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Error on Speeding Ticket

Just read an article where some state’s speeding tickets are crazy cheap while others are huge. My brother was a state trooper and said he never bothered stopping anyone, unless for some other added reason, going 10mph over the limit. Hell, riding with him on a couple of occasions, he had plenty of tickets he divvied out for people going 20, 25, 30mph above. Some areas are pickier than others or the cop is bored. One time driving a company ride, a pos 4-banger, the idle speed would increase with the A/C on so coasting speed wouldn’t slow me down w/o braking…coming into a town on a downhill road the speed dropped from 45 to 30 mph. Well right by the 30mph sign was a town Barney Fife clocking me at 10 over. Used to travel a lot for biz through endless small towns being aware of the speed as many of them had a cop named Barney.
 
I took one case to court before I had a clue about the process. The cop lied through his teeth and I lost my case. The next one I fought I didn't care about the fine, just the points. The cop failed to provide his notes in time so the case should have got tossed but I had a bad driving record so the prosecutor wanted to defer the trial date. But he offered to drop it if I'd pay the fine but not lose points. I couldn't get my money out fast enough !! Don't look a gift horse in the mouth !!
 
Getting a traffic ticket automatically dismissed because of a minor clerical error is a myth that's been around forever. If the completely wrong vehicle or license plate was on the ticket you might have a good chance of dismissal.

Well, I beg to differ on this. Transposing the date to much earlier is not a simple clerical error, and if he goes in and states that he was somewhere else during the time the ticket was issued, and can back it up, they will have no other choice than to dismiss it. They can’t change information on the ticket, not at the court, or by the cop who wrote it, it would be considered tampering with what would be evidence to one side or the other. The other choice the magistrate could make is to push it to a judge and set a court date, which of course I would attend, because I like the challenge. A lot of things can happen here, and if the fine and points are steep enough, hell yea you fight it.

Remember here that the plaintiff (the cop) has the burden of proof that the incident happened as stated on the citation given at the time of the infraction, and the defendant (our hero) is answering to the charges as alleged on the citation received. Although he may have done everything said on the ticket, he did not do it on the alleged day, and he just has to prove that the citation is not correct, because in fact it is not. He wasn’t there and didn’t do what the ticket states on the day the ticket states that it was, as the citation charges that it happened. The case will have to be dismissed, based on the misinformation written on the citation as received. Will they take it further than the magistrate just dismissing it? I doubt it

I’ve done it many times, all when I was in the right, and all but one was dismissed. That one was over no turn signals on a trailer that wasn’t mine, and despite the orange triangle and my hand signals, which weren’t good enough for the judge because “not everybody knows hand signals”. I could’ve argued further, but I just pod the fine and left.
 
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Although he may have done everything said on the ticket, he did not do it on the alleged day, and he just has to prove that the citation is not correct, because in fact it is not. He wasn’t there and didn’t do what the ticket states on the day the ticket states that it was,

You need to read the OP again. The only thing on the ticket that is incorrect is the "due date".

he gave me 30 days to get it taken care of. Only thing is, on the ticket he put 1/19 as the due date, when it should have read 2/19.
 
You need to read the OP again. The only thing on the ticket that is incorrect is the "due date".

Yes sir, I missed that. In that case, just send in the cash, if it comes back as a problem, then explain it.
 
I got a speeding ticket on Friday for doing 85 in a 75 on the freeway. I was leading 5 cars in the fast lane, passing 4 semis. He pulled me over because I was leading the pack. Ok, I was passing and going over the speed limit, but I’ve never had a speeding ticket in my life (just never got caught!) I looked at the ticket and found the date of the ticket is 1/21 and he said he gave me 30 days to get it taken care of. Only thing is, on the ticket he put 1/19 as the due date, when it should have read 2/19. With that discrepancy, I can’t do any online driving courses, because my due date is expired. Anyone know how to handle this? I don’t want to track down that trooper and ask him to give me a new one!!
How much is the fine, and how many points did you incur?

My last ticket was just over 2 years ago.....sometimes you just have to suck it up....pay the fine and wait out the time till the points go away. Why fight something that is only going to waste more of your time and energy?

Some cops are just pricks.....just like those in the Insurance industry. You have to learn to live with that.
 
Or maybe ask them for a time machine so you can go back and actually meet the date posted on the ticket. Tell them you have a fast car not a time hopper.
upload_2022-1-23_18-8-39.jpeg
Were you driving this ? GUILTY !
 
How much is the fine, and how many points did you incur?

My last ticket was just over 2 years ago.....sometimes you just have to suck it up....pay the fine and wait out the time till the points go away. Why fight something that is only going to waste more of your time and energy?

Some cops are just pricks.....just like those in the Insurance industry. You have to learn to live with that.
Many years ago I got a ticket in a state park for passing in a no passing zone. Some moron pulled out in front of me on a 40 mph through road and didn't make any effort to accelerate so instead of slamming on the brakes, I just went around him. Well, a parks cop saw it but still wrote out a ticket saying I was speeding too.....butt hole. Said screw it since I would have had to take a day off from work (which I didn't mind but why spend it on this) so just paid it. It was 200 bucks!! Geez. Another ticket about 2 years later had a mistake and even went back to the cop that wrote it as he was still in that location shooting radar and he just laughed and said thanks for coming back but I would have to still go to court to get it dismissed.....and I did just that. That was about 08 I guess. I drive very little these days and very seldom go over the limit. In fact, the slow lane is my lane now lol
 
Arizona or Nevada patrol? Several years ago here in Phoenix the DPS put out they were not going to hand out tickets for 10 over as long as you are going with the flow of traffic. Now, if you are weaving in and out of traffic and stand out expect to see blue lights in your mirror. I’m sure that doesn’t apply to the interstate up north. As a note, they’ve been running unmarked Cameros and Mustangs along the 10 from Buckeye to the Cali border.
I drive the 10 from Blythe to Phoenix, then 17 to Flagstaff, and 40 home every week. It’s was just before Seligman. I was in my normal work truck (F150), but I do have a CDL. Wonder if he did it because of that!
 
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How much is the fine, and how many points did you incur?

My last ticket was just over 2 years ago.....sometimes you just have to suck it up....pay the fine and wait out the time till the points go away. Why fight something that is only going to waste more of your time and energy?

Some cops are just pricks.....just like those in the Insurance industry. You have to learn to live with that.
I don’t know the points, but $190 fine. I could pay $210 and do the online 4 hours defensive driving and get it dismissed with no points. I’ve never had a ticket in my life, so I don’t know what the point system even does.
 
I don’t know the points, but $190 fine. I could pay $210 and do the online 4 hours defensive driving and get it dismissed with no points. I’ve never had a ticket in my life, so I don’t know what the point system even does.

I've had quite a few speeding tickets in my younger years. I always went to court and pleaded guilty and asked for leniency on the points. I would end up paying half the fine or no fine and no points. Never acquired one point.

It used to be a certain accumulation of points you would loose your license. Now days points will raise your insurance premiums.
 
Yeah ... I'd love to be a fly on the wall when you try that one !!!
if you say it right,youll never even get a ticket.
making the cops laugh,even when you are guilty,is key to lightening the scene,and making the officers feel like you arent a threat.
i literally have been pulled over for exactly that,leading the pack,and ive laughed and said " gee officer,they flew up behind me in my lane so fast i figured id better speed up till i could get out of their way in the other lane,and you pulled Me over instead !! "
works every time.
 
Well I’ll tell you no e of this stuff works in the great @$@&^#* state of ca. You”re guilty until proven innocent and when proven innocent they’ll likely just make something up to make sure you stay guilty. You see they write their own laws here and then violate them at the same time. I did a tap and roll turning right at a stoplight - Chippie sitting right there. Didn’t say a word to him - just give me the ticket - $500 for the ticket and I also had to pay I think it was $135 for dummy school to hide the offense from insurance cos. I went to court on one once. If the judge gave me 60 seconds to explain why I was there - I must have been dreaming. I think it was really only 30 secs. They”re pricks to the tenth degree here.

I was doing 90 one time and blew right by a patrol car. Lights came on and I couldn’t help but laugh when he got to my car and asked how fast I thought I was going - Laughing I said I don’t know I think around 95. He hardly knew what to say - but did eke out “Well you weren’t going that fast but not far from it. I asked to write down a little less in speed cause I was driving a company car, my job and all. No dice. I got the mini trophy in dummy school that time for the fastest speeding ticket.

Nothing like when I lived in CO some years back - There I at times was able to make an appt with the county DA and talk my tickets down or away without court or anything. They had a heart for a good story there - Here they’ll give you a ticket for walking to fast and unless you have a lawyer forget fighting it yourself. Just pay the fine and go to dummy school.
 
Wonder if the OP tied entering the "most likely" due date in the application for traffic school.
 
Wonder if the OP tied entering the "most likely" due date in the application for traffic school.
Yes I did. It says I must finish the class 7 days before my due date. Obviously, none of the classes would except that date! I’ll stop by the justice office and see what I need to do, or should I try the wait and see approach and keep the ticket with me to show the next trooper who pulls me over in the next 40 years!
 
I've had plenty of interactions with the constables of wherever I lived over the years...
learned the "honey instead of vinegar" method of dealing with them, as @BeatersRus refers to
as a result.
I've learned three things about traffic "enforcement":
1. The cop doesn't want to be out there typically. He doesn't like the assignment.
2. Traffic enforcement is all about the benjamins - it's legal revenue generation for the department.
3. They typically don't waste anyones' time pulling them over for warnings much anymore -
if they gank you, you're gonna get a ticket and you won't get out of it later on.

Oh....and NEVER get pulled over in Virginia!! Trust me on this.
 
I don't see why he couldn't call the traffic violations department and ask them about it. Really the due date being wrong doesn't have anything to do with the charge. If I was going to fight the charge, I would find out if it was a radar charge and how did the officer differentiate what car was the one that was clocked. Laser would be different.
 
I seem to get a nutty ticket once every 10 - 15 years. I won’t go into details but must are really minor, low speed stuff, caught in police traps the mayor directed to shut up some chronic complainer in a neighborhood - a 30 mph in a 25 zone, creep through a stop sign without a complete, jerking stop. Even when I was probably guilty I always have gone to court and pleaded not-guilty. Because of my clean record, etc, the judge has always let me off - usually with something like - Well let’s hold this in abeyance and see if you can stay out of trouble for the next 6 months and if so, we’ll just trash this one.

The last one I went to court on a few years ago, nearly my whole neighborhood was there, so many that the line extended all through the courts building and wound through the parking lot. By the time I got to the bench I think the judge was tired of hearing all this crap. The neighbor who complained to the mayor was not to popular and just disappeared from the neighborhood not long after. Another time it was an Air Force Col who kept complaining to the mayor resulting in a speed trap. It went on a couple days until they nailed the Col in it after which it just went away.
 
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