Speeding ticket & Defensive driving courses

L

lyle12

New Member
Jurisdiction
New York
I got a speeding ticket on a highway in NYC. Going 70 in a 50. Since it's 20 mph over the limit, it's 4 points. I've read that NYC defensive driving courses will reduce up to 4 points off your license. I've never had a moving violation as a driver. In my case will the defensive driving course reduce my points to zero?

I'm worried about is my insurance going up. My auto insurance renewal with Geico is in June 2022.

The alternative is to hire a traffic attorney and have them plead the case to a parking ticket. The ticket is $203. The first attorney I called costs $550.

Thanks.
 
Understand that NY has no statutory insurance scoring. So even if you reduce your DMV points, it may not have any affect on your insurance rate. You do get a 10% reduction for taking the course, but that may be swamped by the typically 40% increase you'll see due to the moving violation. Most insurance companies don't distinguish between one mph over the limit and thirty as long as the citation is for speeding.

If someone tells you they can get your ticket droped to a non-moving violation in NYC, they're lying. Getting it reduced elsewhere in New York State is a possibility, but in NYC, they don't negotiate a tthe TVB. You're either guilty, pay the fine, get the points, or in an unlikely event, found not guilty and get off. The only wiggle is that if you have some convincing evidence that the officer is wrong, you could get it to a reduced speed (lesser fine and points perhaps) but you'd still have the same insurance impact.
 
lyle12 said:
I'm worried about is my insurance going up. My auto insurance renewal with Geico is in June 2022.
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It will go up. The insurance industry is engaging in massive rate increases this year.

Do whatever it takes to keep the ticket off your record, if that's even possible.

Then slow down.
 
Thanks for the advise.

Does it make sense to call my insurance company and ask them how they treat these cases?

Or am I giving up too much information to the insurance company?
 
Mine ( USAA) has always been forthcoming with how they score accidents and tickets with regard to your rates. There's a little thing at the bottom of the cover sheet with the score they use and then you can look that up in other documents to decode what it means to you.
 
Everything you need to know is in this document about GEICO's Good Driver Plan that I found online. It's dated 2018 but it came up in a couple of search results so I don't know if that's current or not.

NBUS Sample Application_P6_Carissa (geico.com)

I don't know if it would do you much good to call. Though it might be worth a try if you don't have to identify yourself.

Customer service reps may not be privy to that information and you aren't likely to be put through to an underwriter.
 
Understand that NO points get removed from your driving record. The conviction will still be there along with the points. Even the Administrative Law Judges tell motorists incorrect information about this. What happens is that your designation as a "persistent violator" (when you get up to 12 points in a rolling 18-month window) gets deferred because of the class. That's it.

And there is NO plea bargaining in the Traffic Violations Bureau. My opinion is that you don't stand much of a chance, with or without an attorney. Any officers in NYC who are doing speed enforcement are well-versed in courtroom testimony - they are court every week for lots of traffic cases - and the attorney's don't stand much of a chance.
 
flyingron said:
The only wiggle is that if you have some convincing evidence that the officer is wrong, you could get it to a reduced speed...
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There is little chance that the OP could testify to something that would call into question the facts as put on the record by the officer - if that WAS the case the verdict would simply be "not guilty".

The ONLY times I have ever seen a judge reduced the speed was when the speed was close to a point boundary (e.g. if it was 22 over for example) and an attorney asked the judge to throw out the radar and go just based on the officer's independent speed estimation.

For instance, my tolerance was +/- 5 mph, so the attorney would ask for the radar to be disregarded and to take the speed, as written, and reduce it by my tolerance, ending up with the 22 over coming down to 17 over resulting in two fewer points and less of a fine.
 
My standard advice to anyone who asks about traffic citations is simply obey the law.

If your foot is heavy, deploy your cruise control. I use CC anytime I drive, wherever I drive. Mine works at 20 MPH, 30 MPH, or higher.

Come to a COMPLETE stop at a stop sign.

Obey all traffic control signs and electrified signals.

Merge into traffic cautiously, know who has the right of way, be smart and yield.

If you don't, you might end up dead right!!!

Make sure the road is clear when you're backing.

Use your turn signal, simply be alert, not under the influence of drugs if you sit behind the steering wheel.

Obey the law, you'll never receive a citation.

As far as driving in NYC, they enforce their traffic laws aggressively.

If you drive in one of the five boroughs, obey the speed limit, and drive carefully.
 
adjusterjack said:
Everything you need to know is in this document about GEICO's Good Driver Plan that I found online. It's dated 2018 but it came up in a couple of search results so I don't know if that's current or not.

NBUS Sample Application_P6_Carissa (geico.com)

I don't know if it would do you much good to call. Though it might be worth a try if you don't have to identify yourself.

Customer service reps may not be privy to that information and you aren't likely to be put through to an underwriter.
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Based on the document - GEICO will not assign any internal points to my policy b/c I was not in excess of 20mph over the speed limit. (70mph in a 50mph). If no points are assigned I will not get an insurance surcharge.

I have read that the NYS DMV does not upload "DMV points" to my insurer. Nor will they inform my insurer of my conviction (if I plead guilty). GEICO has to request this information on their own. Taking a defensive driver course will be a red flag that might prompt them to lookup my DMV points / convictions. BUT this is a moot point b/c driving 20mph over the limit does not trigger any points per GEICO's scoring system. Driving 21MPH over the limit will trigger points though.

I think for there to be a surcharge added to my policy:
1. GEICO has lowered the bar on excess speed AND
2. GEICO does an inquiry into my account and finds the NYS DMV conviction.

Based on this I think I will plead guilty, pay the $203 and drive more cautiously going forward.

I have uploaded the relevant GEICO policy page as it relates to Traffic violations.
 

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Believe me, the insurance company will get your conviction information, at least by when it is time to renew the policy. It does look like Geico will let you slide on a single (lower speed) violation.
 
flyingron said:
Believe me, the insurance company will get your conviction information, at least by when it is time to renew the policy. It does look like Geico will let you slide on a single (lower speed) violation.
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One prima fascia mistake on the ticket is the owner is operator checkbox is checked. It's not my car, it's my mother's. Is that a legitimate defense at the Traffic Violation Bureau?
 
Nothing written on the ticket makes one bit of importance when you go to trial. All that matters is what the officer and you testify to.
 

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