Ey Socal members,

I got ticketed up Azusa canyon without a gun saying I was going unsafe, like 50 on a 35. He stopped me when I was making a left on the corner, and he could hear us smashing from far away, but he looked buzy with a car crash and said it was ppl like me who cause this, so he was pretty mad...

Anyways, theres questions since its my first ticket, which I got,
No Front Plate, Front Tint, and Speeding, so:

What do you guys think I should do? I have no idea whatsoever, and having so many things at once seems like a pain.

How much would it be total for this ticket?

Should I plead guilty or not on the back of the ticket? Do I mail in this ticket or what?

How much earlier can I go to court, depending on the date?

Do I do the fix-its first, then go to court for the speeding ticket, and then have them check the car? Or do I do the fix its after the court date?

OH and are they going to offer traffic school? Its a good thing right? I'm 18, so can I do it online? It waves the points off my records right?

Tell me what you would do, if possible, step by step or procedue LOL...

OH also a random, If I take off the tint, and retint it, how long would the tint take to dry? I dont want to wait too long to roll down the windows, but I want to also play it safe, and this is my daily driver.


I hope this isnt too much, but I'd appreciate if someone can help me out, since I have no idea what to do. Input and Help appreciated.

 

the "speeding" offense is easily defensable, since he had no gun and was just eye-balling it. i havent gotten a ticket yet, but ive promised myself that id always go to court if its something that a cop can possibly be unsure about. like if he didnt see my seatbaelts (which i always wear). as for the traffic school, yes it does waive your points, but im not sure if it is possible to have it. if you go to court, i highly recomend that you are willing to take traffic school. sorry i cant provide info on the other stuff, since i never got my ticket yet, but i can learn in this thread too

 

Hope that helps some

 

I never got anything mailed for my three speeding tickets in the past few years... needless to say I don't speed anymore... Anyway it is possible that you won't get anything. If that happens you should go to court on your court date and specified time, no sooner. (All this should be on the back of the ticket.)

The fix it tickets can be fixed and should be fixed as soon as possible, as Fit4Trav explained. It might be $15 per offense.

If you do go to court, DO NOT bring any friends, DO NOT bring your cell phone into the court room, DO wear a tie (not loose), DO tuck in your shirt, DO wear slacks (not jeans), DO NOT wear a hat.

Be prepared to pay for the speeding and traffic school the same day you go to court. Most judges will lower the fines if you pay that day.

You mentioned the cop could hear you from far away, which probably means you have some illegal mods done to you car I wouldn't mention that to the judge, even if you meant it as a defense.. like my car sounds fast but it's just the exhaust.

Online traffic school is only offered in certain counties. I know Orange County doesn't offer it anymore, but I'm not sure about anywhere else.

 

speeding portion, you can fight it if he didnt trail you or catch you on radar.

fixit tickets, fix them and pay the fee.

the only thing I am not too sure of is since it's one ticket for three offenses, if you fight the speeding portion...does that automatically make you fight the fix its? I would go to court and fight the speeding ticket.

 

thanks for all your help guys, specially fit4trav. Im freakn out as you can understand. Hopefully I can get things straightened out.

Im now just wondering if I should fight it or not, since if you plead not guilty, and fight it you cant have traffic school right?

I also wonder if I can switch courts. Guess I gotta wait till it gets online I guess.

 

i dont have any experience with this but i think you could fight that it wasn't your car that was speeding.. I mean did he see you slam on your brakes after you saw him or something? If you have an exhaust or intake just remove them now in case they put that against you. haha

 

This is your first ticket...I would just pay the bailout which is around $235 after admin fee and others fee for the speeding ticket of 10 to 15MPH on surface street over the speed limit and good thing you were not going 55 MPH and that would reckless driving...which is another whole can of worms....Fix it ticket are $10-$15 each and you need to show up to the local police dept to get it sign off and pay to the due to the court....as for Traffic school you will be offer Traffic school because this is your first offense. Usually Court will offer county traffic school or you have the choice of private school but you have pay extra. For myself, I have 4 fix it ticket from headlight to no front plate, one cell phone, 2 parking ticket, and 2 speeding ticket which one I just got a few ago I got laser at 62 MPH in 45 zone.....

 

trav has good answers for these ticket situations :x

 

ah reckless driving being a whole new can of worms? I think mine says unsafe instead of reckless. Does that make a difference and put me off into crazy?

 

No big deal man; if you decide not to fight the ticket, pay the fine, do traffic school which you ARE eligible for online or in person for 8hrs. and your insurance won't go up & no point will be made against your driving record.

Should you decide to fight the ticket you can do a couple of things. You can request a "Trial by written declaration" which is basically you contesting the violation through mail by a written statement. The officer also must make a written statement about the violation. This process usually takes 9 months to a year. It is a good stall tactic to use if you don't have money to pay for the ticket or aren't eligible for traffic school yet (but you are eligible, so yeah...) Anyway, the judge deliberates over the 2 statements and decides if you are guilty or innocent. If you are found guilty, you can either now pay the fine or, request a "trial de novo," which is basically a trial in person to appeal the decision of the "Trial by declaration." That usually take a few months to schedule as well. Once the outcome of the trial de novo is made, you're either guilty or innocent in the eyes of the court and you're gonna pay the fine, or not.

A point I missed, if the officer does not submit a written declaration, the trial is dismissed and you don't have to pay the fine; don't count on this because they always do, but wishful thinking, i dunno haha.

Anyway, If you decide to fight the trial in person, you have to go to the court office and pay for the fine, and make an appointment to see the judge. The date to appear on the ticket and the date to appear on the reminder that comes to you in the mail is basically saying, "You must appear at the court clerk's office to either pay the fine and accept the guilt, or pay the fine and make an appointment to see the judge at a later appointed date to plead your innocence, or request a fine reduction etc." A common misconception is that you will have court on the day the ticket says so, this isn't true unless you pay the fine by phone/online and schedule yourself to appear on that day with the court clerk's office. Okay, now if you do schedule a court appearance you will have a chance to plead guilty and request a fine reduction or innocent; if you plead innocent, another trial will be scheduled in which the ticketing officer will have to attend to testify; if he doesn't show up you're off the hook and the trial is dismissed, if he does, plead your case and let the gavel fall as it should.

I know it's a lot of information, but just thought you should know so you can make an informed decision. Guys feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about anything here. I'm just speaking from experience; I got pulled over and ticketed a lot when I was younger, product of having a fast car, but that can't be true because I've gotten pulled over in the fit as well.

Best advice I can give you is to slow down and drive like you have nowhere to go, and if you can't do that, drive fast and work the system to your advantage when you get caught =)

 

Being serious?? Can't tell hahaha

No I know how he feels when I got my first ticket i panicked and felt sick to my stomach and I had no clue what was going on and how to take care of it.

I think the easiest yet more expensive thing to do is pay the fix it tickets, pay the ticket and go to traffic school. In the end the speeding ticket is off your record and you 'll be fine.

Expensive but easier imo sometimes its not worth fighting the ticket (on the other hadn I have only gotten 1 speeding ticket and i didn't fight just cause I knew I was in the wrong.

If you know someone who is an officer they can sign off the fix it portions for you without you having to "fix" the stuff. Still have to pay the fee though.

If you are still unsure go to your local police station and ask them to explain the process to you cause you are unsure of the procedure. They'll be more than glad to help you out (I hope haha)

 

yeah thanks everyone.

can you still do that? sign it off if you know someone without actually taking it off? I heard they stopped doing it, what if its highway patrol?

the only thing in my mind if it cant be done is its gonna be tintless for half a day, and then back where it was by the end of the night. i cant live without it in cali... sigh.

gotta find the money! and expecting the mail.. QQ

 

oh no! It wasn't suppose to be sarcasm.. call me a troll if you'd like but I think there has been several fit members who has ran into trouble with the law and you have responded with great answers. I've even +rep you

 

might i suggest, Fight Traffic Tickets / Contest Traffic Tickets with the Ticket Assassin: Your Guide to Fighting California Traffic Tickets & Contesting Traffic Citations in California

... I'm in the precess of fighting a ticket for going 57 in a 35mph zone my self.

Also, if you were cited for "modified exhaust" and you're no longer running a cat, I'd suggest going to CHP rather then a ref to get your ticket signed off as they don't have decibel readers, so all you'll really have to "fix" would be your axle back. (assuming you're mid piping isn't HUGE)

good luck.

 

Oh hahaha Couldn't tell. Yeah I try to show/ let people know that they do not need to panic or get mad at the officer most times people exaggerate how the cop was acting or fail to mention that they were being a deuche bag right back or even to him for no reason other than he "seterotyped me"

Thank for the plus rep. I try to be honest and not bash the police cause you never know who may be lurking
Like I said I've only had one ticket, didn't fight it paid the fine, and went to traffic school.

I've had two fix it tickets before (in my xB) for exhaust had them both signed off and was on my merry way.

 

I was not there to witness the violation, but just based on what you told us from your initial post, I would fight the speeding portion of the ticket. The officer probably cited you for 22350 VC (unsafe speed).

First question that comes into my mind is how he was able to tell your speed. Was he using a laser/radar device? If so, they usually indicate that on the citation with either a check box or in the notes.

Or did he pace you? Did you see a police vehicle behind you before you got pulled over?

Not a lot of people are aware of this, but another way that police officers can estimate speed is through visual estimation. Not every police officer can do this, because they have to go to specialized training first to get certified. Without taking the necessary classes and certification, they are NOT qualified for visual speed estimation. Also, they have to be accurate to at least +/- 5mph. Sound alone is NOT a basis for speed, so just because a car is revving loud doesn't mean they are speeding.

Second, he has to prove that your speed at the time was unsafe for the current conditions. These conditions include several factors such as weather, visibility, road conditions, pedestrians, driveways, traffic congestion, etc.

I've never been to that stretch of road so I don't know what it's like out there. How was it during the time is what matters. Was there a lot of traffic? How was the weather? Any blind curves/corners? etc.

The front plate ticket-5200(a)VC and the front tint-26708(a)VC are fix it tickets, so correct the violation and get them signed off at a police station or at the courthouse. The courthouse will also charge you $25 processing fee for fix it tickets. It used to be $10, but it's gone higher since. These two violations do NOT count as moving violations so they will not affect your DMV driving record or your insurance rates.

I hope this helps.

myke

 

Yeah, there were no radar guns or anything. He was pointing his flashlight in the middle of the street to get me to stop. I didnt even have enough time to roll down my windows sigh.

It was dark at night, and after a blind left turn, he was there. It was partially a little downhill...

Thanks for all your help guys, Im assuming I got these ideas to fight it:
Downhill, blind left turn = low gear, high rev, and noisy.
No traffic whatsoever, and he eyeballed it.

Am i still eligable for traffic school if i fight it? or no? Thats whats putting me on the edge to fight or not.

 

I'd challenge the fact of how he estimated your speed.

Being it dark at night, it's even harder to estimate speed by visual estimation.

myke

 

I 100% agree with him.