Financially better to plead "guilty" or "not guilty" in traffic court?

[KellieB62]

Financially better to plead "guilty" or "not guilty" in traffic court?

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Virginia

I was recently involved in a minor fender bender (no one was injured, and there was very little vehicle damage).
The police officer charged me with "following too closely"....I rear-ended someone who came to an unexpected sudden stop in a travel lane.

I know I'm probably going to be found guilty, regardless......But would it be to any financial advantage to plead "not guilty" and try to fight this?

I guess what I'm trying to ask is would my plea make any difference as to the amount I'm going to have to pay if I'm found guilty?

I hope this makes sense...

 

[ecmst12]

Being found guilty at trial will mean you have to pay court costs, too.

 

[RedemptionMan]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Virginia

I was recently involved in a minor fender bender (no one was injured, and there was very little vehicle damage).
The police officer charged me with "following too closely"....I rear-ended someone who came to an unexpected sudden stop in a travel lane.

I know I'm probably going to be found guilty, regardless......But would it be to any financial advantage to plead "not guilty" and try to fight this?

I guess what I'm trying to ask is would my plea make any difference as to the amount I'm going to have to pay if I'm found guilty?

I hope this makes sense...

Yeah, you really can not fight tickets. You have to manure around them. If you do not have any tickets on your record then you can get the traffic probation and this will not go on your record with a fee. If you have previous tickets and do not want it on your record then it will cost 350-500 dollars to hire an attorney to take care of it for you. They will ask for continuances and drag it out until you get either probation or civil penalty. Either way you will have to pay a fine, if you do not want it on your record then you can do what I just said. If however you want to pay for it then you are welcome to do that but you can expect your insurance to go up depending on how many points are on your driving record.

Good Luck.

 

[KellieB62]

Being found guilty at trial will mean you have to pay court costs, too.

If I'm understanding you correctly, that means just pleading guilty to begin with would eliminate a "trial" and court costs, and therefore would end up costing me less in court.

I know it would make my insurance go up, though....

 

[KellieB62]

Yeah, you really can not fight tickets. You have to manure around them. If you do not have any tickets on your record then you can get the traffic probation and this will not go on your record with a fee. If you have previous tickets and do not want it on your record then it will cost 350-500 dollars to hire an attorney to take care of it for you. They will ask for continuances and drag it out until you get either probation or civil penalty. Either way you will have to pay a fine, if you do not want it on your record then you can do what I just said. If however you want to pay for it then you are welcome to do that but you can expect your insurance to go up depending on how many points are on your driving record.

Good Luck.

Yes, it looks like I will have to pay, one way or another......Thank you for the advice, though...