Got a ticket, then the office changed the charge and got new ticket in the mail

What is the name of your state? Iowa

Ok, heres the story. I got pulled over Thursday last week, the officer claimed he had me on radar at 41 (in a zone of 30). i didnt dispute it with him, nor did i agree with him, i just said "ok" and signed the ticket. on the ticket he did not write my speed in the fields provided, rather he left them blank.

he wrote the offense, which said "violation: speed zones on certain streets (11-15 over posted speed limit), under local ordinance AM/26.39(2)-c . I got a letter a few days later from the city attorney saying that the officer changed my ticket, basically filling in the area he didnt fillin earlier (he now wrote 42 in a 30).

The thing is, i am from canada but also have a US license. He asked me why i gave him the Quebec one even though i had a Iowa license. I think it pissed him off that i gave him my Quebec ID before my Iowa one, and i made a mistake to tell him that i gave it to him so my insurance wouldnt be affected if i got the ticket.

Also, I would have asked to see the radar but when i gave him my Quebec license, he went back to his car and about 5 minutes later, another cop showed up because apparently someone by my name and birth date in quebec has a warrant for their arrest and are considered armed and dangerous. So the cops were playing the intimidators and almost arrested me, they said i was lucky and that they would let me go. I felt extremely violated for some reason because I knew they were just intimidating me.

Anyhow, what is the best way to approach this ticket? I pleaded not guilty already and will be arranged with a court date. since the officer decided to write in the speed later, can i contest that he told me a different speed and could have forgotten?

for the most part im worried about insurance, is there a way to keep the offense off my driving record? I was charged with the Iowa license.. I dont want my insurance to shoot up, is traffic school eligible for this? How do i ask for traffic school?

thanks!!!
Max

[gobonas99]

I got a speeding ticket once for a 52 in a 30 (it was just past where the speed limit drops from 50 to 30). It was my first (and only) speeding ticket. Provided your record is clean (no other moving violations in the past 3 years), you can probably just do what I did....

Hire a lawyer that handles traffic violations (prob $100-150 max). They will go to court for you. Get it down to a non-moving violation (ie parking violation). Pay the fine for the non-moving violation (my parking fine was $50). You don't get any points. In fact, nothing goes on your record. Your insurance won't go up. No need to go to traffic school. You wind up paying a heck of a lot less for merely handing your ticket over to a lawyer (make sure you keep a copy for your records), and writing a couple of checks.

-Christina

i just called my insurance and they said the ticket would increase my premium by 57$ for 6 months (which isnt a heck of a lot). plus the ticket itself is 54$... so a little over 100$ for this ticket... However, the principle is that the cop was a sausage about the warrant and they were trying to scare me, and he went back and changed it later. i dont know if this can introcude doubt that maybe the cop forgot what speed i was really doing?