Question about Speeding Ticket in CA

I just got pulled over for 3 citations (apparently she was following me for a while and somehow I didnt notice) These included; "70 in a 45 zone, failure to make a full stop in negotiating a right turn on a red. and then 55 in a 40 zone". She specifically said that I am lucky, because she is only going to give me the ticket for a 65 in a 45 zone and a warning for the others. However on the ticket itself, the other violations are recorded, was she BSing me, or is it possible that she is only giving me the 65 in a 45 despite the others being recorded.

No, I think its up to the cops discretion to give you a warning for what they want a real ticket for what they want. Jut be happy she didnt get you for that other stuff.

"I just got pulled over for 3 citations (apparently she was following me for a while and somehow I didnt notice) These included; "70 in a 45 zone, failure to make a full stop in negotiating a right turn on a red. and then 55 in a 40 zone". She specifically said that I am lucky, because she is only going to give me the ticket for a 65 in a 45 zone and a warning for the others. However on the ticket itself, the other violations are recorded, was she BSing me, or is it possible that she is only giving me the 65 in a 45 despite the others being recorded."

You have only been issued one speeding ticket citation. The notes on the traffic ticket are for the court's/officer's reference at trial. In CA your best option is to show up on your trail date and see if the officer is there. If she is not in court you can make a motion for dismissal. The next best option is to try to get permission for traffic school. Many CA courts will now accept online traffic school. For more information check out
Online Traffic School (http://www.trafficschoolonline.com/?lcode=4013)
or call the clerk of court

Yep, sometimes they wont even show. I took mine to court though and the cop was there, he was pissed!

One thing that beats ALOT of speeding tickets in court :naughty: . Ask for the calibration slip of the police cars radar unit :biggrin: . Most of the time they cant produce it because they didnt do it :loser:
At the same time if you dont drive like a dumb azz "70 in a 45 zone, failure to make a full stop in negotiating a right turn on a red. and then 55 in a 40 zone". You dont need to worry about thing like that :p

also, the cop has to prove that they went to school to use the radar, if it was radar, or must be able to show that their "speedo meter" is calibrated as well.
I think that has to be done annually or bi annually.

Most of the time a cop will be ticked off just because you took it to court, and the judges know it. The cops in the Contra Costa County area (East SF Bay) have to go to court in excess of their normal duties, basically overtime. Does that make anyone happy? Second, to contest it at all your only option is to call into question the competency of the officer. Think that makes them happy?

As for:
"At the same time if you dont drive like a dumb azz "70 in a 45 zone, failure to make a full stop in negotiating a right turn on a red. and then 55 in a 40 zone". You dont need to worry about thing like that."

I regret to inform you that every place I've been in California, that is normal driving. Around the SF Bay and San Diego areas the speed limit is definitely a speed minimum. Add 10 and you are keeping up with the flow of traffic. Add a little more and you are simply at passing speed.

I have a question for beating two speeding tickets in Marietta, GA. The first ticket was almost a month ago and I clocked at going 64 in a 45 mph zone on Shallowford Rd. This was at about 9 p.m. and the traffic was very light. I wasn't looking at the speedomtor but I didn't think I was going that fast. The part of the road I was on was mostly straightaways but I didn't see the cop because it was so dark. When I got pulled over, I asked the cop how much the fine was and he said he didn't know. I also asked when the court date was going to be and he said he didn't but told me to call a phone number in three days.

Earlier today, I was going down I-75 Southbound around two o'clock in the afternoon. Traffic was moderate, not bumper-to-bumper traffic like Atlanta is famous for, but enough that there was several cars around me. The way I-75 is set up is that the median that supports I-75 North and South is merely grass that's been planted there and therefore police can easily set up speedtraps. Right before Barrett Parkway, I spot a police car in middle of the median. I think it may have been a little more on the other side but I'm not sure. I knew I was speeding but I didn't know much so I immediately started slowing down. Within a few seconds, the officer started to drive and I knew I got caught. After I was pulled over, the officer said that I was going 97 in a 65 mph zone. I hadn't been looking at my speedomoter just prior to being pulled over but I didn't think I was going quite that fast. Like I said, the traffic was moderate and I was just moving with the traffic. I wasn't barreling down on anyone so I didn't give much thought to checking my speed. After I signed the ticket, this officer told me to call a phone number in ten days.

Now, I might add that both tickets were issued in Cobb County, if that helps any.

I don't want my insurance rates go up so what can I do to prevent it from doing so?

I've heard of something called road surveys, traffic surveys that have to be done within 5 years of when the ticket was issued or else the ticket is invalid or something like that. Does anyone know anything about this? Does Georgia have something like this? Also, does it apply to highways like I-75?

What are my other options? I've heard of pre-paid legal services but I don't know anything about them.

I only know California for sure, but here is what I can recommend based on our laws....

As for the survey, I wouldn't try calling that card without legal assistance (as mentioned farther down). It may have been missed, but the odds are against you.

As for legal assistance, usually not worth it. Sometimes it is, but not on a normal basis. For your two tickets, the only hope a lawyer has is to prove that a "speed trap" was presented by the officer. I don't know the exact criteria that aren't allowed to be used, but I do know that California law dictates that the CHP and police cannot set up "speed traps".

Basically, a lawyer only helps if you feel you want to get ultra-deep into the mechanics of speeding violations. I know that we do have some lawyers here that specialize in traffice violations, so I'm sure you do there too.

The second ticket you mentioned that you were simply moving with the flow of traffic....if GA uses the same "Basic Speed Law" as California you might be able to attempt that defense. However, from your own description it sounds like it wouldn't apply to you. In CA, you must have a car ahead of and behind you. All three of you must be moving at the same general speed. In this case, the cars NOT in front or behind are not ticketable. Theory being that the guy in the middle may not have been able to move out of the way safely. If you are in front, then you can definitely change your speed or move. If you are in back, then you can always slow down. The guys in the middle might not have that as a "safe" option. This RARELY works, and usually the judge will want to call in the drivers of the car ahead and behind you. If you didn't write down their plates, good luck finding them.

As for your insurance....You should be able to attend some sort of traffic school system to have one removed from your record (the newest one is preferred). In CA you cannot attend traffic school more than once in a 18 month period. So if the same is in GA, then only one is coming off your record (unless you can beat one of them and attend traffic school for the other).

That's about all I can come up with to help you out. I messed up bad as a dumb-ass teenage punk and got a lot of tickets back-to-back, it does make for problems in trying to keep insurance down and form a defense for each ticket. Just the way life is.

So lawyers usually don't work? Traffic school and paying a fine was what my dad wanted me to do before I got the second ticket but now I don't know what to do. I've heard from other posts that I might to plead one ticket down to a lesser offense. Is that possible or worth looking into?

There isn't a lesser offense to speeding. What amounts to plea bargaining for traffic court generally deals with citations of reckless driving, DUI, and such as that. Something where speeding would be a lesser offense. The same plan you had before is what I recommend now, pay the fine for the first ticket, go the traffic school for the second. That is your best "reasonable" course of action. Hiring a lawyer, MAY improve that, but you are likely to spend a larger amount of money on the lawyer than most would consider worth it.

Okay, I'm a little confused. The way my dad told it to me was that I would have to pay the fine and attend traffic school to get the first ticket off. If I simply paid the fine for the first ticket and nothing else, wouldn't the insurance company be notified and my rates raised?

Here is why I say what I do. You have two tickets to deal with, not one. Most insurance companies look at your last three years (some do five) for determining your insurance rate. If you do traffic school for the first one, the second one goes on your record. Three years after the close of the court case (or paying the fine) your insurance company looks at lowering your rate. Now, look at it the way I said....let the first one go to your record, go to traffic school for the second one. Now your insurance goes back down three years from the date of the older ticket, and the second ticket never happened. If you only had one, then yes I would fully endorse going to traffic school for it. Due to the fact that you have multiple tickets, you need to look at a long term picture. There isn't enough of a chance from what you describe that either ticket will be dropped. Hence you are stuck with a situation that you absolutely cannot avoid having at least one of the them reported for insurance purposes. The goal at this point is to minimize the damage.

"What are my other options? I've heard of pre-paid legal services but I don't know anything about them."

Here is a link to
Pre-Paid Legal Services (www.prepaidlegal.com/info/carolynpatterson)

They will provide an attorney at no extra cost provided your family is a member at the time you received the ticket. It would be a good idea to go ahead and join with your record. Just click on option 3. They will provide an attorney for existing speeding tickets to try to negotiate a lesser penalty or to even go to trial but you will have to pay a reduced rate. In GA it is normally 250 for negotiation, 750 if you go to a bench trial and 1500 for a jury trial.

Cobb County traffic court is not a friendly place, even with an attorney. Call the clerk of court and see if traffic school is even an option for either ticket. For traffic school to do you any good the court must not report the ticket. Some states do, some states don't.

RocketDSM's advice is right on but you can take it a step further by checking the renewal date of your insurance. If it is close you might consider delaying the tickets until just after renewal. In Cobb County you will need a good reason for a continuance like a communicable disease and do it at least two weeks before your court date.

You may have a shot with an attorney to getting the first ticket reduced to an under 14mph. GA does not enter these on your record so there are no points or insurance premium increases. This would probably be worth the 200 considering your other serious ticket. Good luck and stop chewing on those pencils, the lead is going to your extremities.

Up to $1500 for a speeding ticket? To RocketDSM, I've heard that people have gotten tickets reduced to under 14mph, and that is what I was asking about earlier. To Iwpat, do I really need an attorney to get the ticket reduced? What about that reduced rate you're talking about?

Also, I've gotten the impression that if you plead not guilty, then the court will immediately hold the trial right there. I'm a little confused by the last post.

Getting the speed reduced is somewhat normal in our courts. Sorry, but because the offense doesn't change, I hadn't thought of that as a reduction. In CA, it doesn't matter how far over you are, if the ticket sticks then it's points on your record. I really like GA's variant, I wouldn't have had nearly as many speeding tickets that mattered. Most of my speeding tickets I was cited for 20 or more mph over the speed limit, which the judges normally dropped to 10-15mph over the speed limit to save me a little money. Like I said though, out here, it doesn't make a difference for points or insurance in CA.

No they won't hold the trial right there. What you are actually showing up for is arraignment (I think I spelled that right). All that does is show that you understand the charges against you and your choice of plea is entered for legal record. The police don't even have to be present at this point. If you plead not guilty, the court will ask if you want to waive your right to a speedy trial. What they are really asking is "Can we schedule this farther out to be more convenient". If you say no, then the court is forced to schedule your trial within 45 days. If yes, then they can delay it to no end (at least that's my understanding). I've never had one delayed more than 90 days. At that trial is where you put up your arguments and hope the officer doesn't show, etc. I pleaded not guilty to most of my tickets, and at trial is where you normally get the judge to knock a few mph off the ticket.

The common argument for getting something reduced is "I plead not guilty to speeding of 53 in a 35. I do admit that I was speeding, but not THAT badly." This will normally tell the judge that you understand that you were wrong, and you aren't questioning the full competency of the officer. I found this to work about 85-90% of the time.

Georgia Speeding Ticket Information

"do I really need an attorney to get the ticket reduced?"

Maybe, maybe not. Your chances are always better with an attorney but there is never any guarantee. It may pay you to visit the court on another day before your trial and see what is the standard procedure. Normally the people with attorneys go first and get the deals.

"Also, I've gotten the impression that if you plead not guilty, then the court will immediately hold the trial right there."

Again, this depends on the particular court. In most traffic courts your first appearance is just an arraignment where you enter your plea. This weeds out most of the people who just pay their fine and often the officer is not even present. If you plead not guilty they will set a new court date and notify the officer. If you chose a jury trial there will be a jury selection and then a trial. In a bench trial there is only the judge.