Got a speeding ticket today

[LS1Hawk]

And it's my very first. Have had my license since '98 and never been caught. The cop clocked me at 41 in a 25. I was pulling out of work and accelerating to get on the road. I must have hit 41 quickly but came back down. The cop even acknowledge this but said because I was 16mph over he had to give me the ticket. So I have a few questions:

1. How many points is a speeding ticket?
2. If I go to court and plead not guilty, how much do they charge and are they likely to take off the points? I can't deny that I wasn't going 41. My argument would be that it was only briefly.
3. If I pay the ticket ($105), will my insurance go through the roof? I was caught in my Cobalt. I have a different policy on my Firehawk, so would it effect that premium as well?

[LTb1ow]

Depends on the ticket, did he go easy on you? Most of the time they tell you whether you are getting points.

[GP99GT]

STOP BREAKIN THE LAWWWWWWW ASSSSSHOLLLLLEEEEEE

[ar0ck]

John honestly I would probably plead guilty or at least talk to the prosecutor before hand. if you have a clean record I don't see why they wouldn't let you off with a warning or small fine. At least try to get it reduced to a lesser offense and you might make it off clean.

[ryanfx]

Will insurance go up? Most likely. Your insurance company will be glad to answer that for you. Some have a 1 time forgiveness thing... in which case you'd be better off just straight paying the 100 bucks. If they DONT however I would recommend pleading to "unsafe driving". It is a zero point offense however you will walk out of the court out $450.00 which may be cheaper than your insurance getting at you for the next couple years.


*insert legal mumbo jumbo here, don't listen to me im not a lawyer*

[ins0mnia24]

Careful with the Unsafe driver thing because it still shows up on your driving history..
My neighbor was just bitching to me about it Monday he took the unsafe drive deal back in Febuary and AIG raised his insurance..

[LTb1ow]

I have gotten more than I care to mention tickets, and I have managed to get them all to the no points "unsafe driving etc" and so far my insurance either doesn't care or hasn't found out.

[ins0mnia24]

Is that the same as this?

39:4–97.2 Driving in an unsafe manner (points only for third or subsequent offense within five years of most recent 39:4-97.2 conviction)
4 points

[LTb1ow]

My last one (going 35 in a 25) was a 39.356. That was no points.

[sweetbmxrider]

unsafe driving

[ins0mnia24]

There is no points applied for the first 2 times you plead that deal..
Anyways thats the one my neighbor took and AIG still nailed him even though it was a non point ticket..

[firehawk1120]

well did he give you a ticket for 16 mph over the limit? check to see if it's a 2pt or a 4pt ticket. If 2 I wouldn't waste my time going to court over it unless you like paying for court costs, most likely they won't reduce it but weirder things have happened. Sometimes they will change it to a non moving violation esp. since you have a clean record and make you pay a much larger fine.

Otherwise if it's 2 pts. your ins. isn't SUPPOSE to increase your premiums and it doesn't matter which car you are driving its your license that the points are attached to. So basically i guess you have nothing to lose by trying to plead it out in court, but you might pay a lot more. Ins. premiums should not be affected by 2 pts.

[cdacda13]

16 over is a 4 point ticket.

Calling the court and plea not gulity. You will get a new court date. Go to court, dress nicely.
What happens next changes with each town. I'll cover the new procedures I know about.
1. As you sign into the court room, you can ask to speak to the prosecutor on the sheet. The early you sign the sheet, the early you get to talk to the prosecutor and leave. When you talk to the prosecutor, he'll bring up a plea deal. He'll offer you a 2 point ticket, just pay court fees and the ticket fine. Ask to plea to unsafe driving (since you have 10 years driving experiance with no tickets, he'll give it to you.)
2. The Roll Call method. The prosecutor comes out, gives a quick speech about traffic violations/ crimes committed. He then calls you up one by one, in alphabetical order, and offers you a plea deal. He'll offer you a 2 point reduction, same as above. Ask for unsafe driving. He will probably tell you to sit down. Wait with the rest of your fellow criminals till the judge comes out. Then, the people who take the plea deal go up one by one, plea gulity, and informed of their rights and that they waived them, and of the fines/court fees they owe.
20 minute break. If you are high on the alphabetical order, don't leave. The prosecutor will come back and offer you a second plea deal. This is where unsafe driving will be offered, provided you didn't piss off the prosecutor the first time you two talked. Take the deal.
Sit around again till the prosector is done talking with people and the judge comes out. Wait till you're called out to face the judge. He'll inform you have you rights, yada...yada...yada. (Remember, its "Yes Sir," not "Yea sure")
Then go to clerks office and pay fine. Mine was around $440. You have the option was allowing the town to garnish your wages, cash, credit, check, or a payment plan.

Hope that was helpful.

[sweetbmxrider]

i have gone to a few courts and most just get a line going and its a free for all with the prosecutor. even if the judge calls you, you plead not guilty and he will either do a plea bargain right there (most likely with your history) or ask you to speak with the prosecutor.

[LS1Hawk]

I looked it up. It is 4 pts. The cop that pulled me over told me that because I have a clean driving record that I if I show up to court they'd probably take the pts off. But from what you guys are saying, it sounds like some prosecutor is going to try to make me plead guilty and take a deal. From what it sounds like, pleading "unsafe driving" could go either: 1) get me no points but insurance still goes up or 2) It pisses off the prosecutor and I end up paying both the ticket and the court costs and insurance goes up.

I guess the general consensus is to plead not guilty and hope to at least get it reduced? Also, is the cop that issued the ticket suppose to show up to the court?

[Anti_Rice_Guy]

Also, is the cop that issued the ticket suppose to show up to the court?

Yes he is, and yes to the other question as well.

[LS1Hawk]

Also, is the cop that issued the ticket suppose to show up to the court?

Yes he is, and yes to the other question as well.

I don't know if it will happen, but maybe he'll mention that I was very nice, didn't give him a hard time or argue at all (he thanked me for being cooperative and understanding)...maybe that and my clean record will help me out. He told me they're out in force now to crack down on DUIs. I got pulled over at 5:05pm...I guess they're going after alcoholics.

[cdacda13]

I looked it up. It is 4 pts. The cop that pulled me over told me that because I have a clean driving record that I if I show up to court they'd probably take the pts off. But from what you guys are saying, it sounds like some prosecutor is going to try to make me plead guilty and take a deal. From what it sounds like, pleading "unsafe driving" could go either: 1) get me no points but insurance still goes up or 2) It pisses off the prosecutor and I end up paying both the ticket and the court costs and insurance goes up.

I guess the general consensus is to plead not guilty and hope to at least get it reduced? Also, is the cop that issued the ticket suppose to show up to the court?
The prosecutor doesn't want to take any case to court. They are trained to save money by wrapping up cases quickly. A plea deal is the quickest, easiest, and cheapest way to guarantee a conviction.
When you talk to the prosecutor, just answer his questions. Don't add anything, just a yes sir, no sir will do.
Depends on your insurance. My insurance just asks if any points are on your record. Others for tickets. With your age (I'll assume since you've been driving for 10 years, you are at least 27) insurance will be nice to you.

What you are going to is basically an arraignment. Many cases will enter a plea of gulity or not gulity (or no contest) If you plea not gulity and don't take the deal, you'll most likely be placed on the court docket. You'll get a new court date, where its just you (or a lawyer) vs. the prosecutor. Then the cop must either show up, or enter a deposition.

[79CamaroDiva]

call up insurance, ask if it will go up. The policy i have doesn't go up for points. Find out if it does go up, how much it will go up (for both companies) and decide from there if the $450 unsafe driving ticket (plus court costs) is worth what you'll save in insurance.

I would go to court, talk to the prosecutor, see what he can do, and hope they drop it to non-points. If they do but it costs more and insurance doesn't go up, I would take the original ticket.

[DaSkinnyGuy]

Plee bargin it gulty, you can have the ticket reduced to 0 points an unsafe driving ticket but you just pay a state surcharge and some other stuff. Mine cost me $439 and the other one $539. Still have 0 points

[sweetbmxrider]

when you talk to the prosecutor, he will make a deal with you. this is called a plea bargain. they don't care about points and crap if you have a good record, like yourself. ask if you can plead to unsafe operation of a motor vehicle. you will get it and pay the $400 plus dollar price tag and walk out with a smile! easy as pie

[madness410]

just talk to the prosecutor...it is a 4 point ticket and most likely at the minimum he will reduce it to 2 points...but even after that ask the judge before he gives you your penalty if there is anything he could possibly do to make it lower.

that happened to me, i had a 5 point ticket, prosecutor took it down to 4 points, asked the judged (dressed nicely of course, was very polite) if there was anything he could do, and he lowered it to 2. still got points but its better than a 5 point ticket plus an insurance raise.

[maroman88]

when i got my careless driving ticket, i knew the officers sgt. so he told the officer to drop it down to unsafe, so when the prossecuter got to me he already had the unsafe plea set for me !

[Stevoone]

I got a careless driving ticket a few years ago. Went to court for it and the prosecutor was pretty nice about the whole thing. When he called me over he offered to drop the points but raise the fine. They ended up dropping the points and charging me $400. I'd just do what everyone else said, dress nice and be polite. The cop that issued me the ticket was not in court. I heard that there supposed to be there but I didn't see him.

[MonmouthCtyAntz]

I had something similar happen to me about a year ago. Though I was going alot faster, the officer because of my crystal clear record dropped it from 4 to 2 points. Then the prosecuter dropped the other 2 at court...seeing its you first just let the prosecuter know...More then likely hell drop the points but the fine will probably be 300-400 bucks. The judge wont have a problem w/ it they see it everyday, its a pretty normal procedure for good drivers...I think u can only use that once every 5 years so watch your speed. Yea just read through the posts and It refreshed my memory, I believe the charge changes to unsafe which carries no points.

[grandkodiak]

good site:

http://www.state.nj.us/mvc/Violations/penalties_pointSchedule.htm

[IROCZman15]

#1.. the police officer that issued the ticket does NOT have to show up for court.. thats silly. could u imagine cops having to show up for court for every ticket they write.. never going to happen. if you ask to take the ticket to TRIAL .. then the cop gets a subpeona to go to court. dont do that. thats liek saying you werent guilty.. which u were, as u admitted it here,a nd probably on the scene..

#2. dont worry about the insurance points. those are different from the points assessed by the State of Nj. you can only have 12 points attached to ur license before you loose it (temp). insurance points only serve to jack up your rates.

#3. as stated before, prosecutors usually plea bargain tickets like that. depending on previous driving record, demeanor, and any notes that the officer writes on the back of HIS copy of the ticket. (ie: rude, nasty, or admited wrong) etc. if the cop wrote something liek "treated me with disrespect and showed blatant disregard for the saftey of others"... you aint getting that ticket plea bargained. and the same goes for the reverse. etc. just plea it down to the UNSAFE and pay the $ plus court costs, then its all done with

[quasar34]

i got into an accident about 3 years ago that was my fault (i told the cop the truth and told him that the sun impaired my vision and i didn't even see the car i turned in front of untill it was too late) and he screwed me over and gave me a careless driving ticket..went in and talked to the prosecutor and dropped it down to an unsafe.. before the incident i had a clean driving record.. dress nice, keep calm and dont speak like a fool and you'll walk out of there with unsafe and minus about $400..

[NastyEllEssWon]

GO TO COURT!

even if the cop shows up you can talk to the prosecutor and use the 'UNSAFE DRIVERS CLAUSE'. which essentially you go before the court, tell the judge you realize what you done was operating a vehicle unsafely and you pay 180 dollar fine and NO POINTS.

i realize that the fine is sometimes higher than the speeding fine, but to people like me that use their license for work its a good thing.