Waxxxed Red A-4

Well, I should have known this would happen but didn't epect it this morning. So I am rolling down I-95 South in Broward county and I get off at my normal exit where following me is a mini van. Out steps a uniformed Broward County officer. He explains that I was doing 100 in a 65 and following to closely to a vehicle in the HOV lane (not during HOV hours). He calls in my DL and Registration and has to call a marked unit to come and bring him a ticket book where he writes me two tickets as stated above. So now what do I do... Do I take the online course and avoid the attorney? If I choose the online option do I have to take two courses for each offense? Is there an option I don't know about? What about the ticket clinic? Is it allowed for a "mini van" with no lights and with the officer stating before he left "this is a unmarked Broward County vehicle"? How could he gage my speed other than his "mini van's" speedometer? Any advice will be appreciated along with if an online course is the only option which one do I take (Christian you said you had a pretty good one). Also, do I have to take two courses to clear this if I take it online?

Longwolf (Christian)

As for the ticket and the minivan, I don't know if you could even try to get out of that in court.

Waxxxed Red A-4

michael.zirkle @ gmail . com

Since I received two tickets do I have to take two classes? Does this also erase you from having insurance increases? What about getting a lawyer involved, is it worth it or should I just do the online.

Longwolf (Christian)

no idea on the 2 tickets/1 school thing.

Waxxxed Red A-4

What about this being the 8 hour or 4 hour course. From one person I just spoke to they said I had to take 1 course for each ticket one being 4 and one being 8...

TDI 4XMotion (Lee)

Is going to be nasty.

If he tagged you with his speedo, then he'll probably need to show that the speedo was calibrated within a certain amount of time - probably 6 months.

If it's not calibrated, then he could go by his visual estimate, then he'll probably need to show that he has taken the certification class and was tested/passed. Usually this is required of any officer using Radar and the like for traffic speed enforcement.

Some judges will let in officer's testimony of speed w/o any of the above. 100/65 is going to be a tough one to beat.

FTC is usually based upon speed, subject to the above.

Going to court is always a risk. Read the back of your ticket...The moment you contest your ticket, you waive the right to the statutory fine and the Judge can stick it to you if they find you guilty. Odds of getting "stuck" increase with a "bad" D/L record or a "bad" infraction. 100/65 + FTC is usually considered "bad" by most judges.

I believe that with 2 infractions at the same time, you can only elect the school option for one of them (assuming you qualify - no previous course in the last 12 months, etc.). You can probably call the clerk of courts to check, but they don't always get it right.

A4_Jax

i'd take the online class, unless you know a good attorney

quattrosissy

My first question is: How much was the "following too close in HOV lane" ticket?? Whichever ticket is more expensive and carries more points is the one you want to contest. You can contest BOTH tickets but I'm not sure what the exact procedure is on that, i.e., do they schedule each ticket on separate days?? . . . will the outcome of one ticket adversely effect the outcome of the other?? To play it safe, I would pay the lesser fine and contest the more expensive ticket.

Now, once you contest any ticket, you would expect that you go in front of a judge. You will, however, first you are scheduled for a pretrial hearing before you see a "real" judge. This pretrial is designed to alleviate judges dockets I believe and also gives you a "last chance" to plea "nolo contendere" (no contest) OR you can retain your initial plea of innocence and then you get scheduled to go in front of a judge. Mind you, the officer who wrote the citation does NOT have to appear at the pretrial hearing. Once at the pretrial, you can present the pretrial officer with a Motion to Dismiss (if you don't know how to format this type of legal document, they will provide one to you at the pretrial that you can handwrite your argument into, but you have to ask the Court officer/sherriff who tells everyone to please stand when the Pretrial officer enters the courtroom, for this document). The ONLY way you can get the case dismissed at the Pretrial stage is IF a deficiency exists within the four corners of that ticket . . . for instance, if they spelled your name wrong; if they referenced the WRONG street at which the violation occurred; if your vehicle make, model, license plate is all wrong in any way; if the statute the officer references is inconsistent with your violation, in other words, the ticket says you were speeding, however, the statute referenced on the ticket is for parking in a handicap zone, anything that would deter or otherwise impede your "paying the tickets" or that of a defense.

About 7 or 8 months ago I got a $580.00 ticket on I-95 in West Palm for doing 95mph in a 55. The reason the ticket was sooo much was it was supposedly in a construction zone WITH workers present. . . well, needless to say, I didn't see ONE construction worker working that day. I contested the ticket and while waiting for my "public request form" to come back from the DOT (this form would indicate a) which company was contracted for that stretch of highway and b) their hours of construction) my pretrial hearing was held. After getting the run-around from the DOT AND placing over 9 requests for this form I decided to plea "nolo contendere" ONLY because I live in Orlando and another 2.5 hour drive both ways to present an argument in front of a judge that I might not receive in time depending on how the DOT feels that day, seemed like a bad idea. Still, to this day, that form has yet to arrive. Anyways, with that said, the pretrial officer looks at your driving record (mine was NOT so great) and determines a "reasonable" fine from there. Almost everytime, unless of course you are a habitual offender, they will decrease the fine AND withhold adjudication (points). Not to mention, they will COURT ORDER a 4-hour traffic class that does NOT count against your 5 times in a lifetime.

In my case, they dropped the fine from $580 to $400 (which included the $40 court costs) AND withheld adjudication (no points!!) AND court ordered a traffic class which does NOT count against my 5 times in a lifetime. The outcome truely depends on both your driving record AND the degree of the offense. If you have a clean record but the offense was pretty bad, they will generally go REAL easy on you.

I am not a lawyer . . . the abovementioned is merely my experience, what you decide is entirely up to you. If you are uncertain about proceeding "pro se" so to speak, definately consult an attorney, but you will end up paying the attorney more than the initial fines, however, it is almost guarenteed that with the assistance of counsel, you will get all points withheld and more than likely the fines decreased, significantly. Good luck, hope this helps!!

Waxxxed Red A-4

I have contacted a couple of traffic ticket attorney's and they reinforced the same thing you said, "how is your driving record" I went onto the internet and printed it for 3 years and there is nothing on it at all. I think that going to a ticket attorney is going to be my best option at this point and letting them use the judge of their choice. I have also written a statement of events including I have been traveling this road for over 2 1/2 years. How can a mini van calculate speeds of over 100 without the proper markings or visable equipment plus not having any "tickets" in his vehicle to write me. Maybe he was just coming onto duty. Fingers are crossed at this point and I will drop by the clinic this afternoon, it is only $99.00 for them to handle plus any court charges or fines.