I Got A Ticket

[eddiememphis]

45 in a 30. $180 and four points, unless I pay it online in 10 days. Then it's $120 and two points.

The last speeding ticket I can remember getting was in 1989. Issued by a New Mexico state trooper to a silly teenager, eager to get to Ennis, Texas for Super Chevy Show. We had just painted my buddy's '69 Camaro and I wanted to get there to show it off.

I am tempted to go to court. I am guilty- it's on John Law's body cam. He walked up and I said "You got me". However, I was very proud of my spotless driving record.

I don't care about insurance. This will not change my rate. I am self employed so it won't change anything there.

It is a matter of pride.

I am tempted to go down to Fountain for the court date, talk to the judge and see what it would take to keep it off my record.

[Little Dutch]

45 in a 30. $180 and four points, unless I pay it online in 10 days. Then it's $120 and two points.

The last speeding ticket I can remember getting was in 1989. Issued by a New Mexico state trooper to a silly teenager, eager to get to Ennis, Texas for Super Chevy Show. We had just painted my buddy's '69 Camaro and I wanted to get there to show it off.

I am tempted to go to court. I am guilty- it's on John Law's body cam. He walked up and I said "You got me". However, I was very proud of my spotless driving record.

I don't care about insurance. This will not change my rate. I am self employed so it won't change anything there.

It is a matter of pride.

I am tempted to go down to Fountain for the court date, talk to the judge and see what it would take to keep it off my record.

Unless things have changed a lot, your first court date is just accepting or declining the plea deal you’ve already been offered. No chance to speak about the charges. If you decline they set another court date for some time in the future. You can request a jury trial if you like and want to pay for it. I’ve taken one ticket to trial before. It was a P.I.T.A but my charges were dropped.

[earplug]

Last time I was at court they pulled the cases on file alphabetically. So your name has some bearing on how long you will wait. Depending on how you value your time you might reconsider.

[brutal]

$120 is a cheap and easy out.

I made the mistake once of going to (mandatory) court appearance for a 30 over ticket in Denver (DIA) instead of paying my usual ticket attorney $800 (his going rate at the time). When you find the guy that golfs with an ADA, stick with him. He'll postpone the court "appearance" until his golf buddy is running the docket.

I've easily paid that in insurance increases in addition to the fine and points assessed (I think it was $400 and 4 points).

[Great-Kazoo]

Usually when you show up, or use to. You end up talking to some lower tiered "court rep". Who will, hopefully, with your clean record, reduce the points down to 2. But still bang you on the fine.

Like a Denver traffic cop told me years ago. After telling me he wrote in the comments, suggest a reduction to 2 pt's. When i asked, if you're doing that, why bother writing me a ticket, at all?
Hey, It's all about the money.

[def90]

I have a lead foot and have gotten my share of tickets over the years. So far of all the tickets I’ve received the only ones that show up when my insurance company does their search was a speeding ticket I got from the infamous Morrison PD in 2020 during the pandemic (which appears as a careless driving or something like that) and a ticket I got in Idaho in 2021. None of the other Boulder, Colorado or Wyoming tickets have ever shown up. I don’t think I’d sweat it.

[rondog]

Take Popcorn with you, nobody can resist an adorably cute Beagle!

[eddiememphis]

Take Popcorn with you, nobody can resist an adorably cute Beagle!

Haha! Tell the judge I was rushing home to care for my dog that has an incurable disease- adorableitis!

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Popcorn/i-J74XBNJ/1/015e6df7/S/IMG_2947-S.jpg

I think the one thing we can all agree on is Fountain sucks.

If I never get back there it will be too soon.

[ruthabagah]

I bought a radar detector in 2009 after being harassed during a stop by a local cop, that’s the last time I got a ticket. My take on it: if a police officer has the right to monitor my driving without my consent, I have the right to know when/if they are doing it.

[SouthPaw]

As someone who has spent a lot of time in traffic court, it’s most definitely worth going in and ‘fighting.’ You can negotiate with the court and they will likely make you a deal of a ‘defective vehicle’, zero points, with the agreement you don’t get another ticket for a year. With a clean driving record, they may even make you a better deal. Since you won’t be out anything for work/personal time, you don’t have anything to lose.

[JoeRoss]

You can negotiate with the court and they will likely make you a deal of a ‘defective vehicle’, zero points.
It has been YEARS ago, but that is what they did when I went to court over a ticket.

[wctriumph]

You admitted it. Be a man (or a woman if you choose) and pay it. Take responsibility and move on, do the honorable thing! It is called integrity.

[battlemidget]

As someone who has spent a lot of time in traffic court, it?s most definitely worth going in and ?fighting.? You can negotiate with the court and they will likely make you a deal of a ?defective vehicle?, zero points, with the agreement you don?t get another ticket for a year. With a clean driving record, they may even make you a better deal. Since you won?t be out anything for work/personal time, you don?t have anything to lose.

This

[TEAMRICO]

I think the one thing we can all agree on is Fountain sucks.

Hey now!!!!

[buffalobo]

If you decide to go court route don't be the guy who inputs the court date into the wrong day or month in your electronic calendar. At best you look like a bonehead when you show up a month early and cannot be found on the docket, at worst a very embarrassing and expensive arrest for when you stand up the judge.

Going to court with a long time clean record can often result in suspended ticket with promise of no future tickets.

[FoxtArt]

Got one in Florida from a "revenue generating camera" that claimed I ran a red.

I was turning right on red, which Florida statutes permit. 3rd party company that then converts to a citation, they bank on 50% of citations being cost prohibitive to appear in person to fight.

The video they present shows a string of about 6 vehicles all turning right on red, which you can see it flash on all of them.

I hate corruption. But that's a bit off topic.

[Eric P]

If traffic enforcement was about safety, there would be zero fine. Just points towards a suspended license.

But we all know traffic cops are revenue generation bots. Nothing more.

[Bailey Guns]

And yet there's no shortage of people willing to keep the "revenue generation bots" in business. Maybe some of the public are just really slow learners.

I got my first ticket in about 30 years at a "slow down" spot on the highway between Altus, OK and Vernon, TX. It was for 72 in a 55. I thought I was going closer to 79. I was quite guilty. I didn't argue with the deputy. I was polite and so was he. I paid that rather exorbitant fine to the county/state and moved along with my life. I also slowed down from then on when I drove that 1 mile stretch of highway.

Safety is only one component of traffic enforcement. Fines are a way of changing behavior and a punishment for violating the law. The speed limits are, generally speaking, in place for safety. Cops don't regulate speed limits. They regulate speeders. I can absolutely 100% guarantee that probably 2 or 3 out of every 5 people who are stopped for speeding actually get a ticket for speeding. It's usually for some other minor issue that can be easily fixed by paying a much smaller fine.

So many people bitch and moan about cops writing speeding tickets...yet they continue to speed and get tickets.

[00tec]

The problem with traffic tickets is that the profit goes directly into the department's coffers. I get that it can change behavior, but with how it is currently ran, policing for profit has become a regular thing (I'm looking at you Campo). When half of your town's budget is fed by 1 asshole, it's hard to ignore.

[crays]

The problem with traffic tickets is that the profit goes directly into the department's coffers. I get that it can change behavior, but with how it is currently ran, policing for profit has become a regular thing (I'm looking at you Campo). When half of your town's budget is fed by 1 asshole, it's hard to ignore.

Sherriff's deputy? I can't imagine Campo having it's own police force (even a force of one). But I do know that big trucks barely even slow down on that stretch of 287 through Campo and Springfield, even though it is right through the middle of town...

[Bailey Guns]

The problem with traffic tickets is that the profit goes directly into the department's coffers. I get that it can change behavior, but with how it is currently ran, policing for profit has become a regular thing (I'm looking at you Campo). When half of your town's budget is fed by 1 asshole, it's hard to ignore.

Here's how fines are distributed in Colorado:

https://law.justia.com/codes/colorado/2020/title-42/article-1/section-42-1-217/

It's not like cities or counties get to keep all the money they collect.

[eddiememphis]

I was not complaining about it. I am not trying to get out of it.

I do not lack integrity as I have been accused, by a stranger that knows absolutely nothing about how I live my life.

I fully admit that I was speeding and John Law caught me.

I was simply pondering if it is worth driving 80 miles to go to court to keep my previously spotless driving record clean, for no other reason than I like it that way.

The answer is no, of course not.

[Martinjmpr]

Didn't the police chief in Morrison get fired because the city said his cops weren't writing enough tickets? I thought I read that on one of the local news web sites a couple of years ago.

[kidicarus13]

Didn't the police chief in Morrison get fired because the city said his cops weren't writing enough tickets? I thought I read that on one of the local news web sites a couple of years ago.https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/morrison-police-chief-resigns-speeding-ticket-revenue-budget/73-15b8f875-de6b-42d2-b544-1b100bd9c325

[TFOGGER]

$120 is a fairly low velocity tax. Faced with the same thing (in Lakeside, population 9, 4 cops) I just paid it and moved on.

[eddiememphis]

I tried to pay it yesterday but it is not in the system yet. I called to find out what was going on and the girl said it can take a month to upload.

I also learned if I go to court, they may offer reduced points from the original ticket but the fine is the same.

So I can drive 80 miles each way and pay the full $180 and hope for a point reduction. Or pay online, eventually, and get the $120 and two point deal John Law told me about.

The obvious course of action is to pay online, hang my head in shame any time the subject of driving record pops up and of course, go to extreme measures to ensure I never again find myself in the municipal armpit that is Fountain, Colorado.

[Gman]

I've had one ticket in the past 30 years. Was on a road trip from CO to WA and back. I mentioned to the WA state trooper that I hadn't had a ticket in over 20 years. He said, "Well, you had a good run." [Coffee] No points system for the out of state ticket.

I considered it a stupid tax for me not paying enough attention and paid it. CO never knew about it and it was never an issue with insurance.

[brutal]

https://i.imgur.com/zz9BtDK.png