Speeding Ticket in PA

[vykunt78]

What is the name of your state? PA

I live in PA. I got a ticket 15 days back in ohio which was just a citation and fine, I did not receive any points but 3 days back I was driving on PA Turnpike where the speed limit is 55 and the Cop clocked me from behind for about 1/2 mile at 78 and he said that if I just pay the ticket I will get 4 points. He asked me to appear in the court and plead my case where in I might be able to reduce the points. Which might help me reduce my car insurance. I dont know what to do.

At the back of the ticket's mail in portion there are 2 choices

1. I plead not guilty and request a trial.

2. I plead guilty.

I know that I have to sign beside "I plead Guilty", but am I also supposed to send in the cheque because I think if I mail in the cheque I may not get any summons from the court.

Please advise whether I should just send the form or should I also include a cheque? Again I might be wrong so please let me know what should I do?

[flinching]

Originally Posted by vykunt78

What is the name of your state? PA

I live in PA. I got a ticket 15 days back in ohio which was just a citation and fine, I did not receive any points but 3 days back I was driving on PA Turnpike where the speed limit is 55 and the Cop clocked me from behind for about 1/2 mile at 78 and he said that if I just pay the ticket I will get 4 points. He asked me to appear in the court and plead my case where in I might be able to reduce the points. Which might help me reduce my car insurance. I dont know what to do.

At the back of the ticket's mail in portion there are 2 choices

1. I plead not guilty and request a trial.

2. I plead guilty.

I know that I have to sign beside "I plead Guilty", but am I also supposed to send in the cheque because I think if I mail in the cheque I may not get any summons from the court.

Please advise whether I should just send the form or should I also include a cheque? Again I might be wrong so please let me know what should I do?

Okay, here's what you do:

Sign beside "I plead not guilty and request a trial." That's how you get a summons from the court. DO NOT plead guilty, and DO NOT send a check. There's no need to raise your insurance points and raise your premiums.

You will get the summons in the mail giving you a court date. Or, you may be able to just call a number on the ticket to schedule a time or day that is most convenient for you to appear.

When you go to the courthouse to appear, you sign in at the reception window, then go into the court courtroom and sit down anywhere. The state prosecutor will be calling people back to an office one at a time to talk to them.

When he calls you back, it will be understood that you're trying to get out of getting any points. He will reduce your charge so that you either get no points, or only 2 points. Hopefully it will be no points.

You then go back out and sit down. You eventually will be called up to the judge and the prosecutor will inform the judge what you're doing and the judge will ask if you agree. You'll agree, pleading guilty to a lesser charge. And then you'll go out of the courtroom and pay the fine at the reception window. You will pay a higher fine than you would have if you had pleaded guilty....however, you'll save far more money in the long run by avoiding some points.

The violation will still show up on your driving record, but it will be generic and there will be no points associated with it....so it won't hurt you at all.

Do this EVERY TIME you get a moving violation ticket. Remember, the local police departments don't want people to give insurance companies more money...they want their department and township to make more money.

**On a side note, if you ever get a moving violation ticket in the future in another state outside of PA, just check off "guilty" and mail it back with the check. I say that b/c different states are weird and may not allow you to reduce points by pleading not guilty and appearing in court. You'd waste time and money. Also, any violation you get outside of your state....WILL get reported to your state's DMV but will only show up as a 2 point violation, which is the minimum amount of points you can receive for a violation. So, if you were caught driving 20 miles over the speed limit, and would get 4 or more points in your state**************.it will only be 2 if it happened to be out of state. You'll never get more than 2 points out of state, for your state.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

[Bravo8]

I understand that flinching is trying to be helpful, but his response is a bit incorrect.

Not all courts operate the same, so it may or may not go as flinching stated.

If you plead guilty by mail, you need to send the check or money order in for the full amount. If you don't, the court will likely refuse your plea and simply set a court date for you. If you wish to plead guilty and make a monthly payment plan, then you will need to appear personally in the Judge's office (no appointment should be necessary). Explain to the staff what you would like to do, and if approved by the Judge, they will place you on "time payments".

If you plead not guilty, you will have to appear in court for a Summary Trial. In all likelyhood, the prosecutor for the case will be the officer who issued the citation. You can ask the officer to accept a plea agreement where you plead to a lesser statute that carries no points (such as "Obedience to traffic control devices" - Section 3111A) or to a reduced speed, which may reduce the number of points (depending on the speed you plead guilty to).

The fine will likely be less than the original citation, due to the fines being set by statute. Even section 3111A will be cheaper, as it's $25 plus costs (total of $105.50)

Depending on the offense, it may or may not appear on your driving history (3111A will not, speeding will regardless of the speed). Also, the assessment of points depends on the offense you plead to.

Lastly, Pennsylvania does not enter minor traffic violations from out of state on your Pennsylvania driving history, even when notified of such by another state.

[flinching]

Originally Posted by Bravo8

I understand that flinching is trying to be helpful, but his response is a bit incorrect.

Not all courts operate the same, so it may or may not go as flinching stated.

If you plead guilty by mail, you need to send the check or money order in for the full amount. If you don't, the court will likely refuse your plea and simply set a court date for you. If you wish to plead guilty and make a monthly payment plan, then you will need to appear personally in the Judge's office (no appointment should be necessary). Explain to the staff what you would like to do, and if approved by the Judge, they will place you on "time payments".

If you plead not guilty, you will have to appear in court for a Summary Trial. In all likelyhood, the prosecutor for the case will be the officer who issued the citation. You can ask the officer to accept a plea agreement where you plead to a lesser statute that carries no points (such as "Obedience to traffic control devices" - Section 3111A) or to a reduced speed, which may reduce the number of points (depending on the speed you plead guilty to).

The fine will likely be less than the original citation, due to the fines being set by statute. Even section 3111A will be cheaper, as it's $25 plus costs (total of $105.50)

Depending on the offense, it may or may not appear on your driving history (3111A will not, speeding will regardless of the speed). Also, the assessment of points depends on the offense you plead to.

Lastly, Pennsylvania does not enter minor traffic violations from out of state on your Pennsylvania driving history, even when notified of such by another state.

bro, follow what i said. this dude didn't really add anything to what i said. never plead guilty. believe me. refuse to have any points. you will win, trust me. it happens every day.

[Altacus]

Originally Posted by flinching

bro, follow what i said. this dude didn't really add anything to what i said. never plead guilty. believe me. refuse to have any points. you will win, trust me. it happens every day.

This was kinda answered from the above but there's a little discrepency. I was caught doing 80 in a 55 in NY. I'll be honest I was doing 80, and I'm glad the cop cited me for 80 instead of 85 and I didn't give him any bs cause I'm not a whiner. Now my first question is, Is this considered a minor traffic violation (it's 6 points on a NY License by I have a PA license) and if it is does PA report it? Secondly are there any points involved in my heavy foot incident? My main concern is points on my license, in a sense I really can't be upset about the fine cause I was speeding. But the insurance is just insult to injury.

Also, I am in the process of chaning license, and registration over to NY. What do you think will happen? I think I already notified my insurance company of my move and now I'm trying to take care of the paper work.

Thanx in advance

[lwpat]

To Altacus

Don't hijack someone else's thread.