Mistakes To Avoid When Fighting A Speeding Ticket

There are many potential mistakes someone could make when fighting a speeding ticket in the court room. With this in mind, I’ve prepared some of the common pitfalls many people make, so you can avoid them and get your case dismissed. Here are the mistakes to avoid: Never motion the court before the trial for any documentation. You don’t want to tip the fact that you are (hopefully) prepared for the case. Never motion the court for their evidence before your trial. One of the key ways to fight a speeding ticket is what is known as trial by ambush. You want the prosecution to be unprepared, so don’t tip your hand early. Never testify. Even if the prosecution is challenging you to testify, you should refuse. If you were to take the stand, the prosecution would be allowed to cross-examine you, and they will most likely trap you into admitting you were speeding. If this happens, you will lose. Don’t make any statements about your speeding. Don’t let the prosecutor lead you into making any statement. They are there to find the proof, don’t make their job any easier by making comments like “I wasn’t going that fast”. Don’t let the prosecutor know what your game plan is. Remember that they don’t have the time or inclination to gather all the information they need for each and every case. Most of the time they are just relying on you wimping out. They are used to trials not lasting more than a few minutes. If you tip your hand to the fact that you know what you’re doing, they may very well decide to do a little preparation for your case. Don’t let that happen. Keep your cards close to your chest. Never object to anything the police officer says when he is making his testimony. If you object early in the game like this, the prosecution will know what you’re up to, and you’ll lose your advantage. Don’t bother to ask for a jury trial. If you do this, the prosecution will prepare themselves. Also, what many people don’t realize, is that the prosecution can easily ask for the biggest punishment allowed…which could mean serving jail time just for a little bit of speeding. That’s not good for you. Also, at a jury, you can still be found guilty even if there is no evidence. In a jury trial, people will be much more annoyed at your offence because you’re taking up their time.

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Speeding Ticket – The Legal Basics You Need To Know

If you have chosen to fight your speeding ticket in court, then you’ll need to know the basics of how to act while you’re in court. With this in mind, I’ve prepared for you some basics of how to behave in court. Here they are: Make sure you are well dressed. If you are dressed inappropriately, it will be seen as an insult to the court…and this is NOT going to help your case. ALWAYS be polite and courteous to everyone there. This includes the judge, the prosecutor, and the police officer. Also, remember that these people know each other very well. Always be nice to these people. The idea of innocent until proven guilty is for the movies. It doesn’t work like this in real life. Remember the only thing separating you and a conviction is evidence. If you admit to anything in the court room, the charge against you can be changed at a moments notice. You can be found guilty if it comes from your own mouth. If anyone in the court room (judge, magistrate or prosecutor) asks you anything whatsoever about the ticket, be courteous…and say you would prefer not to testify against yourself. Remember that the proof required in criminal cases is beyond reasonable count. The key word in all of this is reasonable. If you don’t challenge the evidence, it will be presumed reasonable by everyone in the court room. Remember that you are being charged for a specific speed. Not just for driving fast. The prosecution will try to show evidence that you were driving a specific amount over the limit, not that you were simply driving “fast”. You do not need to try and prove your innocence. You simply need to prove that the prosecutions evidence is either unreliable, or is inadmissible. This is an important distinction which you need to keep in mind.

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Why Do I Have A Driving Record?

Your driving record is one of the most important records that is available. Even though this does not seem like that big of a deal your driving record can be used for numerous different reasons. First off, when you are looking to get car insurance your driving record is going to be requested from your states department of motor vehicles. If you happen to have any accidents or violations on your record you are going to end up paying a higher premium. Driving records are accessible by all insurance companies so there is really no way around this outside of stating out of trouble and accident free. Also, a lot of people are probably not aware that driving records go a long way in deciding on whether or not you get hired for a job. If you are applying for a position that will require you to do a lot of driving, especially with company vehicles, you will be in deep trouble if your driving record is tarnished. Companies do not like to hire people who may be a major insurance liability. Companies may also decide to run your driving record even if you are not going to be using a company vehicle. They do this to see how responsible you are. If you have something like a driving under the influence violation on your record you may be in trouble. That is why it is important to do everything in your power to keep things like this off of your record. Even if something does happen, be sure to ask the court how to get the record expunged. It is also possible to take courses on safe driving and state run courses that help to bring up the reputation of a tarnished driving license. These courses add points to a drivers license as opposed to accidents, tickets and other traffic violations equal a docking of points from a license. Driving records are very important. It is crucial that people realize that a bad-driving record can harm you in more ways than one. Keep your driving record clean from now on!

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How To Avoid Getting A Speeding Ticket

When you’re driving on a highway, remember to stay within a group of other cars. This makes it much more difficult for a police officer to pick you off, as you aren’t speeding in front of everyone. Be aware of your surroundings. Remember to scan the road ahead of you, looking for any places where a police officer could be hiding. Make sure you know the speed limit of the area you’re driving in. Keep a look out for any traffic signs that tell you the current speed limit. Always keep you car in good condition. For example, if you have a tail light out, you are going to be noticed much easier by a police officer, as they are looking out for these kinds of things. Make sure you spend the few dollars it costs to keep your car in good repair. If you do get stopped by a police officer, always be polite. If you are rude in any way they will have something else against you. Also, try not to volunteer too much information. Obviously you have to answer his questions, but don’t add to much…just answer the question. The first question the police officer will most likely ask you is if you know why you have been stopped. At this point, you have three options to choose from. Firstly, you can completely admit that you were speeding. The officer would appreciate this, as this is what he wants. The officer may let you off with just a warning. The down side to answering in this way is that if you’re given a speeding ticket, and admitted that you were speeding then it can and will be used against you in the court. The police officer will be taking notes on everything you say to him, so if you feel that you will definitely get a speeding ticket then you should avoid directly admit to the police officer that you were speeding. The second option you have is to deny that you were speeding. Keep in mind that this approach is going to create some tension between you and the police officer. If you don’t have a good argument to prove to the police officer that you weren’t speeding, he will still give you a ticket. The upside to this, however, is if you deny speeding, you have a better chance of beating the ticket when it goes to court, because you denied speeding from the outset. The third option you have is to neither admit nor deny the fact you were speeding. Often this approach will work best. When you are stopped and asked if you know why you were stopped act as if you don’t know why. When he tells you that you were speeding, tell the officer in a calm and respectful force that you just didn’t notice…and give a plausible excuse.

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Choosing a Radar Detector

For almost as long as police have been clocking and ticketing motor vehicle speeders, speeders have been using radar detectors in order to avoid being caught. Although today they have been thoroughly tested for accuracy by various police agencies, laser and radar guns (and sometimes their operators) still sadly make mistakes. It has been estimated that over 25% of all radar tickets have been issued in error. Radar detectors are therefore considered a useful tool by many of today’s motorists.

There are three different types of radar detectors, firstly the customary corded units, the newer cordless dash, visor, or windshield-mounted battery run units, and concealed remote units that are permanently mounted in your vehicle.

Corded Detectors: The most popular radar detectors are corded detectors designed to be plugged into either your car's cigarette lighter or fuse box, and then attached to the windshield using suction cups. Corded radar detectors offer a number of advantages over remote and cordless radar detectors, which include their easiness to install, their transportability, and their ability to detect all the bands.

Cordless Detectors: Cordless radar detectors have the advantage of being free of loose cords. Cordless detectors have the ability to conserve battery life, and can turn themselves on and off within milliseconds. Range and sensitivity can be sacrificed as a result - cordless radar detectors typically have 30% less range than a corded detector. However a new cordless radar detector that will detect POP radar has been developed and is expected to arrive on the market halfway though 2005.

Remote Mounted Radar Detectors: There are advantages in having a remote mounted radar detector, which include their being inconspicuous to the law enforcement and to thieves alike. However the disadvantages of remote radar detectors include their higher costs, their requirement for professional installation, and their inability to be easily removed.

A radar detector can be purchased easily online, however, a local car audio store should be able to inform you of state laws that might limit purchasing options. Whatever your decision, remember that a radar detector does not give anyone license to drive recklessly, and by doing so, put other people’s lives in danger.

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