I got a traffic ticket, should I fight it?

Question

I was driving along side my girlfriend at maybe 8 -15 miles over the speed limit. A cop saw us, pulled out, and he pulled both of us over. He wrote on our two seperate tickets that we violated a traffic control device "Violation of Speed Limit Sign" and he put as a comment that We were racing. It isn't a speeding ticket, and we weren't racing. This was my and her first ticket, what should we do?

Answer 1

If the ticket is for racing then by all means fight it!  That is a huge ticket and you cannot go to traffic school to get it off your record.  Your insurance will go up for 3 years.  If it is a speeding ticket, pay it, do traffic school and get on with your life.

Answer 2

Go to court and explain everything to the judge and maybe he or she will give you the opportunity to take a defensive driving course.

Answer 3

Pay it. You were going "8-15mph" over the speed limit by your own admission. It is a speeding ticket if it said "violation of speed limit sign." Just suck it up and pay it.

Answer 4

Ok man, first off you need to appear in court on the day indicated on the ticket. Most times the officer does not show up because the majority of people just pay the ticket by the mail. To the officer, driving beside your girlfriend "looked" like racing so you are out on that. But if you show up and the officer does not (as they do not show up most times) you win by default.

If you pay the ticket you lose. You pay the fee AND increased insurance premiums. If you fight it you stand a good chance of winning.

Answer 5

Uh, "violation of speed limit sign" means "speeding." Surely you know that. And surely you know that a speed limit sign is a regulatory traffic control device.

You admit you were speeding. Guilty. Pay the fine.

Answer 6

it looked like you were racing to the officer

as thats what a lot of people do

they line up side by side and then peel off

and you just admit you were speeding here!

too many innocent people have been killed that way

at least be lucky he didn't arrest you for drag racing thats

means jail time

Answer 7

8 to 15 mph is a huge range.  How can you call yourselves drivers if you don't know how fast you were going?

Anyway, you attracted the attention of the local constabulary by driving side by side.  Violation of a speed limit sign means you were speeding!  He may have commented you were racing, but that is an opinion, he didn't give you tickets for racing.

Pay the tickets, there is no way in heck you are both getting off speeding tickets when you were collaboratively speeding.

The officer does not have to show up in court for the ticket.  If you plead not guilty, he has to show up for the trial.  If you lose at trial, the judge is free to impose the penalty he sees fit, and is free then to take into consideration the allegation you were racing.  That could end up with the maximum allowable fine being imposed.  A guilty plea will likely result in a lower fine.

Answer 8

haha how did he pull both of you over in two separate cars? that's funny, but if you were going over 10 mph the chances of you getting out of it is slim to none. But since it wasn't a "speeding ticket" and he claims you were racing, you may be able to plead your case...I'd go for it!!! good luck too!

Answer 9

pay it! Take responsibility

Answer 10

I fought the law and the law won

Answer 11

u shouldnt go over speed limit

Answer 12

8-15 miles over the speed limit would be considered speeding.....at least in my state it does. plus, unless the racing actually increased the charges, then i probably wouldn't fight it.

Answer 13

Sorry to say, but if your going 1mph over the limit your speeding. You cant fight the ticket, if all you got is a speeding violation then you cant fight it. Sorry. If the officer however did try to write you up for something else like wreakless then thats fightable, but like you said you were speeding maybe 8-15 mph over the limit. The Cop could give you a ticket if you were racing or not, sorry. TICKETS SUCK

Answer 14

In certain cities (like my NYC) if you show up without a lawyer the courts don't take you serious and you will most likely lose.  I was even in a court when the lawyer proved the cop could NOT have done all those things he testified (mathematically impossible) yet the cop won anyway.

If you ask me the only time it makes sense to fight it is because you are about to lose your license.  Even then NY lawyers will just postpone the court cases so that WHEN they lose not all the ticket convictions will pile up on 72 month (or whatever your state law requires) to suspend the license.

You were speeding.  You probably could not win anyway.

Good Luck

Answer 15

i believe you, you are not racing...you are showing off, you are just as dangerous.

Answer 16

Appear in court....they should have given you a date. Normally if you just show up, the ticket will be reduced.