Speeding Tickets - Appearing in Traffic Court
What do the Options on the Back of the Ticket Mean?
Option Three - Request a trial date
The best and only way you can win your case is to ask for a trial date to fight your speeding ticket.
Setting a trial date is the best way of winning your speeding ticket, and avoids the conviction going on your driving record and insurance rates for as long as possible. Pleading NOT GUILTY is the option everyone should take for any speeding or traffic ticket. There are numerous ways of winning your case, some very simple that anyone can do, others more complicated that only an experienced traffic court agent like OTT Legal Services should handle.
ADVISEABLE - Pick this Option to Win your Speeding Ticket
Option Two, Plead guilty with an explanation
If you plead guilty with an explanation for a speeding ticket the court will register a conviction for the ticket. The speeding ticket will be on your driving record for three years. All of the implications of the speeding or traffic ticket that apply for option number one above apply here (Insurance and Demerit Points). If you plead guilty with an explanation the only thing that the Justice of the Peace is allowed to do is reduce the amount of the fine. You will still receive the demerit points. Your insurance company has access to your driving record and will base your insurance premiums on this record.
NEVER ADVISABLE - Do not do this.
Option 1. Plead Guilty and Pay the Fine
If you plead guilty and pay the speeding ticket, the speeding ticket goes immediately on your driving record for three years. Your insurance company has access to your driving record and will base your insurance premiums on this record. Any conviction on your driving record can affect your insurance rates no matter if there are demerit points or not. The fine is not the complete penalty for any speeding or traffic ticket. The penalties include the demerit points, insurance implications and the fine. As well as these penalties, many speeding tickets have a mandatory licence suspension.
NEVER ADVISABLE - Do not do this.
Make an arrangement to meet with the prosecutor and try to resolve your speeding ticket avoiding a trial. Commonly called a "First Attendance Meeting".
If you do make a First Attendance meeting and agree to a resolution, you will be convicted of an offence! The offence will go on your driving record for three years and the conviction is available for your insurance company to access and base your rates upon. You always want to win your speeding ticket completely. Many court administration offices will try to offer this to you, using the ploy that you can get the demerit points removed, and avoid a "contested trial". DO NOT TAKE LEGAL ADVICE FROM A CLERK OR EMPLOYEE OF THE COURT.
This is highly improper, and the court staff may not be acting in your best interests. The court clerk does not have any legal training nor are they acting in your best interests. Many of the clerks themselves disagree with this process but they are under direct orders from their superiors to push or encourage these first attendance meetings because it saves the court administration money. Most court clerks do not understand the total costs and ramifications of a speeding ticket nor are they qualified, or legally allowed to give legal advice.
Attending at a first attendance meeting for a speeding ticket will not under any circumstances get your charge withdrawn. You will lose any opportunity to have your speeding ticket completely dismissed. You will lose any opportunity for winning your case on a technicality, and the officer does not have to appear in court. Everyone should set a trial date, if just to see if the officer appears in court!
There are times when a defendant should consider a first attendance meeting, for example you forgot your drivers licence or your insurance card, otherwise a defendant should not schedule this type of court attendance without first seeking legal advice. NEVER ADVISABLE do not do this.
OTT Legal Services has successfully won thousands of speeding tickets, and we are the best company to win your speeding ticket. Call us at 1-888-668-8946 to discuss your speeding ticket in confidence with our former police officers and licensed paralegals