judge to believe me?

Some other events happened that night with this cop too, that I've filed a complaint with Interal Affairs. He was badgering and threating to take my kids for "child endangerment" and said he was filing a report with DCF. I found out that he didn't, but you don't make threats like that when it's not warranted, which his supervisor agreed. I don't speed and do stupid crap with my kids in the car!!!! And I wasn't even in the
Camaro

 

If you decide to take traffic school, you can rent it from Blockbuster. There's some pretty sweet accident footage in it.

 

Has anyone used a traffic lawyer?

 

I used a traffic lawyer once. It was in North Carolina, however. He got the 75 in a 55 reduced to some non-moving violation.

The reason I had hired him was because since it was 20 over I was supposed to appear in court and I didn't live there, but was driving through on the interstate. I did not want to go all the way back to go to court, so I hired him to go to court for me. I payed him $200 and he got it reduced. It would have been cheaper to pay the ticket dollar-wise, but the travel involved would have made it cost more total.

If your worried about your record then hire a lawyer, but if it's the money, just pay the ticket or go to school. It's usually cheaper that way.

-Dave C. '97 Z28