Sppeding Ticket - Not ellegible for Traffic School

[ConfusedSpeeder]

Hi,

I receved a speeding ticket in Santa Clara. The last time I had a speeding ticket was 4 years ago. I went to Traffic School and had it removed from my record.

This time, I was told that I'm not ellegible for traffic-school. I was doing 26 over-the-limit (for merely a second) when caught by a laser speed-trap. Apparantly, the limit for traffic-school is 25 over-the-limit.

I'm willing to pay the fine, but really don't want this on my record. How could/should I contest this? Should I plead not guilty, and claim the laser was incorrect. Or simply plead guilty and ask the judge for traffic school?

The options for a court appearance are:
* Arraignment
* Cout Trial

What should I do? And how should I approach this. I'd be happy if the fine could be reduced, but my main concern is keeping my record clean.

Please help.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Hi,

I receved a speeding ticket in Santa Clara. The last time I had a speeding ticket was 4 years ago. I went to Traffic School and had it removed from my record.

This time, I was told that I'm not ellegible for traffic-school. I was doing 26 over-the-limit (for merely a second) when caught by a laser speed-trap. Apparantly, the limit for traffic-school is 25 over-the-limit.

I'm willing to pay the fine, but really don't want this on my record. How could/should I contest this? Should I plead not guilty, and claim the laser was incorrect. Or simply plead guilty and ask the judge for traffic school?

The options for a court appearance are:
* Arraignment
* Cout Trial

What should I do? And how should I approach this. I'd be happy if the fine could be reduced, but my main concern is keeping my record clean.

Please help.

I'll tell you my experience with traffic court -- it varies by jurisdiction. I've gone to traffic court several times (mostly not for myself!) and in each place the prosecutor was discussing the cases with the people before the judge presided to see if an agreement could be struck. In some places bringing an attorney will help you in a plea agreement with the prosecutor. It doesn't matter if the attorney is your brother and he practices medical malpractice - just don't have your brother say that, lol. Going that fast you may be able to bring it down to minimal points and paying the fine. You never get away with the fine because the State wants the money.

I would not plead guilty since you've thrown yourself on the mercy of the court and for the admission of going that high above the speed limit. Perhaps the laser was wrong and let the prosecutor show that it was accurate. You were 1 MPH above it and it is possible that the judge may grant some leeway here.

I think lwpat will probably have better advice to give on this one, who is a member of the forum and very knowledgeable in this area. Good luck!!!

 

[CdwJava]

The rules in Santa Clara County are such that the CLERK of the court cannot offer you traffic school for 26+ MPH over the limit (i.e. it is not available in the 'courtesy notice'). However, per CA state law the JUDGE can do so.

You might be able to request this at arraignment, or, plead not guilty and wait until your trial date. You might consider asking the clerk of the court or going to these links:

http://www.scselfservice.org/traffic/oview/schooltxt.htm

and,

http://www.sccsuperiorcourt.org/traffic/

- Carl

 

[ConfusedSpeeder]

Thanks for the great responses.

So, would it be safe for me to:

1. Go to the arraignment
2. Plead guilty with explanation (i.e. I realized by error and quickly slowed down, before being pulled over - and didn't feel I was travelling in excess of 26 mph of the limit).
3. Request permission to attend traffic-school (to keep the ticket off my record).

- Would this be a good option for me?

 

[CdwJava]

It sounds reasonable to me. Though you might consider consulting a traffic defense attorney in Santa Clara County just to be sure that you don't get trapped into pleading guilty without knowing if they will allow you to do traffic school first. There are a number of relatively low cost traffic defense outfits in the Santa Clara County area.

Good luck ... and slow down. Next time you might get spanked hard.

- Carl