[johnation33]

Hi guys,

I got my first speeding ticket today and I need some help. I have never gotten a speeding ticket before and I don't know what to do.

Basically my situation was this:

I was driving a rented car and got caught in upstate new york 4 hours away from my apt in nyc. However I have an out-of-state driver's license. I was caught going 75 mph on a 55mph state highway. In my defense, the speed limit kept changing between 70 to 65 to 55 and back and it was 10pm and since this was rural upstate new york there was absolutely no cars except the police car that was hiding in the side of the road.

I have my ticket and a supporting deposition that states I was caught and confirmed speeding 20mph over the limit with radar. the officer didn't give me a break at all and I have had no traffic record ever. My first violation with the law.

On my ticket, all I have are options of Plea Guilty and Plea not guilty.

I don't know what I should do. I cannot have my insurance premiums go up and let the insurance company find out so I'd rather take a fine over any points.

my question is this:

Should I plea not guilty? If I go to court, do I get an option to plea bargain? What does that entail? Do you think I'd be able to get the points off at least and just a fine in a plea bargain for a first offense (of any kind) of 20mph over in ny state?

Secondly, I read on the dmv website that IF i get points, the points I get in the new york dmv is different then insurance points. What is the difference? If I get zero points by the court and just a fine, would my insurance company still find out?

So an update: I contacted the court this morning and basically I wanted to make the DA's job as hard as possible and ask if I can file a formal discovery and request a jury trial but I was told no, for a traffic ticket. Basically they just gave me the DA's email address. I'm thinking of plea bargaining...does anyone know how this process works? Do I have any say in the punishment or just accept whatever conditions he gives me?

 

[rsatmans]

Hey, I would recommend going to How to Beat Your Ticket - Radar Detector Jammer Forum You should be able to get some advice from others who have been in similar situations. Law is different everywhere but in some state you can plead NOLO which equals no points just a fine. This is only good once every 3 years.

 

[Carmantom]

My wife just got one. We live in Florida. Here you can take the driver safety class ( areal pain in the butt), and not lose points. You can do that so many times. I'm not sure how many.

Good luck on NY laws. I'm sure someone here knows about that state.

 

[compuryan]

If it is your first time in Ohio you can opt to take a two hour long driving safety class for a fee and there will be no points added to your license, you still have to pay the fine though.

 

[Uncle Erik]

First of all, a speeding ticket isn't that big of a deal. There's a chance your insurer won't raise your premium. Some of them will let a ticket slide. I haven't had a speeding ticket for some time, but I recall that the insurer didn't much care when I got it.

I'm not familiar with NY law, but check to see if there's a driver's ed/traffic school diversion available. California will let you take traffic school once every 18 months (at a cost, of course) and then takes the ticket off your record. If NY allows something similar, that's a good option.

If not, plead not guilty and set the case for trial. Request a jury trial if you can. Those are a big pain for the DA to prepare for, especially for a speeding ticket. They will be much more open to negotiation if you do that. Again, I don't know the laws there, but you should be able to negotiate the fine and/or DMV points. Remember, they're looking mostly for revenue, so if you give them that, they'll be more open to negotiating the rest. I don't know if you have access to a lawyer or other legal resources, but it can be helpful to dump formal discovery on the DA's office. That requires a bunch of work on their part. I did that the last time I got a speeding ticket and got a phone call from a whiny DA. He wanted to know if I really wanted him to respond to all of it. I said 'yes.' There was a pause and he offered to lower the fine to $25 or so. He got $25 and out of several hours of discovery. If you have the resources/ability, give it a try.

As for the speeding itself, you'll probably get convicted, fair or not. Tickets are revenue and they need to keep the civic money flowing. That might sound cynical, but it's the truth. I respect the police, but they're revenue agents. Not their fault, either, so don't hold it against them. But if you want to fight it, you have to think in terms of dollars. Schedule a jury trial, serve discovery, do some motion practice, and that $100 (or whatever they're screwing you for) doesn't cover their costs. The system just wants to process as many as possible with minimum costs. Do whatever you can to increase their costs and they'll be itching to get rid of you.

 

[cash68]

Ha. I've had over 20 of them. I had to do traffic school, all that. They suck. Go to court, they'll usually make you pay the money, but reduce the points. There's probably zero chance that you'll get out of it entirely. Next time be more watchful, and only speed as fast as about 5 under the fastest guy you see is, basically, let someone else be bait.

 

[skiflyer]

First speeding ticket? Unless you got your license last week I'm impressed and odds are your insurer is too... get supervision, waste a couple hours at the community college or local hotel and nothing will happen.

 

[cash68]

Also, keep in mind the whole idea of speeding tickets is one big gigantic racket. Time and time again real life proves people who say "speed kills" wrong. When Montana had no speed limits, the deathrate dropped to an all time low. When they reinstated 65 mph limits, the deathrate skyrocketed. Why? Because instead of being treated like little kids, people drove as fast as they felt comfortable driving, which meant they paid more attention. Anybody remember that whole "Stay alive @ 55" campaign, when the worry warts tried to convince everyone to keep the 55mph speed limits? And the NHTSA said that an additional 6,500 people would die if the limit was raised 10mph? Well, the limit was raised, and yearly deaths WENT DOWN.

It's one big crock of flaming **** that just serves to make revenue for cities/towns. If 95% of the people on the road drive OVER the limit, the limit is WRONG.

There is a huge difference between right and wrong vs legal/illegal. A lot of laws in this country are effing dumb.

 

[troymadison]

Yeah well, there are a lot of other laws and regulation that don't make sense to me either.

 

[Emooze]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cash68 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Time and time again real life proves people who say "speed kills" wrong.

Speed doesn't kill. Suddenly coming to a stop kills.

And look at how much your insurance will go up versus the cost (time and money) of fighting it. If it's gonna end up being more expensive, I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[johnation33]

so how do I figure out how much my insurance will go up? I don't know who my car insurance company is because my parents know and I cannot tell my parents about this. They would flip ****.

 

[The Monkey]

Isn't the key issue to find out if the state that issued OP's license honors other states' points? For example, I live in NYC and got dinged for a 45 in a 25 in NJ. Fought it because it was a bs ticket. Regardless, it was the fine that I cared about, not the points because NYSDMV does not record out-of-state points:

Quote:

Originally Posted by NYSDMV If I get a ticket for a moving violation in another state, do I receive points on my NYS driver license? The NYSDMV does not record out-of-state violations committed by NYS drivers in other jurisdictions. The exceptions are alcohol-related violations, drug-related violations, and moving violations committed in Quebec or Ontario. Under special agreements, traffic convictions in Quebec or Ontario are recorded on NYS driver license records and carry points. Except for violations in Ontario and Quebec, points are not added to your NYS record for out-of-state violations. If you do not respond to a ticket or fail to pay a fine for a moving violation that you committed in any state except Alaska, California, Michigan, Montana, Oregon or Wisconsin, the DMV suspends your NYS driver license until you respond to the ticket or pay the fine. If a driver from a state except these six states fails to respond to a traffic ticket issued in NYS, their driver license will be suspended until the driver responds to the traffic ticket in NYS. Drivers from other states must contact the DMV in their home state to get information about the effect of a traffic violation conviction that occurs in NYS. If you receive a conviction for an alcohol-related or drug-related driving violation in any state, your NYS driver license is revoked for at least six months.

The second-to-last paragraph seems to apply most to OP's specific situation.

OP, in what state are you licensed?

 

[johnation33]

I already looked up the rule and the points gotten in the state of NY will also apply to the state my license is in as well

bad news.

my question is, say I somehow get into a good plea bargain and get the points knocked off from the nystate dmv, does my insurance company have any way of knowing i got a moving violation?

 

[The Monkey]

What sate is it? That's likely relevant to any answer you will get here.

Also, you can always try to call your insurer on an anonymous basis and ask the question.

 

[johnation33]

michigan license