What Are the Best Strategies for Fighting a Speeding Ticket?

Roughly one in ten drivers in the United States gets pulled over for speeding. Speeding tickets are quite common, but that doesn't mean that there are no consequences whatsoever. While it's less serious as compared to other criminal offenses, you have to pay a fine and might even face license suspension. If this is your first time being caught speeding, you might be offered a speeding awareness course. Au contraire, if you're facing your second offense for driving a vehicle at high speed, you'll have demerit points allocated to your traffic history. You can expect ramifications from three to five years. 

Speeding violations tend to be hard to beat, but you should give it a try. You have the right to defend yourself against any criminal allegation - and that's what traffic violation is. You could pay the speeding tickets, but it will increase your insurance rates. To put it simply, it's like pleading guilty to the offense, and the insurance company will use it against you. If you have your mind set on fighting the speeding ticket, clearly understand what you're accused of and the way in which the officer measured your speed. 

What are the most successful ways of getting out of a speed ticket? If you really must know, please continue reading.

Go To Court and Receive a More Favorable Outcome

It doesn't matter if you were running late for work or you simply couldn't resist the appeal of the open freeway. The speed camera can catch you traveling in either direction. Whether or not you have to appear in court depends on the circumstances of your situation. You go before a judge, who will hear the arguments for the case. If your case is too complicated, you might have to seek legal counsel. At times, you can beat the speeding ticket by just showing up. The judge dismisses the case and that's the end of it. Nevertheless, if you fail to show up or are unrepresented, the court will most likely rule in favor of the state.

Challenge The Traffic Citation

You can dispute the police officer's personal opinion or their observations. The police officer's subjective beliefs lead them to ignore reality. If you've received a speeding ticket where the police officer needs to exercise some kind of personal judgment about the situation, you might be able to challenge the traffic citation. There's a subjective scale of speed, so the driver is required to produce a speed in relation to the standard speed limit. Perhaps the police officer's observations aren't correct. But it will your word against theirs. You must demonstrate that the police officer wasn't in a position to accurately observe the alleged violation.

Show That Your Violation Was the Result of a Mistake

Errors and mistakes are quite common when it comes down to speeding tickets. Minor ones can't be fixed by the court, but major blunders may and should get the speeding ticket canceled. If you can prove that it was an honest and reasonable error, the judge will dismiss your ticket. It's a good idea to seek legal advice when dealing with a speeding ticket error. An experienced legal professional will advise what path to take.  Hiring an attorney is definitely worth the cost. Representing yourself in court would be a huge mistake because of your lack of experience and legal knowledge.

There are certain things you mustn't attempt when struggling to dismiss a speeding ticket. Keep calm and don't become emotional or visibly angry. This won't help your case. Most importantly, don't argue that you know the speed limit. Ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it. You should rather say that your speeding didn't affect anyone. There's no guarantee whatsoever that your speeding ticket will be dismissed, but you should go over your options. Take as much time as you need to sort things out prior to going to court. You don't want to make a bad impression on the judge, do you?

If this is more than you can handle on your own, you shouldn't hesitate to ask for help. You might be able to decrease your penalties or remove them altogether. At any rate, your proposition will be analyzed, so the fine could be dropped. 

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