NJ speeding ticket advice

[YeahIdriveaVW]

Hey all,
So tonight on my way back from work I get pulled over down a hill. Route 206 in Princeton, going south towards Lawrenceville goes from a 35, to a 40 to a 45 down this hill and I just wasn't paying enough attention. I got ticketed going 54 in a 40. I was wondering if I could get some advice from those seasoned in this type of stuff since I would like to not have this show up on my record. So here goes:

- Right now my court date is on 8/10. I am pleading not guilty, and I know they change your court date when you do this. I'm going back to school in California on 8/15 and there's a good possibility I won't be back home until next May. Does anyone know how long I can extend a court date?

- One of my main concerns is not having anything show up on my record. Right now the ticket is 2 points. If I get it bumped down to no points and a bigger fee, does anyone know if that ticket would still be on my record? And if it is, what would be the best way to have nothing show up at all? Lawyer? (I don't think this is necessary for a 2 point ticket, but ya never know)

- How many times can I take defensive driving for a point reduction? I took it two and a half years ago when I had my last moving violation.

Thanks everyone, I'm hoping I can figure this all out

[jesus_ralliart]

Ya screwed up... pay the ticket, take the 2 pts and take a defensive driving class to drop the 2 pts. I'm not sure if two and a half years ago is long enough but never hurts to try.

[asdfasdf128]

if you indeed get the points, it'll remain on your record (the one insurance companies use) for 3 years. I'd say lawyer would be best bet. The prosecutor normally offers a reduction during plea bargaining, but I'm not quite sure whether they'd be able to completely wipe it clean.

[MattBear]

suck it up and pay the fine. its only two points.

[i_ride_fieroGT]

If it works like it does in PA if you get a no points ticket it will not show up on your record. Go to the district police station that you were pulled over in and ask if you can have a word with the officer that stopped you, explaine your situation and see if he can work with you. Most of the time just so they dont have to go to court they will work with you. good luck and slow it down a lil.

[Bane]

nothing in that post is true

[92sileighty]

just plead not guilty and pay the ticket in full. when you go to court, apologize for what you did, tell the judge you are sorry and you screwed up. accept any bull**** thrown your way by the ticketing cop or judge without a fight. if you show the judge your not immature or a douchebag, and accept responsibility for your actions, you might have a good chance of getting a lesser offense, no points, or getting the ticket dropped.

[FocusDude]

Originally Posted by i_ride_fieroGT

If it works like it does in PA if you get a no points ticket it will not show up on your record. Go to the district police station that you were pulled over in and ask if you can have a word with the officer that stopped you, explaine your situation and see if he can work with you. Most of the time just so they dont have to go to court they will work with you. good luck and slow it down a lil.

How do logically explain to a officer why you were going 54 in a 40 with out ermergency lights on your vehicle. If I was the officer I would push for more points for insulting my intelligence.

[**Alex**]

I'm well experienced in this type of situation from my younger days. Go to court (early) ask to speak with prosecutor, he/she will offer to drop ticket to careless driving I think it's called (don't quote me on the name) and you'll get no points BUT... You'll pay a much higher fine (I think usually double from the original amount) and court fee. Usually they'll do this to not affect your record and bring in more money for the township. Or if you don't want to pay such a huge fine plead guilty pay the $150'ish dollar ticket and take online course to drop 2 points off your record. I know of two sites one charges $50 and other $51. Once the online course is completed they forward the completion certificate to you for you to then present to DMV. The course can be taken once every 5 yrs I wanna say. I have em listed at my house I can PM you them later if you want.

[i_ride_fieroGT]

Originally Posted by FocusDude

How do logically explain to a officer why you were going 54 in a 40 with out ermergency lights on your vehicle. If I was the officer I would push for more points for insulting my intelligence.

You dont go and try to fight your case with him by saying you wenrt... you go up to him and accept that you did it and see if he will level with you on it... I talked with an officer that ticketed me for doing a burnout on school property one time. i told him im not going to say i dident do it or give some BS excuce i just asked him if he could pull the ticket and give me an offence that dident involve points but maby a higher fine somthing along thoes lines..... he went to court the next day and pulled the whole ticket for some odd reason.

[YeahIdriveaVW]

I do want to fight it, but I still don't know how long I can extend a court date. There's a very good chance that my new court date will be after I have left for school, but I know that there are ways to extend it. I think one of my buddies extended his for as long as 4 months because he was away at school. There's also a really good chance I may now be back in Jersey till next May, but I'm not sure what I can do then...

[turboman808]

You have a court date on the ticket. Show up on that day and then speak with the prosecutor. Show up in a suit and tie. Talk politely with the prosecutor and try and get it worked down to something that's not a moving violation and or points. When he helps you thank him and then wait to be called before the judge. Show him respect and thank him when you plead guilty to some silly fine and go about your life.

This is how court rooms work. At least 95% of them.

It's really not difficult to do this and save you tons of money.


Also throw a V1 in your car. I always use it and it just saves me all the freakin time.

[jesus_ralliart]

What exactly do you want to fight? You were wrong.

You should actually read what some of these ppl are telling you and do just that. I'll put it into steps for you so its easier to read.

1. Find the date of your court appearance on ticket.
2. Find the location of the court and dress nice the day of.
2. Go on that date to court and make sure you show up early so you are one of the first people to see the prosecutor.
3. Plead guilty and ask the man or woman if you can get the higher fine and no points. (He or she will usually do this as that brings in more money for the town).
4. Wait to see the judge and when you do accept your guilty verdict and hopefully your higher fine and no points.
5. Go to the front desk(reception) and pay your fine. Make sure you bring plenty of cash just to be sure. I don't mean 100-200 bucks I mean like 800. More is always better than not enough.

Finally, keep in mind, the court system is nothing more than a business and they are more than happy to take your money when you mess up.

[Gabe4AFE]

This is how it goes dude. Listen to my advice.

Go to court early.
Speak to prosecutor.
He will plead it down to Unsafe Vehicle operation, which is a $200 fine that carries with it a $250 surcharge. You can only do this twice. There are no points on this.
Pay fine.
Profit.

[YeahIdriveaVW]

I don't understand why I'm pleading guilty to anything, I know from experience that when I plead not guilty, I always have the opportunity to talk to the prosecutor and work it down. I want to try and wipe it from my record completely if I can.

So, still no one knows? How long can I extend my court date?

[Gabe4AFE]

Its up to the court really. Normally 2-4 weeks.

[turboman808]

Originally Posted by YeahIdriveaVW

I don't understand why I'm pleading guilty to anything, I know from experience that when I plead not guilty, I always have the opportunity to talk to the prosecutor and work it down. I want to try and wipe it from my record completely if I can.

So, still no one knows? How long can I extend my court date?

You've been told almost the exact same thing 5 or 6 times now. Either do it or don't. Your not gonna get it extended 8 months and will have to hire an attorney and end up with $1000 out of pocket. You got a date before you leave, seems to me a smart person would take advantage of that.

[Bates]

Originally Posted by Gabe4AFE

This is how it goes dude. Listen to my advice.

Go to court early.
Speak to prosecutor.
He will plead it down to Unsafe Vehicle operation, which is a $200 fine that carries with it a $250 surcharge. You can only do this twice. There are no points on this.
Pay fine.
Profit.

This is your best bet above. Jesus_raliart is right as well. I got a speeding ticket about a year+ ago in Wayne, NJ. I won't go into details into how fast I was going, but I was damn lucky that I got a nice cop. I was honest with him, and because my record was clean, he dropped my ticket from a 5 point ticket to a 2 point ticket.

After sending in a plea of "Guilty" I went to court early the day I was suppose to go (dressed nice of course), spoke to the prosecutor, and had my points dropped and ticket dropped to "unsafe operation of a vehicle". It turned out to be a 400$+ fine but no points, rather then a 90-150$ fine and 2 points (My insurance never went up). As Gabe said, you can only do this twice every few years. Needless to say, I now watch my speed a lot more closely, and don't mess around half as much, not worth it.

Sending in a plea of "Not Guilty" is risky especially when you are right at the edge of 15mph over the speed limit (which is a 4 point ticket). If you were 5-10 over you would have a better chance of getting it dropped in my opinion. Also, I am sure the cop was being nice giving you a 54 in a 40 rather then a 55 in a 40. Take that as a lucky break and plead "Guilty". Unless you want to roll the dice; it is your call.

[ein]

People are saying "plead not guilty" cause in PA if you plead guilty you don't go to court. Usually in NJ you have to go no matter what you plead.

Take papers stating your schools start date (you must bring proof of whatever is going to keep you from being in court) and tell them you're a student and would like to take care of this before you leave. If you're upfront and honest with a valid reason they usually work with you. Best case scenario is ask for a court date early so you can sort it out before you go, they'll probably do it if the officer's schedule allows it.

Then tell him you're an idiot blah,blah,blah, you're sorry and hope he hooks it up with no points. Usually they want the money more than the points, if you can't drive ou can't pay their tickets .

Check out the points test and eat the ticket is another option if you're sure it'll work.

[SWAT Team S14]

How about not speeding.....excessively?