Should he go to court?

Question

I have a friend that lives in New Orleans and he got a speeding ticket (30 in a 20).. and he asked me if he should go to court or just pay the ticket.. I told him that when I was an MP I know that if the officer didnt show up to court (which was 90% of the time) that the ticket was dismissed. but I told him I would look it up and ask around... What do you guys think?

Answer 1

Pay the ticket.

Answer 2

he should go to court anyways, they will typically drop the points taken away for just showing up, but the ticket price will remain the same.

Answer 3

Take a chance and go to court.  You have to wait around all morning, tho.

Answer 4

I would just pay it off without going to court. Dont know how it is there, but here you have to go in and say you are pleading not guilty-then they set another court date and you have to come back for that. Thus if you have a job you are going to miss two days work. Even if you win is it going to be worth missing two days pay?

Answer 5

I would go ahead and pay the ticket before court.  If he waits and goes to court and the officer does show up, he will also be paying court cost.

Answer 6

In most cases the judge does not HAVE to dismiss a ticket if the officer doesn't show, but often does.  It's a bit of a c**p shoot.  On the chance that he shows up to court and the officer is there, or is not there but the judge pursues the ticket anyway, and he loses, I think he'll have to pay the ticket plus court costs.