Points Reduced/Record Expunged

bob_loblaw · #1 09-10-2007, 10:19 AM

What is the name of your state? OH

My wife was ticketed yesterday for going 79 in a 65. This is her first moving violation, and I have never received a ticket, so I'm new to this whole process. I'm guessing this is a 2-point violation, and I would like to know if there's a way to remove the points and/or expunge the offense from her driving record (i.e. attending traffic school). I'm hoping that her good driving record (12+ years) would be taken into account. Does Ohio offer traffic school as a way to reduce your offense?

I doubt she would win if we contested the ticket in court. She doesn't know exactly how fast she was going (big problem), but there was a person passing her on the left when the officer used a laser to detect her speed (she was in the middle lane on the interstate). It seems unlikely to me, although not impossible, that the officer would pull over the person doing 79 and not the person doing 85 (or whatever the person passing her was doing) - if my wife was indeed doing 79. My outside hope is that the officer clocked the person passing her and then pulled my wife over by mistake. Unfortunately I have no way of even investigating this, let alone proving it. From what I've read, lasers are pretty specific, i.e. the office is specifically pointing it at your vehicle.

Anyway, you can see how we probably wouldn't have much of a case, so I was hoping there is something we can do to prevent our insurance rates from increasing. Can you go to court and ask for a reduced penalty? If you're denied/found guilty, do you have to pay additional costs on top of the fine from the ticket?

Thanks in advance!

GulfBreeze · #2 09-10-2007, 10:35 AM

first ticket? isn't driving school an option in your state. that would prevent points from being placed on the record....but she wont have a perfect driving record no more. insurance companies don't hike rates up on first offenses...depending on the offense. ask your local DMV is driving school is an option and take the class if so. don't try and place the blame on another speed breaker. the officer apparently chose your car and ticketed for breaking the law. you could see about reducing the fine, but telling the judge that a driver with a perfect record should be given a break is silly.

bob_loblaw · #3 09-10-2007, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GulfBreeze

insurance companies don't hike rates up on first offenses...depending on the offense.

Do you know this from experience? Just curious...

Quote:

Originally Posted by GulfBreeze

don't try and place the blame on another speed breaker. the officer apparently chose your car and ticketed for breaking the law.

I'm not placing the blame on anyone else, I'm just giving the background details of the situation. Besides, my point was that the officer may have gotten mixed up, but there's no way to prove that, so I guess that was just me thinking out loud, and should have been left out of the post.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GulfBreeze

you could see about reducing the fine, but telling the judge that a driver with a perfect record should be given a break is silly.

That's not what I said. I said I hope that past driving history would be taken into account when deciding if traffic school would be an option. Hoping something and telling a judge something are 2 different things. Like I said, I'm new to all this, though, so I'm not trying to come across as an "it's not our fault, we should be able to get out of it" sort of person. I apologize if that was the case. I just want to do everything I can to prevent our insurance rates from increasing. And based on your reply, I'm hopeful that we'll be ok in that area. Thanks for your opinions!

GulfBreeze · #4 09-10-2007, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bob_loblaw

Do you know this from experience? Just curious..

yes...i have had a few tickets. not close in time frame, but never saw an increase with a single ticket. in fact, i had an accident and didnt have an increase. accident forgiveness is what its called now. it depends on the ticket and the situation usually. your insurance company will decide but i would just take the class and get the points taken off.

bob_loblaw · #5 09-10-2007, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GulfBreeze

i would just take the class and get the points taken off.

Thanks again for your replies. Now I'd just have to talk my wife into attending traffic school

GulfBreeze · #6 09-10-2007, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bob_loblaw

Thanks again for your replies. Now I'd just have to talk my wife into attending traffic school

twist her arm if you have to...it would certainly benefit the both of you. here in FL, you are allowed to do it over the internet and submit the certificate to the county clerk for dismissal based on completing a class that was recognized by the state.

Maestro64 · #7 09-10-2007, 11:33 AM

It does not appear OH has a traffic school for tickets, you can search their DMV site and nothing really comes up except for new drives which are required to attend a course

[url]http://www.bmv.ohio.gov/bmv.asp[/url]

GulfBreeze is correct about insurance rates, depending on the driver, your past recorded and your insurance company's policies on checking driving records they may never find out and you can go along for 3 yrs and never get another ticket and your insurance would never go up. Mine goes down each year and I have had tickets, but I never give them a reason to check me.

Also, Laser has issue, there could me a number of reason he go a high speed, it does not have the issue of radar with it can me picking up any car on the road, but if the officer's hand moves when they take the measurement the movement can cause the speed to increase it is called "Slip" if you do a search on Laser and Slip effect you will see what they are talking about, there is videos on the web that shows exactly what happens. The longer the distance he is at when he makes the measurement the worse this is. He should have written down the distance he measure her at.

Lastly, you wife does not have to prove what speed she was going the officer has to show that she was going the speed he measured and there is not possibility for error or a mistake. To many times people walk in and think the only way to prove your innocent is to show what you were doing. Usually it is easier to show all the errors of mistake the officer made and reduce his credibility.

Lastly, there is always the possibility to plead the ticket down to no points, this depends on the officer and judge some places do this with almost everyone who walks in the doors and other do not bother, but it never hurts to ask.

bob_loblaw · #8 09-10-2007, 12:03 PM

Yeah, after posting here I actually got the bright idea to call the court and ask if traffic school was an option (duh on my part). It's not. So now I'm back to square one - either pay the fine and move on (and hope my ins. rates don't go up) or contest the ticket in court. I kind of get the impression that state farm will be pretty on top of things though when it comes to adjusting premiums.

So that brings me back to one of my original questions. If we contest this ticket in court and are found guilty, will the penalty be any more severe than if we had just plead guilty and paid the ticket (i.e. will we have to pay court costs, etc.)?

Thanks again, everyone!

Maestro64 · #9 09-10-2007, 01:32 PM

you only gain by fighting the ticket, because if you loss you are not better off than if you just paid it, just out the time for doing it. Unless you admit to someone else that they did not site you for the judge could always access you another ticket.

I have Statefarm and they do not routinely check, special if you been with them a while and never had any issues.