Speeding ticket court <span title="question.............Should">question.............Shou...</span> I contest it?

Question

I got a speeding ticket (Texas) to the tune of $405 today. The court fee is $105 and $20 for each mile per hour above the speed limit (school zone).

There is a school about a half a mile down the road from my house. The road dead ends at the school and you can turn either right or left. I turned left to head to the interstate a couple of miles down the road. Between my house and the school, there are no signs posted stating the speed limit. Nor are there signs when you turn left. In order to see the flashing school zone speed signs, you have to have been driving on the road that leads to the interstate.Today, after turning left at the school, I sped up to 35 miles per hour and was pulled over. The normal speed limit for that stretch of the road is 40 mph. During school time, it is 20 mph. Again, it is not marked anywhere on the route from my house. I didn't think about it being school time, and I sped up to 35 and was caught over by 15! Should I contest this?

Answer 1

plead your case, be kind to the judge and hold a honest look and look the judge square in the eyes and tell him/her about it. Cant hurt anything.

Answer 2

Check your local ordinances before pleading your case. There may be an ordinance that states a specific speed limit in school zones between certain hours. The court will say it is your responsibility to know that. Trust me I was in law enforcement. If you get a panty waist judge you could get it dismissed.  I have a similar situation. If you turn right out of my drive you are in the school zone with no signs to tell you the limit is 20mph because the sign is 10 feet before my property to the left. Good luck.

Answer 3

The rule in Texas is 500 feet before and after the school zone sign that you must maintain the school zone speed, so if you were more than the 500 feet you should try and explain this with pictures as well but at the same time in Texas the is a hard ticket to beat..........................

Answer 4

I would go in and explain that it is not posted anywhere near the areas where you were pulled over, even if the judge upholds the tickets 90% of the time the judge will lower the fine just for you showing up. Having gotten 8 speeding tickets (Cali) myself I have contested them all, though half the time i was just going in to ask for a lower fine or hope the officer didnt show up. If you really think its most likely going to be up held dont bother the judge with a story about how there is no sign posted. They hear it all the time, just go in and say you dont not wish to fight the ticket but are looking to have the fine lowered. Again most the time it will work and the judge will do so. You also may get lucky and not have the officer show up as i stated earlier.

Answer 5

Don&#039;t argue this yourself, or try an amateur perry mason googlefest. Call a lawyer specializing in traffic law. They take care of these all the time. It&#039;s cheap, you will get a real professional opinion, and they will represent you. You may not even have to go to court. There should be a bunch to choose from in the yellow pages.

The lawyer will probably cost 100-300$, and the ticket will almost allways go away, or be deferred.