The few times I've been ticketed, I always went to court. In Detroit, the plea options were innocent, guilty, and guilty with explanation. If the officer does show (and mine always did), I always plead straight-up guilty. Every time, I was placed on 90-day probation, and if I had no other infractions, the ticket was dismissed; I received no points, but I did have to pay court costs (usually a little more than the fine, but less than increased insurance rates). I did have to appear a second time to have the ticket dismissed. Again, a bit of a pain, but better than points.
Guilty with explanation rarely, if ever, gained any of the others ticketed anything. Those who plead innocent, while entertaining to watch the accused concoct unprovable and outlandish stories against The Man, were never found as such.
If you get called later in the court session, see how others plead and the court's penalties to get the lay of the land, so to speak. That's what I did and haven't had a ticket on my record for over 15 years.
Well around here in MD, just showing up will get you a reduction in your fine, unless of course you were doing something insane like 45 mph in a school zone, or 30 mph above the limit. Knowing the judges before hand also helps.
I think the best idea is not to speed...much. Never been ticketed for going 10kph over the limit.
Did your vehicle have bigger tires than it came stock with? (without a recalibrated spedometer.) That can help.
Other than that, in my experience (even with the cops from a small town like mine) the do-you-know-how-to-use-a-radar-gun argument doesn't fly far. Best thing to do is show up, and act for your audience.
Comments
Guilty with explanation rarely, if ever, gained any of the others ticketed anything. Those who plead innocent, while entertaining to watch the accused concoct unprovable and outlandish stories against The Man, were never found as such.
If you get called later in the court session, see how others plead and the court's penalties to get the lay of the land, so to speak. That's what I did and haven't had a ticket on my record for over 15 years.
Good luck.
Did your vehicle have bigger tires than it came stock with? (without a recalibrated spedometer.) That can help.
Other than that, in my experience (even with the cops from a small town like mine) the do-you-know-how-to-use-a-radar-gun argument doesn't fly far. Best thing to do is show up, and act for your audience.
Originally posted by Crusader
Knowing the judges before hand also helps.
There's nothing like the old-boy network.