Washington Speeding Ticket--71 in a 50--What to do?

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fbrb32

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Hi,

I recently got a speeding ticket (code 46.61.400) in Kitsap County, WA for going 71 in a 50. I do not believe I was going that fast, and I am looking for advice as to what I should do. Here are the details:

First of all, note that I do not have a clean traffic record--I had a couple tickets 4+ years ago and I got a speeding ticket in July. However, out of fear of further increasing my insurance and because I found out my wife is pregnant in August, I have since decided to slow down. The speed limit was 60, and I believe I was traveling around that, maybe 65. Then I saw signs for "Reduce Speed Ahead" to 50mph and began to slow down. I hadn't yet seen the sign marking the actual start of the 50mph zone (though I later verified that I had entered it before being pulled over), but when I saw the police car I looked at my speedometer and it said about 55mph. The officer was out of his car, apparently finishing up a ticket with another driver. As I passed by, he pointed at me and motioned that I should pull over. I have no idea how he determined my speed, as he was nowhere near his car at the time. I pulled over, and he soon got back in his car and pulled up behind me. He then told me that his "lazer" had me going 71 in a 50. My only reply was, "Oh really?" (I didn't know what to say at the time, even though I didn't believe I had been going that fast.) He then went to his car and wrote me a ticket for $183. I feel that he must have made a mistake, because I wasn't going that fast. My wife, who was with me, agrees. Is it possible that he got me for some other car's speed, since he wasn't in his car closely monitoring the situation? How do I prove it?

I am looking for advice on what to do at this point. My only options, according to the back of the ticket, are to pay the fine, request a mitigation hearing, or request a hearing to contest the ticket. I am afraid to contest, since I don't know how to prove my case other than my word against his, which I've heard doesn't work well in court. On the other hand, a mitigation hearing doesn't sound good, because that means admitting guilt (which I don't think I am), and I don't really have mitigating circumstances to explain other than, "I didn't do it and I think the officer may have made a mistake since he wasn't even in the car at the time," which sounds more like contesting the charge than mitigating. Any advice? My main concern is trying to keep additional points off of my driving record.

Thanks, any thoughts would be appreciated!

Corey
 
Washington State Speeding Ticket

You can defer tickets in Washington. There's a fee of $75 or
whatever the ticket would have been whichever is larger. You plead
guilty, but the finding of guilt is deferred. If you go 1 year without
another ticket, the ticket is dropped. Deferrment is NOT available
after the court finds you guilty.

If you decide to contest the ticket send me a private email.
 
lwpat said:
You can defer tickets in Washington. There's a fee of $75 or
whatever the ticket would have been whichever is larger. You plead
guilty, but the finding of guilt is deferred. If you go 1 year without
another ticket, the ticket is dropped. Deferrment is NOT available
after the court finds you guilty.

If you decide to contest the ticket send me a private email.


Thanks lwpat,

So it sounds like deferring the ticket would still cost me the full $183 for the ticket, but it would probably still be worth it to save on insurance rate hikes. One question though--how do I go about deferring the ticket? And am I eligible for deferral since I have a prior ticket on my record from July? If I have to go to the mitigation hearing to ask for deferral, am I guaranteed to get it?

Thanks,

Corey
 
getting a deffered ticket

Hey I have this same problem..

What is the proper method to getting a ticket deffered? I already have one ticket on my record that I paid/accepted but I recently received a nasty little ticket.

Do you just select "mitigation hearing," goto court, explain yourself, and ask that the prosecution be deffered?

thank you!!!
kevin
 
That's how you do it. Sometimes you can call the clerk of court and they will let you take care of it before your court date. Just depends on the judge.
 
Hi,

I got a ticket in WA state and read this thread. My question is if you can get your ticket deffered, does that mean you get your money back at the end of year? or is that just to avoid getting higher insurance?

thanks
 
just to add, I am a Canadian, so at this point my main goal is to avoid paying the monetary penalty as i dont think the ticket would have any effect on my insurance rate in Canada.
 
Normally deferments are only for in state drivers. You would need to call the clerk of court to find out for sure. I do know that NY and CA report tickets back to Canada but I am not sure about WA. The WA DMV would be able to tell you.
 
thank you lwpat for the reply,

Just for information sack, so what does defferement do then?

Thanks,
 
A deferment keeps the speeding ticket off your MVR so there are no points or insurance rate hikes. However if you recieve another ticket during the probation period then both will go on your record.
 
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