So in late June, I had just left for work when the friendly Ann Arbor policeman on motorcycle decided to give me a present. A ticket for speeding! I'm thinking, ok so after 6 years or so of driving now, it was definitely coming to me... no biggie.

Later that day, I'm getting back on the expressway to come home, and the not-so-friendly Allen Park policeman decided to do me the same favor that I got in the morning, another speeding ticket!

I think "yay, two speeding tickets", but anyway I thought I'd share my story with you all. I have an informal hearing in a week for the second one... and the first one got extended for even a month from now or so. Any suggestions? I intentionally leave out speeds, exact locations, etc. just because I'd rather not get into that.

However, I will say this... I'm an IL resident, and in MI just for the summer. How exactly does this all affect me?

 

you got 6 years clean driving? judge will just throw them out. no biggie.

 

Some states work together on the points system.. some don't..

Example.. New York, PA and NJ work together.. NY and CT don't.. which means if your license is suspended in NY and you get a ticket with points in NY.. it will affect your PA and NJ license.. but not your CT license

 

you really think the judge will throw em out?... yeah, the only thing i was pulled over for was one time for the wrong way on a one way street (for a block, recently changed to 1-way street)... no ticket.

btw, IL does not have a point system.

 

well here in ma and ri, they work it as 3 years of no moving voilations = 1 ticket thrown out thats like basic something like 70 in a 55 or 80 in a 65..bring in your driving record from the registry just to have, im 99.9% your fine.

 

thanks...

1. how do i get my driving record (soon!)?

2. do i understand correctly that for at least the first ticket (hearing in a week), i make no mention that i had the other one earlier in the day, since that is not on the record yet, or am i wrong?

 

1) call DMV

2) speak to the prosecutor ASAP .. see what he can do for you.. in some states (CT) the prosector has the ability to throw out a case before it even reaches the court. In NJ they can throw it out too.. but you still have to pay the court fee ..

 

getting my sister to go to the DMV... so the driving record should be here soon.

How would I speak to the prosecutor before the actual hearing?... can i just call the courthouse and ask to speak with him? I think if I explained my situation and that I value a good driving record... along with the fact that the place and time of the speeding were really an honest mistake, maybe it'll work out after all. anyway, for that one I was told by the clerk that it carries 0 points since I was written for 5 over on the freeway. I don't really know about the points, like i said, but would rather not have a ticket.

 

some states.. some countys.. some cities.. you can actually call the court house and through a couple loops and phone calls.. speak to a prosector.. ensure when you speak to them to write down names, dates and times..

in some states.. after a certain amount of points .. you lose your license.. it vaires from state to state.. like here in CT if you plead guilty and pay your ticket on time, you don't lose points.

sometimes prosectors will let you plead to a lesser charge with less points also..

 

one other thing... i'll be out of MI (maybe for good) after this court date, so how long will they let me extend the date for the first ticket? till next summer? lol

 

they might issue a warrant for your arrest if you don't pay or show up in court..

i had a parking ticket in NYC that i didn't pay since Nov.. they just kept sending me notices and raising the price.. after it got to $146 i just paid the b!tch last week

 

well, an arrest warrant is a generally bad thing... so i'll likely pay it if nothing else. but, how much of an extension can i realistically expect? will i just end up paying it if i can't be here?

 

some states allow you to pay and mail in the ticket.. some states like NY require you to go to court.. some states like NJ will only require you to go to court if the officer checked "must appear in court" on the ticket. Extension or not is dependent on the Prosecutor.. try to get a hold of the court first.. talk to the clerk.. fish around.. try and get as much information as you can get..

 

i am from IL. and if you are going to be back in IL. when the second ticket hearing is scheduled you may want to just do traffic school. it might be to late, but its worth a shot. all you do is pay the fine through mail, prolly a $95 ticket, plus $25 for traffic school fees. then about 3 months later they will send you a notice for where and when to do traffic school. its a 4 hour course that you take, once, and the ticket will not go on your insurance or driving record if you do traffic school. thats what i have done for all my tickets and its worked out for the better, so far.... i think that may be better than an 8 hour drive to ann harbor

 

agreed about the drive to Ann Arbor... four hours each way is not my idea of a fun day.

so do you mean i can get traffic school in IL for a ticket in MI? if so, who would i ask for that... MI or IL?

 

you will be able to take the traffic school in IL. they have it at various locations. for example.. i live in bartlett about 45 west of chicago. so i have had mine it schaumburg which is only about 15min away from me. you will have to contact the dmv, or the secretary or states office. usually you have to file for traffic school in the first week of your ticket. but since it was in another state they may make an exception. good luck

 

thanks for the info guys!

 

pay ur $$ and move on with life.

 

Check with your insurance agent to see if two tickets will affect your rate.

Just look at the tickets individually - if you were genuinely speeding, then just pay up and move on. If there is some GOOD reason why the ticket is invalid (and I don't mean they accidentally spelled your name wrong) then it's prolly worth fighting.

I get paid more in a half-day then the ticket would cost, so to take a half-day off work to sit at the courtroom to fight it means that even if I win, I still lose out in the end. If I lose in court, then I lose twice! If I arrive at 9am as requested and my case is heard at 5pm and I lose, then I've just paid $400 for the privelidge of driving downtown.

I tell you what, though - two tickets on your record will certainly change you opinion on driving - another ticket could have you dropped from your insurance carrier (assuming you are on preferred rates in a fault state) and your insurance could double or triple.

 

I think for the morning ticket I will just pay it since I really was speeding. However, the evening one is a frivilous one that was written just for the sake of the police officer giving a ticket. I'm not exactly sure how this will affect my insurance, but I'd like to contest it anyway.

When the clerk told me that "that type of ticket" (written for 5 over on expressway) carries 0 points and isn't really so bad, it was almost as if to say that it was blatantly for generating revenue for the township. They really don't try to hide the fact that I was in no way speeding excessively or driving dangerously. Oh well, exposure to the process I suppose. I'm hoping that my good record helps me out here.

Any estimate on how long I can expect to be at the courthouse if my time is 8? Do these things normally get done quickly, or should I expect to be there till 5 if I go?

 

NY does not count any points outside of NY. I have 6 points in PA but my NY license is nice and clean. !

 

IL doesn't use point system, do try to negotiate some kind of court suppervision or what ever they do down there, since the ticket in MI will appear on your driving record (MI is part of the five state group that shares traffic vioetions with each other)...and i would assume that 2 tickets will get your inssurance to go up (one tickets could be of no concequence though)

 

Some smaller cities will have traffic court in the evening so you don't miss work. Definitely worth fighting if that's the case and you have a legitimate reason to fight.

Largier cities will just hold their court downtown during office hours and usually demand everyone show up at 9am. And they do hear cases until 5pm. I showed up to be in the public gallery of the DUI case for a guy who crossed the median and hit me head on... I arrived at the stated 9am time a his case was heard at 3pm - I sat and wited all that time. Fortuntely this was when I was a student and I had the day off already.

I was in there for 30 seconds before defense counsel requested an adjournment, granted. Waited 6 hours to see 30 seconds.

 

So on Monday morning I showed up for my court hearing at 8. By 8:45 I was back on the road. I explained my situation to the magistrate and the officer concurred with all the facts. The speeding ticket (70 in 55, written @ 60/55) was changed to an "impeding traffic" ticket ($125 - by the way what exactly does that mean?), plus I have to attend a traffic school class. He said I could take it in IL, then just fax back the certificate to MI. Any suggestions on where to go in IL?

Now, I have to call and let Ann Arbor know that I won't be able to make any court date since I am leaving. However, I will be likely send in that ticket with "guilty with explanation", and hope to get it downgraded from speeding.

It looks like insurance won't be killing me quite the same way it could have... and I might be able to get court supervision in IL for this ticket, even if it goes on the record. (Right?)

 

'Impeding Traffic' means blocking it... But it's a lesser ticket that prolly doesn't have point or insurance implications. You still get the fine though, so you're not off scot-free. It'd call it a draw.