Fahrer

I am from NJ so the laws and behavior of the courts may be different.

1. You can just pay the ticket and forget it. In NJ your insurance will not go up for one offence like that on your record over a two year period.

2. You can show up in court and they generally in NJ knock it down to a lower point offence but they get a few more bucks in court costs. This more preferred if you already have a few speeding tickets and risk a 40% increase in your auto insurance.

Traffic school? I would think that would be required if you committed a more serious ofence and it is required to get off a bit easier. Unless I am missing something here I would just say pay it and move on.

dianic

he works in the court system... maybe he is not a lawyer!

911SLOW

Lawyer I say hence the red highlight on the car stable.

sjfehr

Wait, you've never had a speeding ticket. This is your first ticket in 42 years? My advice to you is GO FASTER! How can you own a Porsche and not have any speeding tickets? GO FASTER! If you're not getting at least one speeding ticket every couple years, you're not going nearly as fast as you could be.

As to the rolling stop- you broke a law, you're guilty. Don't try and fight it, you won't win. Just pay it and forget about it. Minor traffic tickets happen to everyone and are not a big deal.

bradyb

Yep, 42 year-old virgin. Started driving as soon as I could reach the clutch and gas - probably around 12 or 13. Yee-ha.

Alstoy

I would just pay it and move on. But, what would I know having gotten off with three warnings this year.

Cheers.

911FM

Not sure about the setup in CA. Of course, this whole thing has nothing to do with your driving or safety. It is just a way to bring $$$ to the state or municipality. Think of it as a tax. My suggestion:

- If it carries points, fight it in court, with a lawyer if needed
- If it does not, pay the fine and forget about it
- Buy a radar detector. May not have been helpful in this situation but it may save you one day

Good luck. Don't sweat about it. You are still a good person.

FM

cvazquez

Florida here... I pay $75.00 to an org called ticketclinic.com used them x3 and has worked thus far...

Good luck!

PHDX2

A vote here for traffic school.

Mike in CA

As was posted earlier you are eligible for traffic school if you have no other moving violations in the last 18mos; obviously as a ticket virgin you qualify. Many California counties (including Contra Costa) allow you to take traffic school on-line which is relatively painless and which I highly recommend as an alternative to wasting several hours of your life in an actual class. Here is a link to one (no affiliation or specific recommendation; I just googled CA traffic school and this was the first one that popped up)

http://www.onlinetraffic.com/


You will pay your fine, an administrative fee, and the traffic school fee. I'm guessing this will be somewhere in the vicinity of a $500 total "experience". The good news is that upon successful completetion of the class the "point" will be removed from your record. You really have no grounds for fighting the ticket and your only hope is that the cop doesn't show in court or something similar. You'll pay a fine anyway, waste another day of your life, and probably still end up having to attend traffic school if the judge isn't pissed at you for wasting his/her time and gives you the option to expunge your record that way. You did the crime now do the time. Good luck!

996 FAN

Good Luck with the tix. Please let us know the results.

yemenmocha

I'd fight it, or at least anything other than just bending over and paying the ticket (especially given the context). Now if you posted on here that you did 75 in a 35 then that's another story.

gravedgr

That's not a "real" ticket. You need to get out there and earn your stripes.

Mike in CA

Not sure on what grounds the OP would "fight" the ticket; he basically already admitted to the cop that he was guilty. In court it will be his word versus the officer if he tries to change his story and I can almost guarantee how that will play out. Running a stop is just as unsafe as speeding, and a judge won't be that sympathetic to a plea of " I just ran it a little bit".

If the OP retains counsel, any lawyer who is really looking out for his interest will just tell him to take traffic school; it will be much cheaper in the long run and his record will be cleared. The point of fighting the ticket, for something he was actually guilty of, and can address with minimum further investment of time and money is.......what exactly?

cannon1000

Call the clerk of the court. Ask if you can plead no contest. Pay the fine but ask for no points. Most states give you two life time no contests. At 42 - you can use one.

or just go to court with your driving record in hand from the state. Tell the judge that you stopped long enough for conditions. Take pictures of the intersection on the same day of week and time and similar weather. Show traffic and visibility. Remind them that you are innocent until proven guilty and there is no proof other than the officer witnessing it from <fill in the blank> feet away.

Usually - just your effort alone will cause them to dismiss it (as most State Patrol officers are not required to be there).

Good luck.