From: "Ralf" Subject: Out-of-State Speeding Ticket Date: Thursday, February 10, 2005 11:18 AM
This week I had to make a rush trip to Virginia to visit a dear Uncle who had a heart attack. Had to speed up to pass a slow moving truck and just as I got around him, coming the other way was a State Trooper.. at the time I was doing 65 MPH,, sadly I found out I was in a 55MPH area. The trooper ticketed me and did not want to hear any excuses. Now I have the option of sending the fine or going back to Virginia and trying to plead my case. I do need all advice, good and bad.. first ticket in over 15 years. big concern is the possibility of increased insurance premiums. What happens if I just ignore the ticket, does the traffic court automatically judge me guilty,, etc. Any and all advice appreciated. thanks. RG
If you just ignore the ticket you will be judged guilty. Also, most states share databases of traffic violators. If your state has such an agreement with VA, your own state will suspend your driver's license for failure to respond to the VA ticket.
It will probably affect your insurance until you appear in court and are lucky enough to get it dismissed or have the charges reduced to, for example, "violation of state traffic signs". I'd bet your odds of achieving that in court are less than 50/50.
If you are very lucky, your insurance company may allow one moving violation per each three years. Mine does but fewer and fewer companies do these days.
Pay the fine you were guilty of speeding. You will loose more money if you try and fight it, also some states do not transfer points back to the state you live in, they just want the money. If you don't pay then they will possibly go after you and access the points on your license. Going to work at 4:45am last Dec I stopped and then went thru a red late in VA, I was the only car on the road, except the state trooper that got me for running it, It cost me 156.00. I live in a neighboring state, instead of fighting and loosing I payed it.... no points were transferred to the DMV My opinion only Glenn Beasley Chrysler Tech
As a resident of VA, I can tell you that it will do you absolutely no good to go to court - and that's if you live here. They don't cut any slack in the last coupla years. Pay it and move on.
If you haven't gotten a ticket in 15 years, you ought to have points in the bank, so your ins. co. shouldn't bug you.
Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my adddress with the letter 'x')
Do insurance companies (in the US) automatically get "feedback" from the cops when you get a ticket (for moving violations) ??
I don't think that happens in Ontario.
Besides, don't you have a right to privacy? What right does insurance companies have to info like that?
I'm not arguing that they naturally have an interest in that information - but isin't your right to privacy more important?
As for going to court and fighting it - you've got to remember the huge gov't debt in the US is putting increasing pressure on the states to cut services and raise taxes / revenues. Speeding tickets are nothing more than taxation in another form.
(and I still haven't paid a 6 year old speeding ticket in CT...)
Normally only at renewal time.... or if you give them a reason such as an accident.
Your right of privacy.. their right not to sell you insurance............
besides... driving records are actually public information.. with the right forms anyone can get that info I beleive under FOI or something like that... at least I been told.....
In New York, as long as someone pays their fine for a moving traffic violation, their insurance company find out about their ticket only if they do a check on the policy holder's license number with the DMV. Insurance companies are not "informed" by the DMV when xomeone gets a ticket, they (insurance company) have to seek that information. I've received a few speeding tickets and none have ever affected my insurance premiums.
I almost mentioned that in my previous post as a big part of the recent motivation I've seen in VA. Localities are making up for lost revenue from persoanl property tax tweaks by the state that have affected localities' revenue. The town I live in did a survey on fines cahrged by localities and is significantly raising all their parking and other fines - even started requiring cats to be licensed (there's about 100 jokes you can make out of that one). Cat license is $25, dogs are $5. What's up with that?
Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my adddress with the letter 'x')
Do the police keep in (their) records the details of who your insurance provider is? When stopped for a violation, and when they ask to see your insurance certificate, do they do more than check to see if it's current? Do they take the details of who the insurance company is so that they can inform them of your ticket at some point?
Is the onus on the police to tell the insurance company of your ticket (after it's been processed) or is the onus on the insurance company to periodically (or otherwise at their discretion) check your ticket records?
On Fri, 11 Feb 2005 06:45:08 -0500, Bill Putney wrote:
C: A license for my pet fish, Eric. S: How did you know my name was Eric? C: No no no, my fish's name is Eric, Eric the fish. He's an halibut. S: What? C: He is...an...halibut. S: You've got a pet halibut? C: Yes. I chose him out of thousands. I didn't like the others, they were all too flat. S: You must be a looney. C: I am not a looney! Why should I be attired with the epithet looney merely because I have a pet halibut? I've heard tell that Sir Gerald Nabardo has a pet prawn called Simon (you wouldn't call him a looney); furthermore, Dawn Pailthorpe, the lady show-jumper, had a clam, called Stafford, after the late Chancellor, Allan Bullock has two pikes, both called Chris, and Marcel Proust had an haddock! So, if you're calling the author of 'A la recherche du temps perdu' a looney, I shall have to ask you to step outside! S: Alright, alright, alright. A license. C: Yes. S: For a fish. C: Yes. S: You are a looney. C: Look, it's a bleeding pet, isn't it? I've got a license for me pet dog Eric, and I've got a license for me pet cat Eric... S: You don't need a license for your cat. C: I bleeding well do and I got one. He can't be called Eric without it-- S: There's no such thing as a bloody cat license. C: Yes there is! S: Isn't! C: Is! S: Isn't! C: I bleeding got one, look! What's that then? S: This is a dog license with the word 'dog' crossed out and 'cat' written in in crayon. C: The man didn't have the right form. S: What man? C: The man from the cat detector van. S: The looney detector van, you mean. C: Look, it's people like you what cause unrest. S: What cat detector van? C: The cat detector van from the Ministry of Housinge. S: Housinge? C: It was spelt like that on the van (I'm very observant!). I never seen so many bleeding aerials. The man said that their equipment could pinpoint a purr at four hundred yards! And Eric, being such a happy cat, was a piece of cake. S: How much did you pay for this? C: Sixty quid, and eight for the fruit-bat. S: What fruit-bat? C: Eric the fruit-bat. S: Are all your pets called Eric? C: There's nothing so odd about that: Kemal Ataturk had an entire menagerie called Abdul! S: No he didn't! C: Did! S: Didn't! C: Did, did, did, did, did and did! S: Oh, all right. C: Spoken like a gentleman, sir. Now, are you going to give me a fish license? S: I promise you that there is no such thing: you don't need one. C: In that case, give me a bee license. S: A license for your pet bee? C: Yes. S: Called Eric? Eric the Bee? C: No. S: No? C: No, Eric the Half-Bee. He had an accident. S: You're off your chump. C: Look, if you intend by that utilization of an obscure colloquiallism to imply that my sanity is not up to scratch, or indeed to deny the semi-existence of my little chum Eric the Half-Bee, I shall have to ask you to listen to this! Take it away, Eric the orchestra leader!.......
A one... two.... A one.. two.. three..four...
[piano intro]
Half a bee, philosophically, must, ipso facto, half not be. But half the bee has got to be, vis a vis its entity - do you see?
But can a bee be said to be or not to be an entire bee when half the bee is not a bee due to some ancient injury?
Singing...
La dee dee, 1 2 3, Eric the half a bee. A B C D E F G, Eric the half a bee.
Is this retched demi-bee, half asleep upon my knee, some freak from a menagerie? No! It's Eric the half a bee.
Fiddle dee dum, Fiddle dee dee, Eric the half bee.
Ho ho ho, Tee hee hee, Eric the half a bee.
I love this hive employee-ee-ee [with buzzing in background] bisected accidentally one summer afternoon by me I love him carnally.
He loves him carnally... [together] ...semi-carnally
There is no justice when it comes to traffic tickets. Pay the ticket ! ! ! I can't tell you how many out of state people I have had in my taxi here in La. who had to fly in to pay a ticket that they got on a visit here and didn't pay. When you go to renew your driver's license, auto registration, proffessional license, etc., the computer spits out an attachment from an out of state court and bang! you'r dead in the water.
Lucky for you, I have a brother-in-law that does stuff like this all the time, and in Virginia too! So I know the answer for sure. The answer is....... You will go to jail. Maybe in Virginia, maybe not. Depends on how the computers are working that day. But they will get you eventually.
I find it very funny that you think you could hide it by not paying the money.If you become a wanted criminal in several states, then your insurance company has a much better chance of finding out, don't they? Couldn't you figure this out on your own?Your best bet is to mail them their dough and forget it. If you don't live in Virginia, your insurance company may not even find out.
Remember, I speak from real life family experience. Not conjecture.
I can only speak for PA, but we have to provide our insurance information (company, policy number and expiration date) at every annual registration renewal.
In Texas at least, the burden is on the insurance company to check with the state for your records. If you'll recall, you gave them your drivers license number before they wrote the policy. They can't sell insurance to you without it.
As an attorney I got a real chill down my back reading some of the suggestions posted here. While I can't give specific legal advise in gerneral:
Never a good idea to ignore a moving violation.
Some states exchange information and with your insurance carrier.
Never plead guilty unless you really really want to.
Send in your ticket in a timely manner with a not guilty plea.
Call the court and ask if you can enter a plea to a lesser charge over the phone. If not consider taking on the services of a local attorney. The money you will save in insurance costs and possible points may well we worth it to you.
I am currently representing a fellow from Canada caught doing 98 mph heading south toward Albany, NY and 6 month later doing 92 mph heading north toward Albany. NY exchanges information with Quebec. He will pay huge fines, about $800.00 but I will keep the points low so that he does not lose his driving rights in New York and Quebec. He also picked up another non-speed related violation in NYC.
Last year we had a client clocked doing 146 mph on the Northway (I-88) heading toward the border. He was driving one of those nice German 2 seaters some of us lust after. The police were nice, they only wrote him up for doing 99 mph.
The OP has a clean record and was exceeding the speed limit by a modest amount. Your clients are repeat offenders who were driving to endanger. I understand why your clients would need a lawyer, frankly I think they belong in jail especially the guy who was caught doing 146. The OP is going to end up with a reasonable fine and points on his license for the next five years or so. As long as he doesn't get another ticket in that time the bump in his insurance rate isn't going to be that much, certainly not enough to justify the cost of going to court.
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