GA speeding ticket Q again

What is the name of your state? Georgia
Okay. I have gotten my first GA speeding ticket. This is the first time I have missed TX since I left three years ago. Is there no easy way to keep this from affecting my insurance? I was clocked at 55 in a 40. It does not say how it was clocked. I did not ask for an accuracy check. He told me what the ticket was for and all I said was "ok". My infant was crying in her carseat throughout the whole thing.
So, my question is this: What are my options? If I go to court, can I bring my infant? How long will the wait be? This may not even be an option because I have to bring my toddler to preschool. If I just pay the fine, I will get 2 point on my insurance, correct? I read something today (speedingticket.com, I think) that said I may be able to negotiate a drop of 3-5 mph in exchange for a guilty plea and therefore not accrue any points. Is that true? How would I do that? I'm confused. Sigh.

GA_questions said:

What is the name of your state? Georgia
Okay. I have gotten my first GA speeding ticket. This is the first time I have missed TX since I left three years ago. Is there no easy way to keep this from affecting my insurance? I was clocked at 55 in a 40. It does not say how it was clocked. I did not ask for an accuracy check. He told me what the ticket was for and all I said was "ok". My infant was crying in her carseat throughout the whole thing.
So, my question is this: What are my options? If I go to court, can I bring my infant? How long will the wait be? This may not even be an option because I have to bring my toddler to preschool. If I just pay the fine, I will get 2 point on my insurance, correct? I read something today (speedingticket.com, I think) that said I may be able to negotiate a drop of 3-5 mph in exchange for a guilty plea and therefore not accrue any points. Is that true? How would I do that? I'm confused. Sigh.

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Standard answer

Here are some hints on appearing in court:

Dress professionally in clean clothes.

Do not wear message shirts.

Don't chew gum, smoke, or eat.

Bathe and wash your hair.

Do not bring small children or your friends.

Go to court beforehand some day before you actually have to go to watch how things go.

Speak politely and deferentially. If you argue or dispute something, do it professionally and without emotion.

Ask the court clerk who you talk to about a diversion (meaning you want to plead to a different, lesser charge), if applicable in your situation. Ask about traffic school and the ticket not go on your record, if applicable.


Here are five stories that criminal court judges hear the most (and I suggest you do not use them or variations of them):

1. I’ve been saved! (This is not religion specific; folks from all kinds of religious backgrounds use this one.)

2. My girlfriend/mother/sister/daughter is pregnant/sick/dying/dead/crippled and needs my help.

3. I’ve got a job in [name a state five hundred miles away].

4. This is the first time I ever did this.

5. You’ve got the wrong guy. (A variation of this one is the phantom defendant story: “It wasn’t me driving, it was a hitchhiker I picked up. He wrecked the car, drug me behind the wheel then took off.”)

https://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?p=854687#post854687

Public defender’s advice

http://newyork.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/70300494.html


Other people may give you other advice; stand by.

If I can't bring my infant, I may as well just pay the fine now. I will not be able to leave her with anyone for very long. Does anyone know what 2 points will do to our insurance? I suppose I should just call State Farm and ask.

hang in there

My heart goes out to you (and I do mean it). I can't really give a good advice, but here are a few thoughts.

1) Do call insurance (maybe not yours) to find out how the first speeding offence is treated. If it's a typical scenario, you are in for a hike that may be a lot of money. In such case, do go and fight the ticket.

2) If speeding in excess below 10 mph is not going to affect your insurance, you can take a plea (reduced fine) offered by the magistrate or prosecutor or cop himself. If insurance does go up regardless, do not take any plea. Do not plead guilty. You are innocent until proven guilty.

3) request all related documents from prosecutor using discovery - this may tell you what was used to clock the speed, and whether it was done properly.

4) If you have to, take your infant with you to court. The judge may actually be sympathetic (as long as you explain that you do not have means of getting a babysitter or daycare). This may sound like lame excuse, but should not irritate the judge or negatively influence his decision.

5) If you need more info on how to defend yourself, try researching free pages of the advertised websites - they typically give enough information to build your case (traffic survey, officer's training record, radar calibration and testing, etc.). If you are unsure, please feel free to follow up with questions, and I will try to explain what I can. I am not an attorney, but much of this stuff can be simplified to a few key issues and argued in court by regular people.

6) there is no guarantee of winning - everything depends on a judge and how much he adheres to the letter of the law. For example, after everything you said, he can just say: officer testified that he observed you going above speed limit, therefore you are found guilty. Such is life and you will have to take that loss then. But, until it comes, just don't give up, try to prepare your best and pray that officer does not show.

Good Luck.

If you go to court, are you going to be there all day?

time in court

It depends. Sometimes it's quick, but more often it is a couple hours process.

I have found some web pages with peculiar details on GA laws, try to find them too (http://www.tipmra.com/contents_page.htm). I am not affiliated with that site, so hopefully this was not a solicitation. There are a few key documents prosecution is supposed to have, and if they don't - case dismissed. That's the theory. Sorry, I have not gotten tickets in GA yet, so cannot give you first hand advice.

Besides whatever is available on the 'net, also go to a good local library and check out whatever books they have on fighting tickets.

I see lots of babies at traffic court, and it's not a problem. If the child is crying loudly, the parent is asked to wait in the hall until their case is called.

I would definitely fight the ticket.

Pug

sukharev said:

I have found some web pages with peculiar details on GA laws, try to find them too (http://www.tipmra.com/contents_page.htm)..

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I think their GA page is in the members only section.

GA special

GA_questions said:

I think their GA page is in the members only section.

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try this one: http://www.tipmra.com/kgb/WEB/general/Georgia_Special.htm

Thanks! That is helpful.

You are welcome!

GA_questions said:

Thanks! That is helpful.

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Good Luck with the hearing. Try looking at other pages under that general link above - most of them are accessible. Specifically, try to find relevant case law (such as admissibility of evidence and required testing procedure). Also, don't forget to find out if the speed limit was legally posted (see other recent discussions on this forum).

Finally, it's a good idea to print out a sample transcript offered by the site, which has exact legal statements to say (like motions and objections). For example, an important objection would be to the officer's reading from ticket (he should have independent recollection of events, and you have the right to confront the witness).

Decided to pay.

I went in person to speak to my insurance agent today and I'm glad I did. It turns out that the type of insurance we have is not affected by speeding tickets, only accidents. So, I'm just going to pay. It saves me so much hassle and allows me to be at my son's preschool 'holiday party' which is on the same morning as my court date.
Thanks for all the advice!

I can't believe it, check again. You may have misunderstood, all insurances act pretty much the same way - when you get points, they raise your rates. maybe not on first offense, but think ahead and if you ever get an accident, or another speeding ticket, you will get much worse consequences than you would if this one is dismissed.

Going to court would not cost you anything! There will be another holiday party, trust me. In the worst case scenario, call the court and ask for continuance, but don't just give up.

And FYI - I've received my only two speeding tickets ever in GA and both were this year.

If it's your first offense you can always plead NoLo and pay the fine with no points added to your license. You can plead guilty and ask for a reduced sentence (like they've suggested to be under a certain mileage so no points go on your license and therefore do not affect your insurance).

If you go, I've had two different scenarios occur:

One judge called people up in groups of seven and went down the line assessing penalties. If you chose not guilty you were assigned another court date. The whole thing top to bottom took about two hours for the reschedule and/or fine assessment. (If you were guilty she just stated the fine and you moved along)

Anotehr judge tried everybody individually and it took FOREVER - over an hour just for roll call. Then tried everyone on the spot; so if you stated not guilty you had better have all your witnesses there with you to testify right away. Even the guilty pleas were not allowed to just be given a fine and leave, there was all kinds of formal legal mumbo jumbo (in my professional opinion - lol) and each case took about 5-7 minutes, which doesn't sound like a lot but it adds up quickly!

so just be prepared one way or the other and be sure to check again with your insurance on the points.