deltheking

Paying the police here is worse undeniably. Why would you do that ? You pay the fine, get points plus high premiums. Double whammy. Remember, the cop is never acting in your interest here. He/the city want you to just pay up.

A lawyer on the other hand will work for you. He is acting in your interest for your benefit. He can get the ticket dismissed with no points on your record with a small fee. Plus your premiums don't go up.

This one is such a no brainer really that it is so obvious !!

cbn42

How? I didn't know lawyers had these magic powers. OP has no reasonable argument other than "the fine is too high" and the officer has radar evidence. How can a lawyer get the ticket dismissed?

Jaimito Cartero

Why ever use a lawyer? Because you have the right to defend yourself.

Maybe the radar gun wasn't calibrated correctly. The officer may not show up to court. Or the judge may reduce the fine or charge. All very valid reasons, for these small speeding charges.

I've seen many small lawyers specialize in these cases, for $50-100. Seems like a good investment if it will hurt your license or insurance rates.

nrr

I take Greyhound Bus from NYC to Atlantic City regularly. A majority of the trip uses the Garden State Parkway. The speed limit is "generally" 65 mph, but a few stretches are "work zones" (even though NO work may be in progress)--the speed for those sections is 45 mph. On a recent trip, the bus I was on was pulled over by a NJ State Trooper, he was citied for doing 58 (under the 65 mph limit) in a 45 mph zone [that particular day I noticed 3 other busses being pulled over]. The driver WAS ticketed--I don't know what the fine was.
PS: (1)Cars were going well over 65 mph, but they didn't get ticketed.
(2)I believe that GH busses have speed limiting devices, so they can't exceed 65 mph (most other busses on this "casino" route don't.)
(3)I don't think GH will defend drivers--they are on their own.

deltheking

That's the job of the lawyer. No , he has no magical powers. As I said earlier in my posts - the local lawyer knows the county officials - and he works out a deal with them - like deferred adjudication, making it a non moving violation with fee etc - main thing being he will try to keep points off your license. Depends on each local county/city- so, a local lawyer for that city is the best.

For me the extra $100-$150 to the lawyer is worth much much more than my time and more importantly no points on my license which will raise your insurance premiums.It easily pays for itself - no brainer really.

gobluetwo

Chances are that the cop won't bother showing up b/c he knows he nailed an out-of-towner, and 99.9% of them will just pay the fine rather than sending representation to a court hearing. I've been in a similar situation exactly once, sent a lawyer, cop didn't show, so the judge dropped the ticket.

I don't know what state OP is in, but chances are that there is some sort of reciprocity between OP's state of residence and Ohio.

onobond

And how much was the marijuana ?

t325

I got a ticket last year and hired a lawyer for $40 to take care of it. What they did is they got it reduced to a nonmoving violation (loud muffler or some BS like that) with a higher fine. Lawyer gets their money. Municipality gets more money than if I just paid the ticket. My insurance company never finds out. Everybody wins.

Loren Pechtel

Yup, that's the name of the game in many places.

Around here it's a bit different: You take an online "traffic school" and they'll reduce it to a parking violation. The clerks will offer you this if you haven't done it in the last 12 months, the judge will offer this if you haven't done it for the same offense in the last 12 months.

In other words, the occasional "lawbreaker" pays the driving tax and the city collects the money. The people with a real problem rack up too many tickets for this and actually get the points.

ou81two

Which is exactly why you need a lawyer.

In some cities, they'll take the case and offer to only get paid if they get you off. $300 ticket, you lose, you pay the ticket. You win and you pay them $300. I've used a traffic lawyer before to great success. It's not just the fine, it's the points and insurance that matte as well.

I'd advise staying out of states that condone this kind of behavior.

t325

I got traffic school on another ticket (I know, I should probably slow down) but I actually had go to sit in a classroom for 6 hours while the instructor played a DVD about safe driving for us. I would have much rather done it online.

Loren Pechtel

There is some sort of in-person school here, I don't know the details.

The on-line version is reading material and a quiz.

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

There are small towns in Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland that are exactly like this. They will give a ticket (particularly if they see out of state tags) for anything over the limit, realizing that most people won't fight it. Even if the OP has been doing 31 or 32 he would have still probably gotten the ticket.

deltheking

This ! As I said in my previous posts - key thing is the counties need your money . Lawyers need your money . But you dont get points on your record and your insurance company dosent find out.

So, win win for all 3 parties involved !

DougDons

To follow up on my other post, my speeding ticket court date was today and the lawyer emailed the following results: 90 Day Deferred Disposition and fine+court costs of $224. So, just got to make sure I don't get another speeding ticket in the city and the ticket will be dismissed from my driving record.

So it seems like the $50 I spent on the lawyer was worth it, assuming my insurance would have gone up with the ticket on my driving record.