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Chapter 1
Why It's So Important to Get
Out of It:
The Possible Financial Consequences
Chapter 2
The Best Way to Beat a Ticket
is Not to Get One
Chapter 3
If You Get
a Ticket
Chapter 4
Nothing Has Worked and You're Going to Court
Chapter 1
Why It's So Important to Get Out of It:
The Possible Financial Consequences
Nobody wants to
pay a fine for speeding. Let's face it, there are a lot of
things we would rather do with our money. But the fine is just
the beginning of your problems. When you consider the
long-term consequences of getting a speeding ticket it is much worse
than just shelling out a few bills. Although you won't face
jail time unless your offense is more serious (like DUI or reckless
driving), you can put your license in jeopardy by piling up tickets.
Most states will suspend or revoke your license if you are a repeat
offender and violations will generally stay on your record for
three years. But even an occasional ticket can have an
overwhelming financial impact on you.
First, you have the fine. The fine
will differ from state to state and can range anywhere from $5 to
$1000. Many states also double the fine in school zones and
work zones. In California, your fine will double from your
first ticket to your second ticket, and you will pay a hefty $250
for any speeding violation after that. But that is just the
beginning. It is often the insurance company, not the judge,
who will really make you pay. A single speeding ticket can
drive up your insurance premium for three to five years. Take
this example for instance, in Massachusetts a typical liability
insurance policy costs about $1,549 per year. Your first
ticket causes you to lose a $123 "good driver discount". A
Second ticket will trigger a $370 rate hike. A third will
boost your rate $565 over the $1549 base. This means that
three speeding tickets in Massachusetts would cost you $565 extra
per year, or $2825 over the course of five years. These prices
will vary from state to state, but you get the general idea.
The bottom line- don't be like 97% of people who simply pay their
fine. You may regret it later if you do.
Chapter 2
The Best Way to Beat a Ticket
is Not to Get One
The moment has
come and you are getting pulled over. You see the blue lights
flashing and you have no choice but to pull over. You have a
very small window of opportunity to avoid getting the ticket, but
you need to play your cards exactly right. Don't panic.
Keep your cool. Use common sense
and you may just get out of it, but if you make a wrong move it may
cost you dearly. First of all, don't be an asshole.
There is nothing that will get you a ticket faster than acting rude
or bossy in front of the officer. Make sure when you pull over
you leave plenty of room for the officer to come to your window.
If there's not enough room and cars are whizzing by the officer it
may make the officer angry and increase your chances of getting
fined. Never get out of the car. You want the officer to
be relaxed. Getting out of the car will only alarm the
officer. Make sure your hands are in clear view. Wait
until the officer asks you for your driver's license and
registration and then get it. If you go digging through your
console or glove box before the officer walks up to your car the
officer may get alarmed that you are hiding something or reaching
for a weapon. Remember, you want to make everything smooth for
the officer at this point. Always be polite and answer his/her
questions with "No Sir" or "Yes Ma'am" whichever the case may be.
Put yourself in the
officer's shoes. The officer deals with several speeders
everyday. Most officers want to be "in the middle", meaning
they don't want to be known as the strict cop who writes the most
tickets, but they also don't want to be known as the lenient cop who
writes the least amount of tickets who looks like they aren't doing
a good job. Some officers will never let anyone out of a
ticket, but most of them will. Again, put yourself in the
officer's shoes. If you were going to let someone go without
giving them a ticket, would you let go the really nice man who was
polite to you? Or would you let go a smart-aleck who gave you
a hard time? The answer is obvious. So always be
courteous and you might just get a break.
Remember, you are probably only going to see this officer for a
couple of minutes. This is not a time to worry about your ego.
So swallow your pride! Pull out all of the stops! Act
stupid. Police often have sympathy for someone who they
consider "dumb". Act like you are totally unaware that you
were doing anything wrong.
If acting "stupid" isn't necessarily for
you, try acting scared. Police will often have pity for
someone who is afraid. Nobody likes to be afraid and if the
officer senses you are scared he may feel sorry for you.
Crying will definitely help your cause. If you can really jerk
some tears it will help your chances tremendously. If you are
a teenager, say something like "My Dad is going to kill me if I get
a ticket. He can't afford the insurance as it is."
Really act concerned. The officer is a person too, and he/she
will understand where you are coming from. If you are a
female, it never hurts to flirt a little bit if the officer is a
male. I'm not saying to proposition him or anything like that,
but sometimes a flip of the hair and a giggle will go a long way.
But if you get the smallest notion that he is not going for it, call
it off immediately and go back to the crying technique.
If you can
name drop, do it. It never hurts to say something like,
"How are you doing? Do you know my uncle Steve Henderson?
He was a city officer over in Leitchfield..." Don't come right
out with it from the start, but try to work it in casually.
Police officers have an unspoken fraternity and they often will help
each other out. Many times if you can name someone they know they
will let you off the hook. Even if they don't know the person
you are speaking of, it still may help your chances. And if
you don't know anyone, make up a name and throw it out there.
It can't hurt.
Now, what NOT
to do... Don't be a jackass. Don't smart off.
Don't huff and puff and moan and groan. No officer wants to
hear all of that. Also, the most important thing- NEVER ADMIT
GUILT. If you admit to the officer that you were speeding
he/she can use that against you in court. If the officer asks
if you know why you were pulled over always say, "Not really" or
"I'm not sure". Never, under any circumstances, admit or
confess that you were speeding. If the officer tells you that
you were speeding act really surprised and amazed.
Chapter 3
If
You Get a Ticket
By this point, either the officer
was stern or you blew your window of opportunity. Either way,
even though the officer has already written you a speeding ticket,
there is still hope. Never argue with the officer or act all
crappy when you get handed the ticket. There is NO WAY you
will win an argument at this point. If you become a "hot head"
you could even get arrested and have your car impounded! You
have broken the law and the speeding ticket is a courtesy to you as
an alternative to taking you to jail, so don't make things worse on
yourself than they already are. Another reason you don't want
to make a scene is because you don't want the officer to remember
you if you appear in court. Your best bet is to just take the
ticket and get it over with as quickly as possible. Say
nothing and drive away peacefully. You will live to fight this
battle another day.
Remember
EVERYTHING about the situation. Once you get where you are
going take the time to reflect on what happened. Write down
how fast you "thought" you were going. Write down the traffic
conditions, weather conditions, which lane you were driving in, and
everything else you can remember. Even write down what you
were wearing, what song you were listening to on the radio, where
you were going, where you were coming from, and what you were doing
before you got pulled over. This information will all come in
handy if you go to court. It will allow you to seem confident
and reliable compared to the officer who will have a hard time
remembering everything because he/she will have dealt with so many
other speeders by that time.
Always
plead "Not Guilty". This may be a pre-trial appearance, or
in some states you can send in your ticket with a "Not Guilty" plea.
Try to delay a pre-trial appearance as long as you can.
When your court
date comes around keep putting it off. Find every excuse
in the book to keep pushing it back. The longer you can delay
the better. Let's say you can delay for two months, just think
how many people the cop will have to deal with in that time.
You want the cop to forget as much about you as possible. And
by the way, no cop wants to show up for court anyway. If you
are the only reason the officer has to go down to the courthouse
he/she may tell them to let you off so he/she doesn't have to show
up. Remember, the longer you drag it out the better. I
heard a story once of a college student in New York City who got his
court date delayed for two and a half years. He kept telling
them he had to go to Europe for school and he kept making up work
and education related excuses. By the time they finally
refused to push it back any further he went to court. But
guess who wasn't there- the cop. He had been transferred to a
different area, so the case was dismissed immediately! The
lesson here- DELAY, DELAY, DELAY! You never know what
might happen.
When all else fails be a pest! Everyone has a job to do
and most people are usually trying to catch up with their work load.
Nobody wants extra work thrown in their lap. This is your
opportunity to bug the hell out of them. Request as much info
as you can. They may or may not oblige your requests depending
on your local laws. Either way, they will get tired of having
to deal with you. Ask for the makes, models, and serial
numbers on all radar and laser guns in use by the police department.
Ask for copies of the manufacturers' recommended maintenance for all
the radar guns in use and ask for all maintenance records over the
past six months. Ask for proof that the radar gun used by the
officer who pulled you over was properly maintained and calibrated.
Ask for copies of the manufacturers' literature as it relates to the
correct use of mounting, aiming, weather, and traffic limitations
for all radar guns used by the police department. Ask for a
copy of the authorized certification of training issued to the
officer who wrote you the ticket. Ask for a copy of the patrol
car assignments for the date you received the ticket. These
people are busy and they have bigger fish to fry. Hopefully,
somewhere down the way they will get tired of all your crap and
throw out your ticket!
Chapter 4
Nothing Has Worked
and You're Going to Court
OK, so you are
a very unlucky individual. You've tried everything and nothing
has worked so far. You're going to have to go to court.
But don't give up yet! Nobody keeps an exact count of how many
speeding tickets are issued each year, but one estimate puts the
number around 14 million. Most of those people either pay the
fine or enroll in some sort of re-education program to lessen or
erase the effect of their ticket. Only about 3% of ticketed
drivers go to court to challenge a ticket. This fact alone
plays to your advantage. If you go through all this trouble
and remain adamant that you weren't speeding the judge will take
notice of that.
Before your
big day practice what you are going to say in court.
Carefully plan it out and be prepared. Check the actual wording of
the code you violated. If the officer can't prove your guilt in any
part of the code then your case will be dismissed. Anticipate what
the officer might say and know what you are going to say without
hesitation. Dress nicely. Wear a suit if you have one.
If you look like a respectable person the judge may show you
respect. If you look like a slouch the judge may not take you
seriously.
In a nutshell,
this is how it will work. You will go and check in with
the clerk. Then you'll see if the officer arrives. If
he/she doesn't show up, that will usually be the end of it right
there and you will be off the hook. If the officer shows up, the
judge will call your case. The officer will testify first.
You may then question the officer. You may then question any
witnesses you may have. Then the officer can make a closing
statement. Then you can make a closing statement. Then
the judge will decide your fate.
Here are some
important things to remember: Be polite to the officer and
the judge. Again, acting like a jerk will get you nowhere.
Now for the good part; it is the officer's job to prove you are
guilty. If he fails to prove your guilt the case will be
dismissed. Before an officer can use the radar or laser
reading as evidence he/she has to establish that the Jurisdiction
Certification is up to date and accurate, the radar or laser was
properly calibrated, the tuning forks were calibrated with the
radar, and the FCC license, radar or laser unit appears on the FCC
license.
If the
officer tries to use the radar reading before establishing those
things, you should politely interrupt and say "Objection, your
Honor, inadmissible evidence." Then explain to the judge why
it is inadmissible. If the officer doesn't prove your guilt at
the end of his testimony don't question him, instead, simply move to
have the case dismissed and explain what he failed to prove.
When your turn comes to question the
officer, ask the officer memory questions first. Ask the cop,
"Did I have any passengers? What color clothes was I wearing?
Was I smoking? See how well versed the officer is. Try
to make the officer seem unsure of himself/herself. Then ask
the officer if he/she was moving when his/her speedometer last
calibrated. Have the records with you to see if the officer
contradicts himself/herself.
When you give your closing statement make
the judge like you. You need to seem very confident and
sincere. Say something like "Your Honor, I've always had a
great respect for the law. I did not mean to break the law.
I really don't think I was speeding. I'm sure it was just an
honest mistake by the officer."
When the judge makes his ruling, hopefully
you will leave the courtroom a winner. But if the judge says
you have to pay the fine you can always ask him/her if you can go to
traffic school or ask for some other form of alternative sentencing.
If
the judge makes you pay the fine you can still do a little
damage control. This won't work in all states but you can
definitely give it a shot. Let's say your fine is $80.
Send in a check for $82 or some other small amount too much.
The system will then have to send you a check back for the overpaid
amount. So eventually you would get a check back for $2 or so.
Here's the catch- don't ever cash that check. Just throw it away.
Demerit points normally aren't removed from your license until all
of the financial transactions are complete. If you don't cash the
check the transaction isn't complete. However, the system has
gotten its money so it is happy and won't bother you anymore.
This trick will also work if you are someone who wants to simply pay
your fine instead of going to court.
So there you have it- the good, the bad,
and the ugly! Good luck to you, and remember, the simplest way
to not have to go through all of this again, is to slow down.
Innocent people die everyday because of speeding drivers. The
laws are there for a reason, so drive safe!
Disclaimer
Everything included in this ebook is simply advice and is our
opinion. We do not guarantee that any of our methods will work.
We are trying to give you ideas and point out certain things that
you may not have thought of. We are not responsible and won't
be held liable for any actions you may take after reading this ebook.
If you choose to try any of the ideas presented to you in this ebook
and have negative results we are not liable. As stated in the
ebook, the best way to avoid a speeding ticket is to not get one to
begin with. If you drive the speed limit you won't get a
speeding ticket in the first place. |