[tkong]

First of all, I acknowledge that what I did was stupid. Lack of judgement on my part.

So today I got my first ticket for speeding in the city of Torrance. I did a small power slide out of a stop sign turn. My wheels are in bad shape. (I know it was stupid). The motorcycle officer was going the other way and heard my exhaust and tires so he did a U-turn to catch me. The officer told me he could get me for reckless driving, get me for 6 points, impound my car, etc. but he was nice enough to write me down for going 60 in a 40 zone. He assured me that he would be there on my court day lol. I read a couple threads about trail by declaration, hiring someone to help, etc. What should I do in my situation? Should I just plead guilty? I'm also leaving for school in a couple weeks in Missouri so I don't know how I'll show up for court.


Also I talked to one lawyer who said traffic school gets you out of the point on your license however it doesn't necessarily mean it will be off your record, which means my insurance would still go up. He said this was a recent thing within a year ago.

In addition if i choose to fight the ticket, can the cop still get me for the reckless driving?

[aandrew335]

Did he clock you at all? Meaning does he have proof of your speed?

[tkong]

Originally Posted by aandrew325

Did he clock you at all? Meaning does he have proof of your speed?

On the ticket it says N next to radar which i assume means no.

[E90Flossin]

I live in torrance! They say they will show up, and some of them don't. They are nice for not giving you a harsh ticket though. Burden of proof is on him and since he didnt clock you, you have a good chance of fighting it....What intersection/street where you on? Cops like to hide in torrance

[silver07335i]

Originally Posted by tkong

First of all, I acknowledge that what I did was stupid. Lack of judgement on my part.

So today I got my first ticket for speeding in the city of Torrance. I did a small power slide out of a stop sign turn. My wheels are in bad shape. (I know it was stupid). The motorcycle officer was going the other way and heard my exhaust and tires so he did a U-turn to catch me. The officer told me he could get me for reckless driving, get me for 6 points, impound my car, etc. but he was nice enough to write me down for going 60 in a 40 zone. He assured me that he would be there on my court day lol. I read a couple threads about trail by declaration, hiring someone to help, etc. What should I do in my situation? Should I just plead guilty? I'm also leaving for school in a couple weeks in Missouri so I don't know how I'll show up for court.


Also I talked to one lawyer who said traffic school gets you out of the point on your license however it doesn't necessarily mean it will be off your record, which means my insurance would still go up. He said this was a recent thing within a year ago.

In addition if i choose to fight the ticket, can the cop still get me for the reckless driving?

The officer gave you a reduced ticket/citation, so pay the fine and live with the consequences of your actions. It's already better than the officer originally going to cite you for reckless driving, getting your car impounded, etc.

[uber]

you can also plead guilty during the arraignment and the judge will lower your fine. I had a 280ish ticket lowered to 120 that way.

[AzureHaze]

Pay the piper and move on. You admitted that it was your fault so no point in fighting it.

[yarviinn]

Originally Posted by tkong

First of all, I acknowledge that what I did was stupid. Lack of judgement on my part.

So today I got my first ticket for speeding in the city of Torrance. I did a small power slide out of a stop sign turn. My wheels are in bad shape. (I know it was stupid). The motorcycle officer was going the other way and heard my exhaust and tires so he did a U-turn to catch me. The officer told me he could get me for reckless driving, get me for 6 points, impound my car, etc. but he was nice enough to write me down for going 60 in a 40 zone. He assured me that he would be there on my court day lol. I read a couple threads about trail by declaration, hiring someone to help, etc. What should I do in my situation? Should I just plead guilty? I'm also leaving for school in a couple weeks in Missouri so I don't know how I'll show up for court.


Also I talked to one lawyer who said traffic school gets you out of the point on your license however it doesn't necessarily mean it will be off your record, which means my insurance would still go up. He said this was a recent thing within a year ago.

In addition if i choose to fight the ticket, can the cop still get me for the reckless driving?

Pay the speeding ticket, and take traffic school. You will not have a point on your record and your insurance premium will not increase.

Take it as a slap on the wrist. You're lucky you didn't get charged for reckless driving + impoundment.

[tc535i]

if it's your first ticket in a while, you can take school and insurance won't go up

if you've had a ticket and gone to school in the past 18 months, sometime's they'll grant you driving school again, but it's longer and while it removes the point from the DMV, your insurance will still be notified of the ticket this time

[e90sood]

Originally Posted by tkong

First of all, I acknowledge that what I did was stupid. Lack of judgement on my part.

So today I got my first ticket for speeding in the city of Torrance. I did a small power slide out of a stop sign turn. My wheels are in bad shape. (I know it was stupid). The motorcycle officer was going the other way and heard my exhaust and tires so he did a U-turn to catch me. The officer told me he could get me for reckless driving, get me for 6 points, impound my car, etc. but he was nice enough to write me down for going 60 in a 40 zone. He assured me that he would be there on my court day lol. I read a couple threads about trail by declaration, hiring someone to help, etc. What should I do in my situation? Should I just plead guilty? I'm also leaving for school in a couple weeks in Missouri so I don't know how I'll show up for court.


Also I talked to one lawyer who said traffic school gets you out of the point on your license however it doesn't necessarily mean it will be off your record, which means my insurance would still go up. He said this was a recent thing within a year ago.

In addition if i choose to fight the ticket, can the cop still get me for the reckless driving?

I am in the same situation sorta. After doing all my hmwk the best bet is to not fight it and just pay the fine and take traffic school. If you try to fight it the judge can suspend your licensce but i heard if you just pay the fine and take traffic school you cant get it suspended! Although i am not 100 percent has anyone else heard of this? Goodluck!

[aandrew335]

Originally Posted by tkong

On the ticket it says N next to radar which i assume means no.

Correct me if my wrong, but if the cop did not actually use a radar to get your exact speed, then he therefore has no proof of speed and this can get dismissed. If the cop has an uncalibrated radar that always gets dismissed, so if he did not even use it on you then it should be easy. I could be wrong but you may want to talk to some other lawyers before proceeding.

[tc535i]

Originally Posted by aandrew325

Correct me if my wrong, but if the cop did not actually use a radar to get your exact speed, then he therefore has no proof of speed and this can get dismissed. If the cop has an uncalibrated radar that always gets dismissed, so if he did not even use it on you then it should be easy. I could be wrong but you may want to talk to some other lawyers before proceeding.

not at all

police are certified to estimate speed visually, they're trained and tested. stands up in court all the time.

if he USED radar and it was uncalibrated, that's something entirely different

[tkong]

Originally Posted by E90Flossin

I live in torrance! They say they will show up, and some of them don't. They are nice for not giving you a harsh ticket though. Burden of proof is on him and since he didnt clock you, you have a good chance of fighting it....What intersection/street where you on? Cops like to hide in torrance

I was turning onto Sepulveda blvd from hawthorne, right by the mall.

[tkong]

Originally Posted by yarviinn

Pay the speeding ticket, and take traffic school. You will not have a point on your record and your insurance premium will not increase.

Take it as a slap on the wrist. You're lucky you didn't get charged for reckless driving + impoundment.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'm going to plead guilty and go to traffic school.

[manutdas11]

Originally Posted by tkong

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'm going to plead guilty and go to jail.

Fixed.

[DetectiveLoki]

Why plead guilty when he didn't clock you. You can do trial by written declaration, and if u lose, u can appeal and go to court. You did one thing and he wrote you down for another means he made it up therefore it is unreliable. Even if you go to court, he can't blame you for wreckless driving since he wrote you down for speeding and didn't even get you on radar. Just my 2 cents...

[tkong]

So I've ran into a problem. I've been trying to pay for my ticket over the phone/online; however, i have been unable to find my ticket online through my license search and by citation number. I am at school in Missouri now so I can't go to court. On the phone, it says torrance police department citation number should begin with T or Y followed by 6 numbers. However my citation number begins with an A and is followed by 7 numbers. It has been more than the 3 weeks stated on the website that it would take for the ticket to appear on the online database. What should i do at this point?

[UncleWede]

Look closely at the ticket, the agency should be on there somewhere. While you may have been in Torrance, maybe it was an officer from another jurisdiction? CHP perhaps?

And no, that doesn't get you out of the ticket, sorry ;(