Traffic Tickets/Court appearance helpful?

[AJOHNSON104]

It matters a great deal where you got the ticket. Some jurisdictions are more flexible in these things. Also, with a "move over" violation some jurisdictions have a strict policy on reductions as they are trying to educate the public to the danger. The officer may also have an impact as they write a summary on the ticket that you don't see. Its not uncommon for them to request no reduction on the bottom or add comments about your cooperativeness. Thats why you shouldn't call the cop names or whip him the finger, etc.

All in all, my experience has been that if its not too inconvenient, you should always go to court and contest a violation if you are concerned about costs/ points, etc. At the least you lose an hour or two of your day and at the most you get a good deal.

An example, when I was interning in a local prosecutor's office, I was told I could never deal on a seat belt or OWI violation, but everything else was was fair game. There were some guidleines, but I often based my deals on the attitude of the violator. If they were crabby or called the cop names, they got the basic deal. If they were contrite and respectful they could get a better deal. This especially applies when you get multiple violations. I also gave better deals to attorneys as they usually knew how low I could go (and asked) and I figured the violator was already paying a decent lawyer bill, so a little slack was OK.

Once I gave an older lady an obstructing traffic parking ticket instead of speeding - no points and no driving record issues.

[cooprules]

Just to follow up on this, I had my court date today. Very glad I went. They knocked the fine down to 148.20 from 249. Points stayed at 3. He (judge) said they couldn't go any lower on the points. About an hour of my time saved me over 100 bucks. I wish I would've went for my other tickets.

[berniebrewer4life]

Just to follow up on this, I had my court date today. Very glad I went. They knocked the fine down to 148.20 from 249. Points stayed at 3. He (judge) said they couldn't go any lower on the points. About an hour of my time saved me over 100 bucks. I wish I would've went for my other tickets.

I am currently taking a traffic theory class, and it's true, there are limits as to how high and how low(both points and dollars) you can go on a ticket, dependin on what the violation is.