I'd say think this over really well. If you think she was sincere when she told you to take it to court then I would. If you think she was challenging you then I'd take the school and move on.

I fought a ticket on principle one time and got so frustrated in court when the LEO lied (yes, he lied in court) that I almost went to jail on contempt. I don't recommend fighting on principle when the odds are against you and the final outcome will cost you more.

 

When i lived in tampa (19 years of my life) and started to drive at 16 the tickets started rolling in, i have somewhere in the neighborhood of 18 florida tickets everything from speeding to seat belts to illegal exhaust, i was pretty stupid when i was in highschool. I found a local attourney who i would pay $99 a ticket and he would get then dismissed. I think he was located off MLK and dale mabry or in that area rtght there.

 

I just recently had a very similar situation. LEO said he paced me at 56mph and my HUD clearly said 48mph, and there was certainly no 1/2 mile going on here. He said the reason he pulled me over was because I changed lanes 3 times and only used my turn signal 2 times. He further stated that "I had passed a car on the right which is illegal, but also that car should not have been in the left lane to begin with, but everyone does it, so we don't enforce that." Oh, thanks Nice!!!

So I was "let off" on the speed thing but got the citation for the signal failure.
Not sure why you guys handle your tickets the way I've seen described in this thread.
Here in MO we just pay the extortion fees of $50-$75 for attorney's fees and the about double the cost of the fine to the Prosecutors Office and they reduce it to a non moving violation, like "excessive muffler noise" , and this keeps the insurance premiums for going up.
Here admitting to the Judge that "yes I was going 5mph over but not 15mph like the officer claims" only gets you a guilty and here's your fine.......Next.......

 

OK oK ok,,,pics of said female cop...Just to prove some of us are sicker than others....

 

Reminded me of another story. I was speeding down US1 and the cop gave me a break and charged me for a traffic signal. Me being a smartass decided to fight it since I didn't run a light. So I told the Judge I'm innocent because there is no signal near where I was stopped. The cop didn't show so the Judge said he had to contact the cop for details. I still have the letter where he stopped short of calling me a dumbass and fined me the maximum. Taught me a lesson.

 

If you didn't do the crime being charged against you - why WOULDN'T you fight it?

 

Well because it's called the "Just-Us-System",that's why.

If you want to "win" at traffic court, you better be very lucky, well connected or pay the appropriate amount of money to fight it.(which is never cost effective)

Or better yet, mount a plethora of cameras and other information recording devices all over your car, and catch "them" in the act of increasing revenue.......

 

 

I did it! I Did it. Arrest me! Please!

 

I agree, She figures your out of state, and won't show up. Plus they never show up, I went to traffic court two weeks ago, and did not see one cop???

Mine was a tint ticket (110 dollars). I had it removed and gave the solicitor my reciept, he made it a warning. He was actually a very cool guy, and I was surprised how much he was trying to help the people there, while still serving the public. Tough job, and a nice guy, I was glad I went.

 

Ummmm . . . If I had had a partner like that I wouldn't have retired.

 

What you should do is hire a lawyer and have him fight the ticket. Worst case you take the driving course to get rid of the points. Best case you get the lawyer to plead you down to a lesser violation with no points but a fine.

I had the same thing and the lawyer got me a parking on pavement ticket. The only reason the judge gave me a break was that my driving record was clean.

Everyones biggest mistake is not fighting the first ticket. If you already have a ticket on your record the judge is less likely to be lenient. You fight the first ticket to keep your driving record clean because you never know when you will get hit again with a ticket.

Good luck

 

Are you sure that the car was set on MPH and not KPH?

 

Kilometers/hr would be less. 70mph=43.75kph

 

If a judge takes your word over the officers,they are no longer a creditable witness in court from there on out and every lawyer worth his salt will beat em everytime,so judges always side wih the police,I would like to see your so called victorys in print!

 

Maybe the LEO was looking for a date .. You have to take a driving course when you get a ticket ?? Personally losing a day's pay to chance it in court is not worth it for me. I would just pay up.

 

I don't think that judges always side with police officers. As a police officer, I found that you build your credibility over the years with judges. As an example, I tried not to write what I'd refer to as "cheap" tickets. (i.e. 5 mph over the speed limit). We had guys that would write their own mother a ticket. I found the more cridible the ticket, the more likely I was to get a conviction. As an example, I usually gave people 10 mph over in residential areas and 15 mph over on highways. Admittedly, there was more than one occasion where people talked themselves into a ticket by being belligerent, rude, or just making up some BS excuse, etc. I've always been a stickler for details and found that taking accurate notes about traffic and weather conditions, comments the driver made, etc. at the time of the stop were very helpful.

If I had to guess, I'd wager that I got convictions on about 95% of the tickets I wrote. I also made a few mistakes and had tickets dismissed. That's what judges are for.

 

I agree. When I was on the street I would see judges do all sorts of weird things for their own reasons. A ticket could be perfectly legit but they felt lenient that day and would dismiss it because they felt the violator just unintentionally made a mistake.

As far as a cop not showing up for court, that is all dependent on the department. Where I worked, it was mandatory and I'd get a letter or days off if I missed the court date. Other cities, especially larger ones didn't care but the officer might be paid OT for court and therefore has incentive to show. Some cities the officer has "their" court date. All their tickets will be written for a specific court date that they are scheduled for and all will be done on one day of the month for that officer.

I wouldn't waste money on an attorney. If you feel you were innocent go to court and plead your case to the judge and if still found guilty your fine might be lowered or ask for def driving. Pacing for speed is one of the harder speeding violations to prove as there is more room for error than just a radar reading, especially with rookie cops. They have to maintain the same speed as you for a distance in order to get the right reading. Rookies tend to see the speed that they are at to catch up to you and not let it drop to the cruising speed getting the error.

 

Now try setting your cruise control 5mph under the speed limit and hold up traffic on the bridge. Certainly stay in the right lane (if there is one) and don't do anything stupid. It can have it's own reward.