[DougLikesBMW]

I need help/advice with this speeding ticket.

Here's the story:

Leaving San Marcos after visiting my girlfriend, headed back to Galveston. I was doing 82 in a 65 night-time zone. I speed up to pass someone who was taking their sweet time in the left hand lane (two lane highway), and I move into the right lane. I come over a small crest and am in the process of dropping speed back a few mph's. I see the outline of a Crown Vic and see the outline of the police lights on top, and then start braking..it was obviously too late at this point. It was a dumbass State Trooper who was driving 50mph in the righthand lane with absolutely no lights on the back of his car, keep in mind it was nighttime.

So he puts his lights on, and I pull over. I put the lights on in my cabin, got my license/insurance, turned off the car, and waited with my hands on the steering wheel.

He comes up to the window with a bright light shining in my face and tells me I was doing 82 in a 65, and he asked if it was an emergency, to which I replied no. I told him I was just on my way home, and he said, "Well why do you have to complicate things with speeding?" but I wasn't going to argue with his flawed logic. I mean really? Who actually goes 65? Oh that's right, no one.

He walks around to the front of my car and sees no front plate, to which I play dumb about being able to get a bracket for. I said it was a leased car and I didn't want to drill the bumper because it has to go back in it's original condition. Luckily he didn't notice my 15% tint.

He came back with a ticket, which I had to sign. Here it is below, as you can see I only got a warning for my front plate and a ticket for the speed.

So my question to you guys is, is there any way out of it? I've seen you guys get out of them many times before on here. I talked to my police buddy and he said best option would be to go to the court and ask for 'deferred ajudification', which means I may or may not have to pay the ticket, but if I don't get another one within 6 months then it will stay off of my record. And that will be my solution unless you guys can help me get completely out of it.

I've never been pulled over/ticketed before this, or had any accidents so my record is completely clean.

Thanks for the help guys.

[Year's_End]

Originally Posted by DougLikesBMW

I've never been pulled over/ticketed before this, or had any accidents so my record is completely clean.

Take the online traffic course.

[Blake]

Originally Posted by Bimmer Loyalist

Take the online traffic course.

nah, fuck that. i'm in texas and i've had plenty of tickets, it's easy here.

doug - go to your court date, ask the judge for deferred, then you're placed on a 90-day probation, in which you can't have any additional speeding CONVICTIONS. i say convictions because you can get other tickets, but you can delay them until your period of deferred is up on the original ticket, then work out a deal on the new ticket. but i digress...you want to use deferred because at the end of the 90 days, the case is dismissed and your record is expunged of the incident, saving you insurance headaches, points on your license, etc.

don't hire an attorney to take care of your ticket, because that's all they're going to do for you anyway. the court will know exactly why you appeared in person on the date on your ticket, which you can always reset...they know you're there to get on deferred.

as far as cost of ticket, it all depends on the department's policy. you usually won't pay the full cost of the ticket, but you will get pretty damn close with those lovely "administration fees". but the alternative is either a full day of nauseatingly boring defensive driving courses AND all the costs that go along with it, paying the ticket and getting points on your license, or just simply waiting it out for 3 months and have it gone...i'll take the wait!

[darkphantom]

or since you have a clean record, you can fight it. Lawyer up if you don't want it on your record.

[Blake]

Originally Posted by darkphantom

or since you have a clean record, you can fight it. Lawyer up if you don't want it on your record.

why pay a lawyer to do something you can do easily yourself?

[montreal red]

Originally Posted by Blake

nah, fuck that. i'm in texas and i've had plenty of tickets, it's easy here.

doug - go to your court date, ask the judge for deferred, then you're placed on a 90-day probation, in which you can't have any additional speeding CONVICTIONS. i say convictions because you can get other tickets, but you can delay them until your period of deferred is up on the original ticket, then work out a deal on the new ticket. but i digress...you want to use deferred because at the end of the 90 days, the case is dismissed and your record is expunged of the incident, saving you insurance headaches, points on your license, etc.

don't hire an attorney to take care of your ticket, because that's all they're going to do for you anyway. the court will know exactly why you appeared in person on the date on your ticket, which you can always reset...they know you're there to get on deferred.

as far as cost of ticket, it all depends on the department's policy. you usually won't pay the full cost of the ticket, but you will get pretty damn close with those lovely "administration fees". but the alternative is either a full day of nauseatingly boring defensive driving courses AND all the costs that go along with it, paying the ticket and getting points on your license, or just simply waiting it out for 3 months and have it gone...i'll take the wait!

wow thats pretty sweet... too bad here in canada i cant use that method of having a ticket "deferred" and going on probation.

[koreez88]

Go to the court and plead not guilty, there's a high chance that he won't even show up for the secong court meeting.

[DougLikesBMW]

Originally Posted by Blake

why pay a lawyer to do something you can do easily yourself?

Blake, is there any way for me to get it completely removed by fighting it myself? And how hard would that be for me to do? Or should I just go with deferred?

Because best option would be to completely get out of the ticket, second best would be deferred.

[NYSPEM3]

http://www.radardetector.net/forums/...t-your-ticket/

[Maestro]

^+1 on that

There are two guys there who know TX laws and how to win. One guy routinely drives all over TX over the limit all the time and his solution is has been to hire local lawyer and wins. The other guy, know all the laws and loop hole and how to beat the system.

lastly, if you going to speed, get a radar detector.

[M_Six]

Did the cop use radar? How does he know you were doing 82?

I was going to suggest the radardetector.net site, too. Good place for info. My last (and only) ticket here in IL, I went the deferred route (although they call it "court supervision" here). It worked. The ticket is not on my record, although here you have to pay the ticket plus the same amount in "court fees," so it's costly up front. Still, no points or ticket on my record.

[DougLikesBMW]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Did the cop use radar? How does he know you were doing 82?

I was going to suggest the radardetector.net site, too. Good place for info. My last (and only) ticket here in IL, I went the deferred route (although they call it "court supervision" here). It worked. The ticket is not on my record, although here you have to pay the ticket plus the same amount in "court fees," so it's costly up front. Still, no points or ticket on my record.

It says Radar Cal.: 19.34 on my ticket above...I am guessing that is some sort of radar calibration variable.

I will post on that RadarDetecor - Beat your ticket website. Thanks for the help guys. Just gunna post this exact same thing over there and see what they can do for me. I'll update this, probably go to court on Friday.

[Blake]

Originally Posted by DougLikesBMW

Blake, is there any way for me to get it completely removed by fighting it myself? And how hard would that be for me to do? Or should I just go with deferred?

Because best option would be to completely get out of the ticket, second best would be deferred.

deferred will cause a dismissal after you wait it out 3 months, provided you don't have any additional convictions during your probationary period. it won't show up on your record after it's dismissed.

[aut0sh0cker]

Originally Posted by dark335i

Cops get paid EXTRA to show up.

hence you do "Trial by Written Declaration" where the cop has to write an essay explaining why you deserve to burn. no compensation is made to the officer

[DougLikesBMW]

Originally Posted by aut0sh0cker

hence you do "Trial by Written Declaration" where the cop has to write an essay explaining why you deserve to burn. no compensation is made to the officer

Ooh? I can do this? So this would mean I would get out of the ticket completely/mostly?

Any links to help with this or advice? How the hell would I even do this? Heh.

[Blake]

your cop will be there. trust me. he gets paid overtime to be there, time and a half.

[DougLikesBMW]

Originally Posted by Blake

your cop will be there. trust me. he gets paid overtime to be there, time and a half.

I understand this, I was asking about "trial by written declaration".

[Simon_135i]

If you lose, you should def ask for Traffic School... but you will probably end up paying just as much if not more for the administrative fees.

However, if you ask politely (assuming you lose) it is up to the court's discretion to provide you with the opportunity to attend traffic school.

People vs. Wozniak? i think....

I think you should defer or show up and be prepare to present the facts as you see it. Enter a "Not guilty plead" ...

FOund this from the other website:

- The officer should also have a copy of his 24 hour training certificate for radar training and the maintenance/calibration records. If not, object to any testimony he may give concerning those items and ask for dismissal.

- All of the documents the officer presents must be an original or a certified true copy. If they are not, object to them being entered into evidence and ask for a dismissal based on lack of evidence.

[DougLikesBMW]

Thanks for the help all. Talked to my professor tonight who is a lawyer and he told me to just call in and say I want deferred ajudication. And also try and talk to the persecutor and tell him that the state trooper was driving on the highway at night with absolutely no lights on at 50 mph = hazard...maybe that will help me somehow.

[blue2fire]

Do the deferred adjudication, it will stay off the record if you dont get a ticket in the stipulated time period. I would just have done defensive driving online and got it over with, it takes a few hours but you can watch a movie while the timer ticks away.