I’m 19 and have been driving for just 6 months. 2 days ago, I was ticketed for doing 74 in a 55. I got the ticket in Pierce county Washington but hold a drivers license and live in Florida. It costs only $90 more to fight the ticket, but how much will my insurance go up. I was also on a road trip with friends. Should I maybe ask my friends to chip in to pay for legal fees since they made me drive?
On what basis would you fight it?
You kids all have some GPS thing on your phone that would indicate your speed. Were you speeding, or are you considering the turn up and hope the cop doesn’t approach? if you were doing 74 in a 55, could court bite harder? You would have to fly to Washington from Florida for the fight?
Are you on your own insurance? If not, what do your parents have to say?
“” since they made me drive?"" like gun to the head type scenario? Whose car?
You really need to ask around and find out what the norm in that area is. In some states there’s nothing you can do but suck it up and pay the fine and the insurance surcharges - you broke the law. In others, it’s common to get a lawyer and argue the ticket down and at least avoid getting points on your insurance. How much your insurance goes up depends on the laws in the state you’re licensed in and the regulations of your insurance company. Over 15 miles above the legal speed limit there may be no recourse.
I wouldn’t ask your friends to chip in. It’s one thing to ask them to pay part of the gas costs since you drove - but they are not responsible for the speed you were driving at, you are.
My son’s friend has an older brother who was on his way home last fall for Thanksgiving break. He was driving 20 miles over the speed limit. The parents immediately hired an attorney to fight it. I asked the parents if they were not concerned about the message it was sending and let the kid deal with the consequences of his actions. I also questioned paying an attorney, traveling back to the state to resolve it, etc when they could paid the ticket for much less than all of these additional expenses. They told me that this was considered a misdemeanor and their son could lose his scholarship.This is something to consider.
I don’t think you should ask your friends to chip in.I do question why any of you thought it was a good idea for all of you to be across the country with an inexperienced driver. Be careful out on the road.
Parents hired an attorney and it was reduced to faulty equipment (speedometer) and the misdemeanor charge was dropped. They paid a fine.
When my daughter was 17 she was doing 85 in a 65 mph zone. She was going to get points for the ticket. She hired a lawyer (I wouldn’t pay for it) to represent her at the court. The lawyer negotiated for her to pay 250 on top of the regular fine in exchange to not get points on record. The judge agreed because it was her first offense and the town preferred to take additional 250 from her. D1 took it because she knew I would have taken her off my insurance if my insurance went up because of her, and moving violation would definitely have been a big no-no.
You can’t ask your friends to chip in because they were not driving. They didn’t tell you to speed. You could ask them to pay for gas, but not for your speeding.
This is really something people who live in the state and know the norms will best be able to answer. In NY, even officers who issue tickets advise people to go to court because they will be reduced. If you just pay by mail, it costs 4 or more times as much and more points. I know in other states it can be worse to fight it.
I would not try to get your friends to chip in.
I don’t know how that was “proved.” My impression was that the kid was driving well over the speed limit. Otherwise, I do not think the parents would have forbidden the kid from returning to school with his car after the thanksgiving holiday.
Pay it. You could have gotten into a really bad accident and there is no excuse for driving that fast.
Check to see if you can complete a defensive driving course, in lieu of the fine and insurance report.
I suspect the “faulty speedometer” was just an available option to reduce the charge and penalty. There are lots of tales about courts being a bit lenient on a first offense, finding a lesser charge to fit. But have to say, at 19, especially if you are male (accident stats are against you) and 19 miles over, who knows? I hope you’re taking this more seriously than whether insurance goes up.
Speaking of, your record will likely be auto downloaded to FL. Whether you can do a course to drop the number of points depends on FL.
Sad that the norm in any location is not “pay it.”
Many moving violations are reduced to non-moving violations just by showing up to contest the ticket. Problem is the OP doesn’t live in the area.
Really, if there were as many ‘windshield wiper’ citations as there are on the books, I’d be concerned that the drivers of America can’t see a thing when driving. The objective is to reduce the moving violation to a non-moving one, and avoid an increase in insurance rates. Some jurisdictions are good about it, others make it impossible. I suspect the officer already reduced the ticket by stating it was 74 in a 55, so 19 miles over the limit and not 20+. Usually, 20+ over is a bigger fine, more points.
I had an internship in Oregon so I drove my company’s car up to Washington. I definitely think hiring an attorney is the best option for me. I’ve gotten a few quotes and they were just north of $250 with guaranteed refund. Are those rates reasonable?
Have a google for " WA has a statutory “deferred finding” law that allows a driver who has an otherwise clean record to request a deferral of one moving and one non-moving traffic violation every 7 years. Granting that deferral is at the discretion of the judge, and typically you would have to request a mitigation hearing to request that option (though you can also mitigate via mail)."
time is of the essence though, if 15 days is a thing.
You were allowed to use the company car for a jolly?
It sounds to me like you were guilty of driving 19 mph over the speed limit. I would pay the fine.
Why would you suggest that your passengers chip in? The decision on how fast to drive was yours and yours alone.
How many points would you get for this?
Can you do driving school instead? That’s what I did when I got a 70 in a 55 (reduced by a very nice police officer from 81 in a 55)
Also I agree about NOT asking your friends to chip in. When you drive you make a decision to speed. I understand the frustration that some speed limits are much lower than they should be, but at the end of the day you did it. You can make sure they pay you back for gas if you paid but don’t ask for them to split the ticket.
Call the prosecuting attorney in the relevant jurisdiction and ask about your options; driving school, court supervision, a non-mover, possibly something else. More and more jurisdictions are allowing this by mail now (I personally started such a program in two State’s Attorney’s offices I worked at).
Usually if you show up in person, they will reduce the points on the ticket but have you pay more to the court.