Getting out of a speeding ticket

[walleye vision]

I got tagged going 69 in a 55 in Douglas county. I've never gotten a ticket, and would gladly pay the fine, but want to keep it off my record for insurance purposes. I called the court in Douglas co. and they won't delay my court date (too far to drive anyway) and they say they don't have any way to keep it off my record, even if i pay. Anyone have any thoughts??

[jwhjr]

Pay the ticket and ask for no same or similar.

[vikingmeatwad]

Don't listen to those that say quit the fight and pay the fine. Many cities use speeding tickets as revenue generation and I believe cops get OT for showing up in court which is why they show up so often.

I fought a ticket once before (Owatonna) where the cop didn't even radar me, he just said I was driving too fast for the conditions. I laughed at him leaving court when the judge excused it after about 3 minutes.

Just my opinion but I stick more with traffic now to blend in and I haven't gotten pulled over in over 5 yrs.

[HawgMan]

Buck Up & Pay Up!!

Were you going 55 OR 69?

You broke the speed limit & the law, you gotta pay. Been there ,done that & paid.

Get over it already!!

[Dave S]

I got my first one in more than 20 years this summer for a 72 in a 65.

Where was this? I've seen people pass a Trooper doing at least 75 in a 65 and nothing happens.

[TheIceFishingKid]

Walleye vision

Unless the law was repealed in the last year your best bet would be to make it to your court date and ask the judge to drop your speed to 65mph because in MN on highways where the speed limit is 55 mph as long as your speed is 10 mph or less over the limit it doesnt go on your record and in 65 mph zones as long as you are 5 mph or less over the limit it will not go on your record.

I am surprised that the officer didnt drop it down for you, because my first year of college I got pulled over going 73 in a 55 and the officer dropped it to 65 in a 55 so it wouldnt go on my record.

There are ways to get out of tickets going on your record but they are individual to counties and cities not the state. Also it is not a 100% that if you show up to you court date but the officer doesnt that you will win, sometimes the judge will reschedule the date. Also you are NOT required by law to report the ticket to your insurance company, the only way they will find out about your ticket is if you buy a new car or get a new policy. Being that this is your first ticket even if you insurance company finds out your rates will not go up a lot. With my first ticket they only went up $50 for 6 months.

[upnorth]

Quote:

I am surprised that the officer didnt drop it down for you, because my first year of college I got pulled over going 73 in a 55 and the officer dropped it to 65 in a 55 so it wouldnt go on my record.

That depends on your behavior. If you argue or deny you were speeding they aren't going to cut you any slack and you are gonna get everything they can get you for.

I got nabbed about 8 years ago doing 72 in a 55 and was polite and respectful and he dropped it 64 in a 55 to keep it under the 10 mph over. I am sure that if I was cocky and argued with him I would have been written up for 72 in a 55. Yes sir, no sir goes a long way

[TheIceFishingKid]

upnorth

It also helped that at the time I was going to school to be a police officer.

[theoilman]

Minnesota has a "save driving school" program, as do many other states. I 'googled' "Minnesota safe driving school" and found out quite a lot - for about $30.00 (in addition to paying your ticket) you take a school - several options - home course, on-line, possibly evening class in some areas - the ticket doesn't give you a bad mark or points on your license or your insurance. A small fee to save a fortune in insurance increases. If you don't take the class, your insurance company WILL find out about the ticket - they are computer tied to all the law enforcement tickets!

[Fish On! Guide Service]

Go buy the book "Beat the cops". I personally know of several people who have followed what the book states and have gotten out of the ticket. Long story short, you basically sobpoena a ton of information e.g. radar gun calibration tests, that the enforcement agency either can't provide or doesn't have the time to find before your court appearance. Without the information, the officer cannot back up the proper functionality of their equipment and you win. Go check it out!

[TheIceFishingKid]

Fish On

This is not the case for the majority of departments. The majority of the departments do keep these logs and test them on a regular basis.

Oilman

Those schools are not run by the state and unless you are court ordered to take them they will not reduce your fine and they still will go on your record. MN does not use a point system so there are no points to take off of your record. These classes will however with some insurance companies reduce your insurance rates. Like I had mentioned before your insurance company will most likely not find out about a ticket unless you get new coverage, change a policy, or make a claim on your policy. It takes to many resources to check every one's record on a regular basis. Infact your insurance rate is more based on your credit score than your driving record for most people.

[KTapper]

One way to avoid this is not speeding. Sorry im strict on speed in school for law enforcement. 69 in a 55 is not acceptable

[Shack]

Boy, we will go over this once again , like we did back on page one and two.

Quote:

Oilman

Those schools are not run by the state and unless you are court ordered to take them they will not reduce your fine and they still will go on your record.

This class oilman is talking about (like brought up on the first page) has to be given out as an option at the time of the ticket being issued by the officer. It is not state run, but county run. As far as I can tell it cost's about $75.00 if you’re county offers it.

Once again, it has to be offered by the officer when you are on the side of the road being issued a ticket. You can not sign up for it, you can not buy into a class to get out of a ticket, you have to be nice to the officer and have a mildly clean driving record.

THIS IS RIGHT FROM THE "Sherburne County Sheriff’s” WEB PAGE. IT IS ON THE LEFT SIDE MENU TWORDS THE BOTTOM

Quote:

Community - Traffic Safety Classes

Our Traffic Safety Course offers up-to-date traffic safety information to the public. The course offers a wide range of information from some of the most skilled drivers in the department. Deputies can log more than 50,000 road miles in a single year and learn the true value of defensive driving - from keeping themselves safe to responding to accidents of others.

Attend the Traffic Safety Course and you will learn from experienced officers how to be a safer and better driver. You will leave with techniques that you can put to immediate use behind the wheel.

Traffic Violaters

Sherburne County deputies have the discretion to offer traffic violators the option of attending the Traffic Safety Course in lieu of a ticket and the accompanying fines or court costs. If referred to the course, you will not be required to pay the fine for your traffic violation nor will an additional moving violation be added to your driving record.

Patrol deputies may refer you to the course for the following eligible infractions:

Speed violations, Violation of stop sign, stop light or yield sign Lane violations (over center line) Passing violations Failure to signal Illegal turns

Class information

Classes are held on an ongoing basis at the Sherburne County Government Center. For upcoming class dates and times, call the sheriff's office or check the table below.

Walleye Vision got a ticket and asked for info. He is willing to pay a fine, but just asked on here for help with keeping it off his record. I am sure he will be slowing down, but I hoped some of us provided him with some info that will help.

It is not like he is trying to get out of reckless or DUI, he is willing to pay up, with out having to pay out to ins. companies for 3-5 years.

Good luck Walleye Vision.

[hanson]

It is not like he is trying to get out of reckless or DUI, he is willing to pay up, with out having to pay out to ins. companies for 3-5 years.

Don't buy a new car, don't get in an accident, don't make any kind of claim, don't switch insurance and you should be fine.

If your premiums are increased, I can't imagine it will be by a whole lot of money on 1 speeding ticket. DWI or an accident and we are talking some serious money.

I think this was mentioned earlier but this is where having a good long standing relationship with your insurance company is a huge plus.

[Shack]

To be straight forward with you, when I got a speeding ticket that actually hit my driving record, I had Progressive. I changed my policy my times during that period and they never lead on they knew or told me about it. How ever, when ever I got a Progressive envelope in the mail, I opened it slowly. All ways wondering if they would find out about it this month or the next. If you can get out of that, IMO it is worth it . Life has many stress's, why have one more?

This ticket I had was 9 miles over the limit. It was a ticket I chose to fight and lost, so it went on my driving record because I did not plead guilty and make a ("no" same or similar) deal with the prosecutor (stupid ). Tried my hand at the tactics brought about in that book stated above, back fired .

Well, during this time I had my ticket on my driving record and almost 3 years into the ticket I shopped around for a better deal on auto insurance, figuring one ticket would be no big deal. Hey, being less than 10 miles over the limit, it should not be on my record right ? Wrong . Geico was the worst. They wanted $1200.00 more annually than I was paying currently and they went out as far back as 5 years looking at your driving record. One of the others companies was AIG, but they only looked back 3 years and told me to call back in about 4-5 months when the ticket was over 3 years old. Other companies where like AIG as well. It may have had something to do with being in my mid-twenties also??

Now I have Debbie and have not been pulled over since , plus I have slowed down also.

[hotlips13]

its funny how we try to get out of owning up to something we have done and try to avoid accepting responsibility for our actions. The original poster accepted that he was speeding and is willing to pay for his actions, why try to talk him out of it. we see people every day making false accusations or cluttering up our court systems because this very line of thinking, 'i didn't do anything wrong, its someone elses fault'.

same thing with DWI's, people drink and drive everyday and try to find a way to get out paying for their actions. God forbid that drunk driver hit a family member, friend, co-worker, neighbor, etc, and seriously injure or kill them. i wonder if we would we still be giving that person advice on how to get out of being charged with that crime if they hit someone we knew or if they hit us personally. i venture to say we wouldn't.

the suggestion about backing up the court system and wasting everyone's time with stupid subpeona for calibrations, training backrounds or whether or not the radar was tested is childish. If you can't do the time, don't do the crime and quit wasting everyone's time.

our society needs to quit pointing fingers at everyone else and take the blame for what they do. its what we teach our children everyday but we don't lead by example.

to the original poster, you are the reason cops DO drop the speed to under 10 mph under the speed limit. Fish on, you are the reason they don't.

i'll get off my soapbox now. thx

[jwhjr]

Paying the fine (and extra) and having a no same or similar suspended "sentence" is owning up to it. It is pleading guilty for the offense with the stipulation that if you don't have another violation in a determined period of time (usually a year) the original violation doesn't stay on your record.

[mngirl]

I got my first speeding ticket this summer. I am actually a horrible speeder, and this was the one time I was actually trying not to speed and wasn't paying attention!!! But luckily, I will be 25 in less than a month and my insurance (State Farm) does not count the first ticket against me.

[zamboni]

I thought I was going to get a warning on my last one. 70 in a 55, with a radar detector, it went off, cop was about a mile off. By the time he turned around, I was already stopped, window down with license and insurance card sticking out in my hand. Nope, wouldn't even write me down 1 MPH!!!! Could have saved me $10, but nope, wrote me for the 70 instead of 69. Needless to say, I borrowed my radar detector to a buddy going out to the NASCAR race in Michigan, he gave it back months ago, and I have no clue where it is. Pretty sure that radar detector is why I either didn't get a warning or get it written for a 69.

[zamboni]

BTW, I paid an additional $75 and had it wiped off my record.

[walleye vision]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I'm just gonna pay and hope my insurance doesn't check my record. Does anyone know how long a ticket stays on your record?

[vikingmeatwad]

3 yrs I think. At least thats what AmFam checked with my record before.

[deadeye]

Its just a ticket! It will be ok! Pay up and don't do it again!

I can say from experience the insurance won't even look at it and unless there is a change in policy, i.e. new car or crash or new driver, they won't look at it. If you get any more they will crack down, (that I do know, as having 3 in a year, I know im an dumb@$$ for driving like that). I talked to the agents and now that the tickets are off the record, after 3 years, its all good again.

Slow down and take the extra time and enjoy the Minnesota scenery! We really do have a nice drive compared to other places. Its maybe 15 minutes on a 4 hour trip driving 80 instead of 70. Plus those MPG's will go up too...

Can't beleive I just said all that being a need for speed guy with a car that will do 170. But, it really doesn't add up to go over the limit if you look at the numbers. Go fast on the track not on the road.

[wplatehunter]

Good for you.

[upnorth]

Way to go!! And I don't mean that sarcastically. I think the ticket stays on your record for 3 years. And other are right on that if you don't do anything to change your insurance you are fine.

[hanson]

If you guys are actually curious about whats "on your record", go down to your police department and see if they can pull your record for you. I believe dispatch can do that for you still, at least my PD did about 6 or 7 years ago.

I tell you what, nothing will ever be "dropped" from your police record unless you previously arrange the "same or similar" deal.

My record indicates what date I passed my written drivers test, behind the wheel test, written Class A drivers test, Class A behing the wheel, Class A pre-trip inspection, etc. It also has a careless driving from when I was 17, a speeding ticket sometime in college, and the date I earned my snowmobile safety certificate. Its all on there, nothing is ever dropped from the record.

Now that doesn't mean your insurance company will look back that far at your driver's record. Seams like most look back 3 years at your drivers history.

If your looking for cheap(er) insurance, nothing beats driving a higher mileage, older vehicle while remaining accident free and over the age of 30. Last 5 years of my life, my insurance (full coverage) on my GMC has dropped incredibly. I'm paying less than half what I was about 3 years ago. Nothing has changed other than my age and the age of the vehicle.