NBM LS1 M6

completely

hungryhippo

I average 1 ticket every year and fight all of them by written declaration. I usually have a 50/50 chance of winning

DSOMC6

The last two tickets I went to trial for @ Laguna Hills Court were both cited by a CHP officer.
First one the officer didn't show up. Second one the officer was so unprepaired the judge ruled in my favor.

Just paying these HUGE amounts for citations without any attempt to fight it is simply playing into the hands of a system that is there to generate revenue. If everyone actually exercised their rights the nonsense would cease.

slo_z28

The CHP doesn't see a single dime from this traffic citation. 100% of the CHP's funding comes from the vehicle licensing fund (the 31% that isn't stolen by the governor, but that's another story). The speedometers are calibrated by AAA every 90 days, and they are done at a absolute minimum every 6 months.

I would still go to traffic court, there are a few judges out here that will start off traffic court with a very good sales job, and say something to the effect of if you plead guilty you get a reduced fine, but if you dont plead guilty, and officer testimony during the course of the trial makes the judge believe that traffic school wouldn't change the errant behavior, that you wont be able to take traffic school. Just go to court, worst case the officer shows up and you just plead guilty and pay what you already owe. The officer may get stuck on another call if he is working that day in which case you'll get off, and even if he shows up you have a chance to get one of those Judges that universally lower fees for guilty pleas.

JIMSC62006

I drive through the L.A. area quite a bit and never had any problems. I wonder where he was ticketed and what time of day. In April I went through at 2 in the morning doing 75-80 down I-5 to I-10 smooth as can be. down by Palm Springs CHP passed me and I was doing 80. He was in the fast lane I was in the slow lane. Pretty lonely out there at 2 AM. I'll be through again in Nov. and I'll as I go by.

bearphoto

Yes, many agencies require the officers to attend court and require the trial by declaration forms to be completed in a timely manner. CHP would have the supervisors audit the officers court appearances as well as monitor the trial by decs.

As for what speed the officers will cite, that does vary from agency to agency. CHP's policy was from 1-5 over, the officer should stop and may cite. 6+ the officer should stop and should cite but no policies that require a cite under any given circumstances. I think it was a bit more specific than that but i dont exactly recall.

Joe aka - KODAK

Take head to what Doug has told you - he was a CHP Commander - knows his stuff>

Second - Like the other guy said - suck it up and pay it.

Third - Yes - I've been there a FEW times - won a few lost a few - if this is your first no big deal!

Fourth - you have to understand that California is using the CHP to make welfare payments - if you ask they will give you an address in Mexico you can send the money to

bearphoto

Oh Joseph, you are such a funny guy!

pablocruise

CHP nailed me in Woodland Hills a few years back.

I requested trial by declaration (you have to include full payment with the request). It came back guilty so I requested a trial de novo. When they gave me the trial date, I then requested a reschedule date. This is to push the trial day as far away as possible. Hopefully the cop will forget the details by then, or move away or not show up.

Many months later, I went to the Chatsworth courthouse traffic court. A ton of cases were before mine. Before the judge enters chambers, the citizens are to meet with their issuing officer. This is a time negotiate with the LEO. I believe he is required to show you the evidence and file he has compiled on you, and you are supposed to show your evidence and case to him.

Then court started. Like a machine gun, the judge called up people and just as fast, dismissed their case because the LEO hadn't shown up.

Then he called my name. Of course, the CHiP showed up. Nailed me but I was able to ask for reduced penalties.

For those of us that pled no contest or were found guilty, the judge was very kind and lenient in granting our requests for reduced penalties.

I got nailed, and I paid for my infraction $ and did online traffic school. The online school requirement is to spend (x) amount of time with them. Mine had a timer on each page that would not let me advance to the next page without first spending (x) amount of seconds on the page. It did let me take breaks and pause the sessions. In all, I think I spent 6 hours total.

I'd encourage you to spend a morning or some time in a traffic court to see how the judge acts, how the citizens act, how the LEOs act, see what works, what doesn't work.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

bearphoto

If you get a traffic ticket from a sheriff or local p.d. you stand a good chance of them not showing up. But if chp gets you, most likely the officer will be there.

Trial by Declarations are not a bad option sometimes especially if you get the ticket in a busy metropolitan area where they are much busier than in a remote area. Sometimes the declarations do not get turned back into the court in time and the case is dismissed. This is no guarantee.

The only guarantee is to not get the ticket in the first place but we know our luck at some point will run out. The best we can do is try and drive sensible, be polite if stopped and run a good radar detector! Oh, and telling the truth helps. Here's an example: I chased a guy down on the southbound SR57 freeway near Angel Stadium a number of years ago at 105 mph. The guy was insistent he was only doing 55 (when the speed limit was 55).

Somehow he did not convince me as my instincts told me he was lying.
Can't blame the guy for trying I guess but he left with a yellow copy for 105 mph!

RickintheOC

Like I said before, my agency disciplines officers for not showing up for traffic court. We started doing this about 2 years ago. Unless you have a valid excuse such as illness, or your on a previously scheduled vacation, or training, or stuck on a call, you must attend. Personally, I don't understand why officers don't show up. If they are on-duty, they are getting paid and if it is there day off, they are getting a minimum of 3 hours of overtime to attend.

C6topless

Appear in court at the date and time posted on the ticket. If the officer doesn't show great.... You will win..... If he does show, ask the court for traffic school.


Friend has beat two CHP tickets out of Orange County this way in the past two months.

mike100

The law recently changed that you only get one traffic school appearance every 18 months. It used to be the issuing court could, at their discretion, let you go twice in that year and a half, but not now (it allowed them to collect a larger fine).

No reason to go in person knowing you can't negotiate traffic school. In some cases, you might get charges reduced on other non-speeding technical violations. I have tried paying in person 2 or 3 times in SD Co because they used to ask for less money if you paid then and there...but it was only $10 less! So why bother? I would pay the $99 traffic court lawyers to appear for non CHP tickets...or maybe try to get a court date delayed 6-9 months out to buy yourself some time if you burned your traffic school in the previous year.

cv67

Yup they worked great. You could see every lane from those, I still like them.

ULEWZ

The CHP on the 14 are tolerant to 79 mph, but will pull you over if you are weaving in and out of traffic. I had a CHP sneak up on me while I was doing 79 and he pulled me over, but let me go. Now I do 75 and get passed all the time by CHP with nary a look. 10 over seems to be a safe bet but your mileage may vary.
Now on the crest, there is no tolerance there. I got pulled over on my motorcycle doing 10 over and he said he pulls guys over for 1 over.

ZEE-OH-6

put on a wig next you drive your Vette and try these tactics = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFiL1tD9XM8

pablocruise

I was in the #3 lane of the 101 getting passed by people doing 80 and I was unwilling to keep up with that pace of traffic so I moved over to the #2 lane.
That's the move that caught the ChiP's eye. I stood out.

jbsblownc5

Do the trial by dec, it's a free swing at the plate!!! If you lose, you can still request a court date. If the LOE shows up, bow out before trial starts and THEN take traffic school!

It's worked for me for the last 20 years, I've beaten almost every ticket I've gotten...

In fact, just had one Dismissed yesterday

Trial by dec, and the officer did turn in his, I just introduced enough dought, and gave a strong enough defense, that the judge found in my favor!!!

tbirdsps

Way back when, when the speed limit was 55 over the grapevine on the I5 we were going 70. We never saw the CHP sneaking up. He came up on the right side and signaled with his hand to slow down. We did and he pulled over the car in front of us.

The only thing we could think of was the US NAVY sticker in the back window being the reason he didn't pull us over.