Speeding tickets are uncomfortable, but it’s even worse when you were falsely ticketed.
If you are willing to contest the speeding ticket, there are three actions you must take almost immediately after ticketing:
Gather Evidence
Many people given speeding tickets have a variety of reasons why they feel it was wrong, ranging from speed traps and incorrect signs to malfunctioning police equipment.
If you plan to challenge the speeding ticket, one of the best things to do immediately is to gather any evidence that helps prove you right. Photos or video of signs with incorrect speed limits or of alleged “speed traps” can be a powerful way to help you make your case.
You can also complete a written request for the police to disclose any of the evidence they have against you. This may take some time, persistence and legal assistance, but it lets you prepare for a possible trial. As a bonus, if the police do not cooperate promptly, with legal help you may be able to have your case dismissed.
Consider mitigation
Mitigation is an option primarily reserved for those who haven’t had a speeding ticket in many years, or perhaps for their very first speeding ticket.
Mitigation allows you to present any extenuating circumstances to the judge that may provide context for why you were speeding at that time and place. Unlike a trial or a settlement conference, the mitigation option is more or less an admission of guilt.
However, it gives you an option to keep the violation off of your driving record and to possibly receive reductions in the fine you pay, more time to pay fines that you otherwise could not pay, or alternative punitive measures to cover some of the costs.
Conference or Trial
If you’re ticketed, you have a non-trial, non-mitigation option: a settlement conference. This is less formal than a trial and offers you a chance to negotiate regarding the ticket.
For instance, you may be able to negotiate a high cost speeding ticket down to a lower cost one. There’s just one catch: if you lose during the settlement conference, you will more than likely not be able to appeal that decision.
If you do decide to take the speeding ticket up in a trial, you must decide whether to hire a lawyer or not. For a run-of-the-mill speeding ticket, this may cost more money than it’s really worth and render it cheaper to simply pay the ticket.
However, some speeding tickets may have serious consequences riding on them such as the suspension of your license.
“In such cases, it’s certainly worth having a professional to present and argue your case.”
Going to trial with professional assistance is a like rolling the dice: there is a chance that a judge throws out of reduces the cost of your ticket. There’s also a chance that he doesn’t—and you’ve now got the cost of the ticket, the cost of the court, and potential legal fees to worry about.