HELP..fighting a speeding ticket in VT.

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If you have a good driving record, go to your DMV and get a printed copy of it and bring that with you, a trooper from RI who "had" to give me a ticket told me i I had a clean record and brought a copy of it with me, the magestrate would more than likely let me off with a warning. And he did. I was the only one in the courtroom that morning who had a copy o the driving record. The magestrate asked EVERYBODY before me if they had a good driving record, and do you have a copy of it for me to look at. As I saw this over and over before my turn, I knew the trooper really hooked me up with good information beforehand. I'd try it if I were you. Can't hurt.
This is a great idea, thanks, I'm gonna do that.

 
Arresting officer may not show (unlikely)?
Call and get the court date changed to another date/time. If it is scheduled for the day time make it a night one. If it scheduled for the night make it a day one. Most officers have a specified day that they do all of their court appearances on. Make it inconvenient for them (shooting for their off time) and they are much more likely not to show.

 
These are great tips, and I'll certainly use them next time I make an appearance.

The last time I had a citation, I showed up at court and was let off with a warning. The State Trooper who'd pulled me over wasn't there - his commander was. But apparently, he must've notated the record to indicate that I'd been respectful at the stop.

I'd express respect & contrition, explain (as an earlier poster said) that it was an awkward situation that somehow that caused you to raise your speed, and that you have been a consistently safe & courteous driver over many, many years. You might also mention that you know how tough the job of law enforcement is (based on someone you know or are related to!), so you regretted wasting the officer's time on this.

 
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Arresting officer may not show (unlikely)?
Call and get the court date changed to another date/time. If it is scheduled for the day time make it a night one. If it scheduled for the night make it a day one. Most officers have a specified day that they do all of their court appearances on. Make it inconvenient for them (shooting for their off time) and they are much more likely not to show.
My son received a ticket a couple of months ago during his working hrs. making delivery's for his company. 98 mph in a 65 zone. He is scheduled to appear next month in court. He quit his job the next day because of the pressure to make all the delivery's. He normally drives a company truck but was driving my wifes car because he had to go back out for a special delivery that got missed. Not only that they were going to send him back out again in the company truck back up to Boston when he got back for the second time. He has a clean record except for one ticket in Utah for speeding on on his way home from San Diego CA after getting out from the military. He's had his license for over 8 years without any other incidents. He is currently back in college full time and doesn't have a dime to his name right now. So you know who's going to pay this. (ME)

Is there any point in rescheduling his court date?

I will try to have him get his driving record just to see if the Utah ticket shows up.

Sorry for the hijack but any suggestion will help.

He has currently plead not guilty.

Dave

 
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2 questions

1. Were you speeding? (to the court it mainly matters IF you were, not by how much)

2. If you aren't willing to pay then why play that game?

 
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So you know who's going to pay this. (ME) Is there any point in rescheduling his court date?

[SIZE=12pt]Ha ha! Opps sorry.[/SIZE]

Don't need to change the date here in MA because the LEO won't be there. Just you and the clerk magistrate. If it does get pushed up from there to court the LEO will be there collecting overtime pay for sitting around all day.

I don't know about Utah, but there are some states, I won't mention which ones here, that don't come back to MA.

I never bother with going to court because I'd need a dolly to carry my driving record :blink:

 
Arresting officer may not show (unlikely)?
Call and get the court date changed to another date/time. If it is scheduled for the day time make it a night one. If it scheduled for the night make it a day one. Most officers have a specified day that they do all of their court appearances on. Make it inconvenient for them (shooting for their off time) and they are much more likely not to show.
My son received a ticket a couple of months ago during his working hrs. making delivery's for his company. 98 mph in a 65 zone. He is scheduled to appear next month in court. He quit his job the next day because of the pressure to make all the delivery's. He normally drives a company truck but was driving my wifes car because he had to go back out for a special delivery that got missed. Not only that they were going to send him back out again in the company truck back up to Boston when he got back for the second time. He has a clean record except for one ticket in Utah for speeding on on his way home from San Diego CA after getting out from the military. He's had his license for over 8 years without any other incidents. He is currently back in college full time and doesn't have a dime to his name right now. So you know who's going to pay this. (ME)

Is there any point in rescheduling his court date?

I will try to have him get his driving record just to see if the Utah ticket shows up.

Sorry for the hijack but any suggestion will help.

He has currently plead not guilty.

Dave
For the future I might want to look into getting PrePaid Legal, I have this and they provide legal service with a phone call I had a ticket handled and I did not have to go to court, if you want more info PM me, good luck getting this off, you may see if they have a deferial program, if he has a clean record and this is he only ticket the deferial program is for good drivers and if goes for 1 year with no moving violation they will dismiss the ticket, if he get one both will be on his record, in Washington you will need to pay court cost if $100.00 but it's worth the clean record.

Good luck

 
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2 questions
1. Were you speeding? (to the court it mainly matters IF you were, not by how much)

2. If you aren't willing to pay then why play that game?

1) Yes he was along with 3 other vehicles beside him.

2) My son was just trying to complete his job duties and no he doesn't normally speed.

**** happens and it will be another learning curve for him. I am sure he was stressed out and didn't have a very good attitude with the Leo at the time. He did let him off of not being arrested though. He was actually doing over a 100 but wrote him up for 98.

AhChiu,

I will ask about the deferral program and hope for the best at this point.

Thanks for the responses.

 
Or, you can just ignore the whole thing and just never ride in Vermont ever again . . .
That's risky. Vermont is a DLC state. His home state could take his license.
According to your own link, Massachusetts doesn't participate.

States that are members
* All states are members except for Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Tennessee (dropped out in 1997), and Massachusetts
 
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+1 on the driving record report.. I have worked in the court system in the past and have seen many speeding tickets addressed by the court. If you are contesting the legitimacy of the ticket, you may want to offer to the judge a reason of why you were speeding, if you had a good reason. Was another fast vehicle moving behind you almost pushing you to go faster and get out of his way. Just remember what you stated to the Officer at the time because he probably took notes and will have looked at them prior to going to court to refresh his memory. Also, as a technical advice did you ask what type of radar gun that the Officer was using, sometimes you can use that against the Officer. If it is an older radar gun it may not be properly calibrated and that will affect the speed reading of the gun. I hate to say this but, in my observations in the court room most of the defendants who had a lawyer received a lesser fine/penalty than those who did not have a lawyer. Hope this helps, Dean

 
Also, as a technical advice did you ask what type of radar gun that the Officer was using, sometimes you can use that against the Officer. If it is an older radar gun it may not be properly calibrated and that will affect the speed reading of the gun.
It may be worth a shot, but it might also be a little aggressive. I tried this in my last defense, and they dismissed the comment outright, saying something like "This equipment is certified and tested, used every day." I probably wouldn't use this again.

The suggestion about a fast moving following vehicle isn't a bad idea if you can get away with it.

 
For those that may or may not have been keeping up. My court date was yesterday Oct. 08, 2009 10:30am in Newfane Vermont on Rt. 30.

Upon arriving in Newfane on Rt 30 I was looking for the court house and quickly discovered it on Court Rd. which is coincidently adjecent to Jail Rd. I immediatly got a bad feeling. As I stepped in the Courtroom I was surprised at how unstaffed it was, seated in the rear 2 rows were the accused, about 8 of us. Then in the front was the Baliff and the Trooper who issued the tickets, nobody else. Luckily I was 5 min. early, as the Baliff took attendence promptly at 10:25 after which he summoned the Judge. All rise. The first to go on the chopping block was a very young female approx. 19 yo. After the opening statement from the Trooper, it was the defendants turn to ask questions of the Trooper, and then you (defendant) provide any evidence for your case against the Trooper. After which the Judge makes a ruling. This was the same proceedure for all accused, easy enough right?

Well the 1st young girl had no questions for the Trooper, and had no evidence for the court. It did'nt take long for the Judge to rule, guilty as charged plus $50.00 court costs. So this young girl had to pay the original fine plus 50 bucks, she would have been better off just paying the ticket! Ok so victim no.2 another very young female, decides that just being quiet and passive did'nt work. So she trys crying to the Judge, this did'nt work either. Guilty as charged plus 50. Next was a sales rep. that "spends alot of time on the road" he admitted that he regularly sets his cruise control at 73 mph which is comfortable, and safe for him. And that "there is no way I was going any faster, just not possible" the Judge looks at him and says "73 mph is still speeding".. Guess what, yeah, guilty as charged + 50. Seeing a trend here? Next comes a very loud, and very upset, 40ish female. She made it apparent at the time of the ticket that she would 'see you in court' and the Trooper would'nt get away with it' and how 'it's not fair', blah, blah, blah. She sounded like a sober drunk, is the best way I can descride her, you know, talking alot without saying anything, and not listening to anyone. Yup you guessed it, guilty as charged + 50.

Tough crowd I thought to myself, I'm screwed. The one person in the courtroom at this point, that I thought would have a chance is the defendant that had herself a lawyer, this one was next. I'm thinking OK pay attention to this one cuz she brought a lawyer, maybe I will get lucky and can use the same defense, or parts of it for myself. After about 45 min. of questions from the lawyer about distance, position, aiming, range, etc. etc. etc. It boiled down to who had more 'evidence' of course the Trooper did. Again guilty as charged + 50 + lawyer fee.

OK so my turn to get pinched in the wallet is next. I tried to use some of the same questions as the lawyer, as well as a few of my own. After a while the Judge asks me where I'm going with this? I said I was trying to show the court the big picture, the fact that this Trooper started his day at 6am and gave me a ticket at 4:15 pm, that maybe he was fatigued by the end of the day, and could have been pointing the laser at another vehicle. And he worked a double shift for several days in a row further clouding his judgement. And that almost all tickets given that weekend were on mile marker 15 SB in the passing lane! All I was doing was trying to cast some doubt... After a while I had a feeling this was not gonna work. So I pulled the ace out from my sleeve, which was my perfect driving record, that I had obtained the day before going to court. Sure enough the Judge asked to see it, then passed it to the Trooper to see for himself, and informed me that this 'evidence' helps my case! Judgement was a reduced fine and no court costs!!! So I did'nt win, but, I did'nt loose! My original ticket was 168.00, if I had to pay court costs an extra 50.00 in the end it was reduced to 150.00 including court costs. Oh BTW the driving record cost me $20.00

In closing I would like to thank the FJR forum community, for all the advice given to me. And a special thanks to the member who recommended the driving record. I also hope this helps anybody else who has to go to traffic court..

 
So you saved yourself $18 in the reduced ticket but it cost you $20 for the driving record. When you factor in the time off work and the time getting to the court house, it doesn't really add up. I guess there was always the chance that the trooper wouldn't turn up. Better luck next time. (...although I hope there won't be a next time).

Also, with your good driving record, you didn't mention if you asked for traffic school to keep the ticket off your driving record.

 
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Sounds like you mitigated the crap out of it and feel good about the outcome. Cool.

I'd be bummed that I still had a ticket on my record and cost me $2 more than if I just sent in the check.....but....hey.......spending time in the courtroom is always helpful in case one day you get another and choose to contest the ticket. You get a snapshot of what might work for defenses in the future.

There's nothing more satisfying than walking out of the court room like it never ever happened, zero fine, zero hit on your driving record, and zero court costs......or at least the 4 for 4 I've successfully done it. ;)

 
Having successfully challenged a speeding ticket (with the help of a lawyer) in Montreal a couple of weeks ago (saved the 3 points and paid the lawyer less than 2/3 of what the ticket was worth), I can say that ANY victory tastes sweet.

Sure, it cost you time and maybe a couple of bucks more than the original amount, but it was less than the other people in court paid that day.

Good one.

PS: I still think you should have negotiated it down up front to a non-moving, but ANY benefit can be considered a win, especially considering that the ticket was already speed-reduced.

 
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That Judge was a complete hardass..Everybody walked away paying $50.00 more than their original ticket. I am lucky to get the deal I did. He did tell me that since this was the 1st out of state infraction, it should'nt go on my driving record. I guess I'll find out when my insurance renews. Knowing what I know now, I would not bother fighting a ticket in Vermont again. Here in Connecticut, the Prosecutor always makes you a deal. In most cases, they reduce the sentence and fine that way you walk away feeling less *****, and the State gets a little money, and the Judges time is saved. It really is a win, win, win situation, and well worth the day off from work...Southern Vermont is a different story, it costs you more, to go to court. Let that be a lesson to all you kids.

Oh one more thing worth noting, It seems that mile marker 15 on southbound I-91 is a popular spot for this Trooper, and all his convictions were from the passing lane, using a LIDAR gun.

 
Oh one more thing worth noting, It seems that mile marker 15 on southbound I-91 is a popular spot for this Trooper, and all his convictions were from the passing lane, using a LIDAR gun.
One of the main reasons I avoid the slab like the plague!

 
This is a little late to help for this court case but some useful information to help in a future situation.

1. You have to start fighting the ticket the minute you see the cop, either coming at you or stopped on the side of the road. If you are speeding then slow down fast to the speed limit and give a friendly wave as you go by. Many cops ride and if you show them that you saw them and slowed then they may let you keep going.

2. Look like a professional, not a squid. If possible don't have a radar detector located on your bike that can be seen by passing cops. Its an admission that you like to speed. If he or she sees it, even if they are allowed in your state, you probably will get stopped.

3. If the light comes on, put your blinker on and find a SAFE place to stop. Pull over, turn off the motor, take off your helmet and sun glasses, and stay on the bike. Wait for the cop to approach, keep your hands in plain sight, don't start reaching in the tank bag or you jacket. Let the cop start the conversation and be friendly.

4. Realize that the cop knows you were speeding or you would not have been pulled over. Don't admit to you speed but don't say you were going 55 when you were going 80. The cop was either using visual estimation, radar, or lidar. He or she already knows your speed. Just say something like you were focused on the road and enjoying you day.

5. Try to start up a conversation but don't be a smart ***.

6. Have all you paperwork in order.

7. Ask for a warning in a round about polite way. Let the cop run the show. Don't try to over talk him or her.

8. If he starts writing then you are done. Be polite and ask if he could reduce the speed on the ticket. This will save you money and may keep you in the running for traffic school (no points). Don't ***** about the ticket and tell him you are taking him to court. This will make the cop take really good notes. Just go with the flow. Remember this cop has nothing against you. He or she will be there to help you if you ever break down or crash. :dribble:

9. After the contact don't just ride away and stew about it. Don't wait for the cop to leave. Most are required to stay with you to make sure you get safely back on your way. Drive up the road and find a side road and stop. Wait a few minutes and return to the scene after the cop is gone. Take notes and lots of photos. Notes should include weather, roadway type (curved, uphill, downhill, roadside signs, location and distance to last speed limit sign, how much traffic on the roadway, etc.).

10. Enjoy the rest of your ride and wait for the court notice to arrive. Remember you probably were speeding. You just got caught.

11. Ask the court how you can get copies of the radar calibration log (required to be checked at the beginning and end of shifts, sometimes after each ticket is written), radar recertification record (required every three years), cops radar training certificate (required to use the radar unit), patrol cars speedometer calibration record (required when using the radar in moving mode). If you ask for these documents ahead of time the cop will be required to produce them in court. Make sure they are complete and accurate for the day and time in question.

12. Get a copy of you driving record if it is clean and bring it to court with you.

13. Prepare you case and a possible defense. Don't lie, just have a good, believable reason for what the cop saw. If you just came out of a curve and saw the cop and slowed fast, you might argue that you just passed another vehicle, or the cop did not have a good tracking history on you and the radar readout was a quick one or two second reading. Most judges like to see a tracking history of 5 seconds or more. If there was a lot of traffic, use the defense that he may have gotten someone else. Determine the distance to the last speed limit sign if you can find one. If it was a long distance mention it. When you get to court ask the cop if he or she can remember this incident. Ask if he or she can remember this incident without notes. He probably has written hundreds of tickets since this incident. When you testify give details about the incident. This should be easy because you took good notes (Didn't you). Rehearse your case with friends or family. Make sure it sounds sincere and not total BS.

14. Show up in court dressed well and early. Pray the cop does not show up.

15. Present your case in a clear and orderly manner. If the officer was polite and professional then say so. Speak to the judge not the cop. THE JUDGE IS THE BOSS. RESPECT THE COURT. Ask to see the documents mentioned in point 11 above. If the cop cannot produce any of these required documents then ask to have the case dropped for lack of evidence. Show you driving record and brag about what a wonderful driver you have been. Your case should be quick and to the point. Don't drag it on. Make it interesting and fresh. Think of it as a show and you are the star.

16. Let the judge make his or her ruling and if it goes bad don't get mad. Don't argue with the ruling. Don't roll your eyes. Judges are stubborn and do not change their mine. Ask the judge politely if the fine can be reduced or if the charge can be changed to a nonmoving violation. Ask for traffic school.

Hope this can help someone. Oh, don't speed or just don't get caught. :rolleyes:

 
This is a little late to help for this court case but some useful information to help in a future situation.
1. You have to start fighting the ticket the minute you see the cop, either coming at you or stopped on the side of the road. If you are speeding then slow down fast to the speed limit and give a friendly wave as you go by. Many cops ride and if you show them that you saw them and slowed then they may let you keep going.
I'm sure that doing this has saved me both money and points. I always wave at Police vehicles, whether I'm speeding or not.

 
I'm late to the party ,, sorry ...

But I figure it like this :

Were you speeding ,,,, IF Yes ,, pay the ticket...

In 40 some years of driving ,, I've received 2 speeding tickets ..

The last ticket was in a car at midnight ,, on a country road ,,, no one else

on the road ( except a cop going the other way ) ,,, 55 in a 35 zone... about a 100 ft.

from the 55 zone... :angry2:

( edge of a small village ,, speed trap ,, farm fields on both sides of the road,, young police

officer ,,, I wanted to ask him if it was his after school job,,, :blink: )

I thought it was kind of chicken **** ,,,, but I thought about all the times I Should Have got a ticket

and Didn't ,,, and just said ,,,yes, sir ,,, and , no , sir ,,, and paid the ticket...

I mailed it in ,, no fuss ,, no muss ,,, about the cost of going out to dinner,,,,

 
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