What to do about insurance ticket

What is the name of your state?KY

Hi all. I just got a "new" 1979 Jeep to be a project car. I was taking a friend somewhere and when I was driving home the fuse for the taillights blew. I didn't have my cell at the time, so I couldn't do anything but walk home or try to drive carefully. Unfortunatly, I passed a cop who was parked in a gas station who pulled me over when I turned onto my road. Well, since I just got the thing, I hadn't been able to get proper insurance yet (I only got a warning for the taillight). Yes, I know this was very stupid and I am not making excuses. I am not trying to get out of this at all. I am just wondering about what next. He said if I had insurance coverage but no card I could just mail this to the court, but I didn't have that. I am planning to get it first thing this week. So he said I could show up to the court and show the judge & prosecutor that I had since gotten insurance. But he forgot to mention what would happen when I did this. I need to figure out the court details really quickly and I can't call the office until Tuesday. Need to know things like, after I show new proof of insurance, do I still have to pay anything like court costs, etc... If anyone has any advice I would appriciate it very much. Sorry this is so long. Thank you in advance!

Everytime you go to court you have to pay court fees. I had to pay 2 court fees for 2 tickets I had even though I went to court the same day for them and one was a ridiculous ticket that was dismissed immediately. It was $20-30 for each.

If they accept the proof of insurance that you get then you might only have to pay a fine for not being able to show it when the police officer pulled you over.

Crazed98 said:

If they accept the proof of insurance that you get then you might only have to pay a fine for not being able to show it when the police officer pulled you over.

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Probably not. He didn't have insurance at the time of the citation, which is what counts.

Explain your story when you go to court. Some judges will feel bad and reduce the ticket (they tend to be quite expensive to be an incentive to get insurance). Most judges will not reward you for doing the right thing only after you got caught and will impose the full fine + court costs on you.

This is one of the rare situations where getting a lawyer probably won't help you (unless he's the judge's son or something). Bring your checkbook.

I know that in Texas, if you can prove you had insurance at the time of being stopped, the courts will not charge you anything (because no crime occured).

I don't know how it is in Kentucky, but in Texas, if you have insurance for any vehicle, then you are covered on ALL vehicles you get into, even if the vehicle is not yours. Check with your insurance agent. A lot of insurances will cover you for ANY vehicle you drive, even if it's not yours, and will also automatically cover any vehicle you buy for up to 30 days to give you time to report it to them and get it covered.

If you find that this is the case, get them to provide you with proof or else take your policy down to the court. Once you show them that you were indeed covered at the time the police stopped you, then a violation didn't occur. If a violation didn't occur, then they really have no right to charge you court costs, etc. since you are not guilty.

If you are guilty, then get some insurance as soon as you can and show the court that you did it. They might go easy on you. I know in Texas they usually would give you the benefit of the doubt if you got insurance within a day and proved it.

thanks for all the replies so far. Here is an interesting twist I just realized. I actually bought the Jeep from my uncle. It turns out that his insurance may have still been covering the car. I am trying to contact him to find out for sure, but I know he did have coverage on it previously, and I doubt he would have cancelled it in the few days I had it because we hadn't even gotten around to transferring the title or anything yet. Would proof of his coverage be enough to get the ticket dropped? Thanks again!

I would think so unless as I stated above they would fine you for not having proof of insurance in the car. In NJ it used to be a $35 fine but now about $100 not sure if they will fine you in KY for it.

In AZ and CA aquiring insurance after the citation was issued and before the scheduled court date results in a substantially reduced fine. But there is still a penalty.

I assume it is the same in KY.