Out of state Performance Awards (Speeding Ticket)

[Santron]

I live in CA but I am in Colorado this week and just got a well deserved Performance Award (he wrote me up for 59 in a 40 zone instead of the 61 that I was actually doing). I am wondering if I just pay the fine, if it will show up on my CA record. I ran across a web site that says:

In general most US states belong to the Nonresident Violator Compact of 1977. This means that speeding tickets received out of your home state will be reported back to your home state and included on your record for drivers license and insurance points.

However there are certain states that do not put out of state traffic tickets on your record and others that will only enter speeding tickets that are over a certain mph above the speed limit.

Kansas, Wyoming, Minnesota, Arizona, Iowa, and South Dakota will not put a speeding ticket on record unless it is 10 or more mph over the limit. Georgia will not enter speeding tickets unless they are more than 14 mph over the limit. New York and Colorado will not enter out of state speeding tickets at all unless they are serious violations like reckless. Michigan also has special rules about out of state tickets.

Do you read this as "Colorado won't put it into the system unless it is serious", or "Colorado won't read from the system unless it is serious"

The next step, of course, is traffic school. I have 8 vehicles so I would REALLY like to keep this off of my record...

Edit: I just spoke with the Clerk of the court in Dillon, CO. She said explicitely that there are 5 states that CO does not share info with as part of the compact, and CA is one of them. She said that if I wanted to, there was someone she could hook me up with to lessen the fine, but as long as I pay it, the info will not go on to CA. The fine is $70, and I could really care less about that. I even asked her twice, and the answer was explicitely was that CO does not share this information with CA. WooHoo! But I will definitely slow it down from now on....

 

[v65]

A friend got a speeding ticket in PA that was recorded on her NY license. Given that and your paragraph, I would say that NY will only put into the system tickets that are a serious violation, since they don't seem to mind taking them. Since NY and Colorado apparently operate the same way, I would say that Colorado only puts serious tickets into the system.

 

[biggjohn]

I have never heard a speeding ticket referred to as a "performance award", I kind of like that. I don't know how Colorado handles these awards, but we appreciate your contribution to our state.

John

 

[Ignacio]

Do you read this as "Colorado won't put it into the system unless it is serious", or "Colorado won't read from the system unless it is serious"

Although you don't quote your web source....so it's hard to assess whether it's a trustable source.....it would be closer to whether Colorado would read from the system. Probably more accurately, "Colorado will not assess points for minor offenses" since they are still a member of the compact states.

The larger question to me is what specifically does Colorado consider a minor offense or major offense? Is it that all speeding tickets (short of reckless) are considered minor or is there a numerical threshold? I can't find defniitely what Colorado considers minor and major except for Colorado Examples.

Other source I found is Wikipedia on compact states.

 

[madmike2]

Since it says, "will not enter", it sounds like they don't report it. Does Colorado offer traffic scholle? I don't know that CA would allow you to take traffic school for a ticket in CO. You might want ot confer with a local CO lawyer to see if you can keep it off your record.

Hopefully someone with actual experiential knowledge will post up. Perhaps one of the LD guys would know from their collection of "lore".

 

[Santron]

Do you read this as "Colorado won't put it into the system unless it is serious", or "Colorado won't read from the system unless it is serious"

Although you don't quote your web source....so it's hard to assess whether it's a trustable source.....it would be closer to whether Colorado would read from the system. Probably more accurately, "Colorado will not assess points for minor offenses" since they are still a member of the compact states.

The larger question to me is what specifically does Colorado consider a minor offense or major offense? Is it that all speeding tickets (short of reckless) are considered minor or is there a numerical threshold? I can't find defniitely what Colorado considers minor and major except for Colorado Examples.

Other source I found is Wikipedia on compact states.

Thanks Ignacio, that Wikipedia link was helpful. Incidentally, the source of the original quote was WikiHow, which, I agree, is not true, good legal advice seeing as we don't know who actually contributed it. I think that it would be considered a minor offense, since the officer told me that he would only write me up for 59 instead of 61 which, in his words, changed it to a much less severe type of violation.

 

[Santron]

Since it says, "will not enter", it sounds like they don't report it. Does Colorado offer traffic scholle? I don't know that CA would allow you to take traffic school for a ticket in CO. You might want ot confer with a local CO lawyer to see if you can keep it off your record.
Hopefully someone with actual experiential knowledge will post up. Perhaps one of the LD guys would know from their collection of "lore".

I think that the idea is that I take traffic school, and then submit the Proof of Completion to CO, which keeps it from being a conviction in their system, which keeps it from going into the Compact in the frst place. I have a call into the Clerk of the court in CO to find out if they will accept traffic school for this violation.

Thanks to all for your inout!!

 

[Ignacio]

You know I'm reading this again and think I totally got it backwards. You're a California resident and not a Colorado one. Sorry I missed that. I think you're screwed if you take the ticket.

My understanding is that compact states report regardless of ticket severity and that it's individual homestates discretion at interpretation. If you think California will treat it as a minor...then you'd be OK, but I wouldn't bank on Colorado's rule as I think it applies to it's residents...not you.

I would be very skeptical about that website about "will not enter" unless you can find other sites corroborating.

I wouldn't believe the Colorado Trooper as being in expert in what California will do. I got stung with the same basic thing in 1991. I got popped in Nephi, UT for 69 in a 55. Cop said he'd right it for 65 in a 55 and it wouldn't be a major.

...however...I live in Washington and it got counted the same as any other ticket.

To say I was pissed would be an understatement...and actually the genesis of my personal policy of contesting all tickets whenever possible. In fact, Nephi was my last convicted ticket and I'm 4 for 4 on contesting since then. Contest them all I say!

 

[FJRski]

Other source I found is Wikipedia on compact states.

Thanks for posting this up. My own previous search was unable to find info on PA's DLC reciprocity laws, but there is a link right on the Wikpedia page to the PennDOT reference. Funny how I couldn't find it searching the PennDOT page, probably because I wasn't using the official title for the DLC, but it's not unlike PennDOT to make a simple thing difficult.

I was incorrectly told that PennDOT didn't participate in the DLC with other states, but only with other commonwealths like PA. So here I was unecessarily avoiding riding in VA as much as possible because they are a commonwealth. (Still have to watch because their fines are pretty heavy and they prohibit radar detectors.) The Wikpedia article is really helpful.

 

[Ignacio]

And all these state-by-state pecularities renew my search to find state subject matter experts. Last count we have Washington and Oregon covered with volunteers from California and Maryland working on drafts.

 

[03silverbullet]

I got a ticket comming back from Utah. I did a online traffic school and the ticket will not count against me.

 

[jwilly]

Pick up the phone and call the local office that issued a ticket. I got an award in Texas a few months ago, I called the number on the ticket and basically asked the woman if there was anything I can do to keep this from being reported to GA and keep the points off my record. She sent me a form, I had to pay an additional $75 and was granted 6 months probation automatically because I had never had a ticket in TX.

So in summary, I had to pay the original ticket, $75 for the probation and get no tickets in Texas for 6 months. After 6 months w/o a ticket everything goes away.

All they wanted was my money!

Good Luck,

JW

 

[ponyfool]

I think Iggy is right though, the issue isn't whether or not one state reports it to another or not, the issue is whether YOUR state posts it or not.

But, then you have other goofy conditions that could also apply. (Disclaimer, the following info is about 10 years old and may no longer be accurate): The Ohio turnpike is a private road, but happens to contract with the Ohio Highway Patrol to do their speed enforcement. Any ticket on this road doesn't count at all as a moving violation because it is a private roadway.

 

[Santron]

Yeah, I have been doing a bunch of reading on this today. I think that the bottom line is that I get ahold of the Clerk of the court and ask them what I can do to make this go away (traffic School , probation, etc..). Even if it doesn't go away, it will be the only ticket on my record and my insurance just renewed already for the next year, so it will not be THAT bad. (although, believe me, I would rather have it disappear.

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

Just found this thread, and am interested because I got caught in CA on I-5. I did an online traffic school and supposedly the court won't report it to my insurance company. Hope it's tru. My truck is scheduled for new insurance in a few months and I'll know......

Just tried the Wikipedia link. It explains why my Wuoming ticket 15 years ago never got reported to MA........not so lucky with Oregon now, I guess.

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

I think you're screwed if you take the ticket.I got stung with the same basic thing in 1991. I got popped in Nephi, UT for 69 in a 55. Cop said .... 65 in a 55 and it wouldn't be a major.

...however...I live in Washington and it got counted the same as any other ticket.

'ponyfool': I think Iggy is right though...

Same here.... Mustang Pursuit on Hwy.50 west of Delta UT (forgot I wasn't in NV anymore). He said he'd mark it down so it wouldn't go on my record. Guess what? My home state didn't care -- it was an infraction that was on my record with no recourse. It's called "reciprocity". Better to speed in your home state -- at least you may be able to 'bargain'.... :huh:

 

[GalaxyBlue]

Lets not forget the double standard where if you hold a CDL, These loopholes disappear... :glare:

I am sure Utah reported my speeding ticket, And i am sure my insurance company will adjust my rates accordingly. :angry2:

 

[spklbuk]

Whatever happens, just be glad you didn't get a ticket in VA as an out-of-stater. You get to make a return personal appearance with a schister in tow (unless of course you would prefer to have a criminal record plus a report to your state's DMV). Don't ask how I know.

Good luck.

 

[spklbuk]

Lets not forget the double standard where if you hold a CDL, These loopholes disappear... :glare:
I am sure Utah reported my speeding ticket, And i am sure my insurance company will adjust my rates accordingly. :angry2:

Yep, second thing a VA trooper asked me. I think he might have peed rings around himself if I had said yes.