Best defense for getting ticketed at 85 in a 65 mph zone in Connecticut today

Regarding Fighting Speeding Tickets

Couldn't help but notice how long / old this thread is. Speeding tickets are obviously an ongoing issue with any driving based community.

I saw comments about fighting, not fighting, court and lawyer options, etc.

Every state has different procedures and penalties and in some cases every county within the states and even each court within each county can have their own procedures and penalties as well. In NY, there are hundreds of local town and village courts that offer different types of options and can range from fair and even helpful to pure evil. NYC is then a whole other system with a whole different way of handling traffic tickets. Then add on top of all this all the people who may be licensed in State A but get a ticket in State B--different states all have different rules with respect to tickets issued out of state.

Bottom line is every case is different and there are never any one size fits all solutions when it comes to dealing with a speeding ticket. It may be easy to do something about a ticket, it may be near impossible. You may live close to a court and may be able to handle it yourself, you may not. You may have a good driving record or a terrible one, you may drive commercially or barely drive at all, etc. Every situation is different.

My law firm fights moving violations in NY. I'm not advocating for hiring a lawyer as much as I'd advise people to take advantage of any offer for a free consult from a reputable lawyer BEFORE paying and pleading guilty if you are leaning that way. There may be simple inexpensive fixes available and/or there may be dangers you are not aware of (certain surcharges or other penalties). It can never hurt to do 5 minutes of research with someone who knows what they are talking about. If anyone happens to have a speeding ticket in NY, feel free to read a little more on our site and reach out if you have any questions. We'll always tell clients what they are facing and how we may be able to help and whether it may be worth it to fight it one way or the other.

One final note--any internet book or system that claims to "beat traffic tickets" but does so without regard to what state/county/court the ticket is in is absolutely useless. Don't go that route for information about a speeding ticket.

My hometown

tonysuburb said:

After the trooper asked for my credentials I looked at him and said "Trooper D**e. I had worked with him as assistant coaches for my son's junior baseball league. He looked at me with my helmet on and said "Who are you?" and I told him my name and how we were one degree of separation. He turned and went back to the cruiser and did something for 5 minutes. When he came back he said "I was following you at 90 MPH and called it in as a "runner". (this section of the highway is notorious for 120MPH wheelies for stunt riders who decide to outrun the troopers ). He said that because it was broadcast, he couldn't do anything about giving me a pure warning. I was lucky that he didn't give me a reckless driving chit.

I am a safe rider. I would like to use the "removal from harm's way defense" but will opt for the fine and no-points against license deal.

Click to expand...

Wow, here I am half way around the world working in the defense industry and I read about my hometown here on the forum. MHS class of 1978. I know that stretch of road well. I had my 1974 Monte Carlo up to 100MPH right there. I always called it the Manchester Bypass.

I get home the first of April and look forward to some riding.

Good luck on the ticket.

Kevin

Really an interesting thread. I know there are times I travel over a posted limit and accept the consequences of doing that. I am very careful to stay at the posted limit or less in school zones, entering small towns, in town, areas where I think there is a decent chance of an animal or something entering the roadway, etc. When pulled over I am always very respectful of the officer as I know they're just doing their job. I was even nice a couple years in Idaho where I was pulled over for 1mph over the posted limit.

I've had good success contacting the court listed on a ticket and getting in touch with a prosecutor and talking with them on the phone. If you have a clean record it might be worth a try. Probably works better in smaller areas. Since I tend to like the roads less traveled I've had more citations in smaller areas. If you are over the limit on a secondary road that isn't in a populated area whoever you talk with on the phone probably knows the area. I live in Washington, and from my experience they often don't follow their own rules. I've never hired a traffic attorney but I have been able to get out of quite a few citations because they didn't follow the rules with regard to timelines. Some of you may frown on that, but I feel that both sides need to follow the rules. We've all heard the stories of guilty criminals going free because they weren't read their Miranda rights. While less than ideal, the integrity of the system is important too.

Having had the pleasure of talking with a lot of you fellow BMW enthusiasts on the road over the years I believe that we largely, as a group, present a decent image to the motoring public. We're typically ATGATT, our bikes aren't loud, not too many tat's, piercings, etc. Right or wrong, most folks probably feel differently about being passed by a guy in a full face helmet, textile suit on a K1600 than a guy on a loud V-twin in a tank top and half helmet. As riders (of any brand) I do think we owe each other the respect of not making the group look too bad. If you're inclined to travel over a posted limit just try to apply some common sense. If you get a citation it's up to you how you want to handle it I don't think it's fair to criticize someone else's choice unless they're actually breaking a law (bribing, etc) to avoid the consequences of their actions.

what Jeff said. ^