»

[MMetal]

Jurisdiction/Place: USA - New York

Hi I just recieved a speeding ticket for doing a 53 in a 30 in Albany county in NY state.

The road I was on goes from a 40 to a 35 and I was clocked where the speed changes. I actually wasn't paying attention to my speed. It was 10:30 at night and I was the only car on the road. The road is a downhill road so if im not activley braking the car I will gain speed on it, not that its an excuse. Right before I was pulled over, I noticed the officer behind me, got nervous and rolled through a stop sign. When the officer asked me if I knew why I was being pulled over, I guessed the stop sign instead of playing dumb and saying i dont know. He said he didn't care about that.

My driving record is 2 fixit tickets in the past 10 years, since I got my license, for a headlight and an exhaust. I am 26 and have never had any other ticket. I recently added a motorcycle endorsement to my license.

The ticket has a court date and the option to plead guilty/not guilty on it. should I plead not guilty, mail the ticket in, and go to the court date? or should I just plead guilty on the ticket with an explanation?

I was thinking of going to court with my driving record and asking the judge to dismiss my ticket because I have kept my record clean for so long. Is that a sound strategy? Should I pay a laywer to go on my behalf?

I would like my insurance not to be affected and possibly not have any previous tickets show up if I happen to get pulled over again.

Any tips or suggestions are appreciated, thanks.

[mightymoose]

You should be able to attend a traffic school to keep the ticket off your insurance record if necessary.

But, 53 in a 30 is not terrible. If you want to dispute the ticket in court then read up on what "prima facie" speed limits are. This occurred later in the evening when there was no other traffic on the road, and you may be able to argue that your speed was not unsafe, that you were outside of the time frame that the prima facie speed limit is based on, and that your speed of 53 was still under the maximum limit which is probably 55.
It is clear the cop was looking for an easy target at the sign. Most people won't fight this, but you can raise reasonable points if you do.

[MongoVT]

My advice is thus: Go to court, dress nicely, arrive early. Before your session arrives speak to the officer directly and see if you can come to an agreement. My last ticket (5 years ago) was rather high due to a poor passing decision. I asked the officer if she would reduce the ticket to a 59 in a 50 and I would pay the fine for the full original ticket. I explained I had to insure several vehicles and I was worried about an increase in my insurance rates. She agreed, made the recommendation to the judge, I was polite and got off better then every other person in court that day...and they all had much simpler tickets.