Got my first traffic ticket in Denver in 25 years!! GRRRR! What to do???? (Aurora: car insurance, DMV)

[Pesare]

I once got a similar ticket a few years ago in Littleton and I went to court on the date listed on my ticket and got a better plea bargain from the DA where they reduced the points from 4 to 1, but I had to go to traffic school for a day. Also, the fine did not change and I had to pay for a day of traffic school, but fortunately, I didn't have to pay any court costs. I'm not sure if they will do this in the city of Denver or if it is worth your time to go and see if they can reduce it to 1 from 2 points, but generally the fine does not change.

[ArthurDaly]

Don't waste your time or energy even considering going to Denver traffic court. You will not win, and if you don't accept the first offer it is withdrawn and you will pay the full fine and lose the 4 points. A good question to ask the forum would be if anyone has ever had a ticket dismissed or reduced. From my previous experience I would be willing to bet the % is zero or very, very close to it. Pay the fine, swallow your pride and move on.

[classicradio]

Originally Posted by ArthurDaly

Don't waste your time or energy even considering going to Denver traffic court. You will not win, and if you don't accept the first offer it is withdrawn and you will pay the full fine and lose the 4 points. A good question to ask the forum would be if anyone has ever had a ticket dismissed or reduced. From my previous experience I would be willing to bet the % is zero or very, very close to it. Pay the fine, swallow your pride and move on.

That's basically what the back of the ticket says - if you go to court, plead guilty, or are found guilty, the original penalty (4 pts.) is re-imposed. I guess that they want you to stay out of court to minimize the number of court cases, etc. So, going to court to beg and plead etc. is probably not going to work in Denver (at least in a case like this where the plea-bargain is already offered right on the ticket).

[Willy702]

Originally Posted by classicradio

That's basically what the back of the ticket says - if you go to court, plead guilty, or are found guilty, the original penalty (4 pts.) is re-imposed. I guess that they want you to stay out of court to minimize the number of court cases, etc. So, going to court to beg and plead etc. is probably not going to work in Denver (at least in a case like this where the plea-bargain is already offered right on the ticket).

The points as the courts do it only matter if you get so many you risk losing your license. To an insurance company a ticket of any kind except a bad one (wreckless, careless, excessive speeding, dui, racing, etc) looks the same. Even a defective headlight gets charged the same because they know you just pleaded down a moving violation.

[Potion of Boredom]

I suggest that you just take the reduction. There isn't really much chance or hope of you winning in court.

[shark6286]

Do whatever works best for you. Not having a ticket in 25 years tells me it was an honest mistake - you did not see the sign. Still it is very unlikely the judge would give you a free pass. Just take the reduction.

That being said I went to court on two occasions because I really did not feel guilty. This was in Canada though, so I am not sure if it is relevant.

The first time it was for going with 18km/h over the speed limit. I was driving in the left lane of a 2-lane road. There was a little bit of snow on the road. Majority of people around here think it is just fine to drive with all-season tires in winter. They would just drive with 40km/h in a 60km/h zone to compensate for the bad tires. This is what the cars in the right lane were doing. I had new winter tires and AWD and was driving with the speed limit (60 km/h). There were no cars in front of me or behind me. Suddenly I saw the high beam lights of a car in my mirror. There was a car behind me following very closely. I think probably someone driving in the right lane lost his patience and came into my lane but this time I was in his way. There was no gap in the right lane where I could safely merge and I was already driving faster than the other cars. I saw I gap in the right lane some distance ahead and I sped up in order to merge there and in the same time to increase the distance between me and the car behind me. And this is when I saw a man emerging on the road. In the next second I knew he was not just a man but a police officer. We both got tickets - I and the guy driving behind me. Yes, I was in violation but I did not do it just because I was a reckless driver - I wanted to avoid the car that was driving dangerously close behind me. I went to court and got a reduced fine and reduced demerit points.

The second time I got two tickets at once . The road was two-lanes in each direction with a median in between. It was connecting two neighborhoods, going through a field - no intersections, no buildings, no pedestrians, nothing. I was the only car on the road. The speed limit was 70km/h in both direction. During the summer they were doing some repairs and reduced the speed limit to 50km/h in the direction I was driving. In the other direction it was still 70km/h. The repairs were completed but even 2 months later nobody changed the speed limit back. I was going downhill and the gravity makes the car to increase speed if you do not apply brakes from time to time. I got pulled over for doing 67km/h in 50km/h zone. I got a ticket. Then the officer said: "Are these tinted windows?" and started scratching the drivers windows with his nail - "You cannot have tinted windows - I will give you another ticket.". I honestly did not know if was against the law. This was a used car and I bought it like this from a dealership. They shouldn't have sold me a car with tinted windows if it was against the law. I called them and they agreed it was their fault and wrote me a cheque to cover the fine and removed the foil from the windows for free. I went to court again and got the first ticket reduced and the judge cancelled the one for the tinted windows completely when I told him I got them fixed.

In both cases I got a reduced fine and demerit points by going to court. Still I lost time and sometimes it is better just to pay the fine. Again my experience is from Canada and it probably is different than here.

Also only the tickets they give you in person count when it comes to insurance premium increase. If you get a speeding ticket from a radar - it is just a fine, there are no demerit points, so it does not affect your insurance. Again this is for Canada.

[ArthurDaly]

Originally Posted by shark6286

Do whatever works best for you. Not having a ticket in 25 years tells me it was an honest mistake - you did not see the sign. Still it is very unlikely the judge would give you a free pass. Just take the reduction.

That being said I went to court on two occasions because I really did not feel guilty. This was in Canada though, so I am not sure if it is relevant.

The first time it was for going with 18km/h over the speed limit. I was driving in the left lane of a 2-lane road. There was a little bit of snow on the road. Majority of people around here think it is just fine to drive with all-season tires in winter. They would just drive with 40km/h in a 60km/h zone to compensate for the bad tires. This is what the cars in the right lane were doing. I had new winter tires and AWD and was driving with the speed limit (60 km/h). There were no cars in front of me or behind me. Suddenly I saw the high beam lights of a car in my mirror. There was a car behind me following very closely. I think probably someone driving in the right lane lost his patience and came into my lane but this time I was in his way. There was no gap in the right lane where I could safely merge and I was already driving faster than the other cars. I saw I gap in the right lane some distance ahead and I sped up in order to merge there and in the same time to increase the distance between me and the car behind me. And this is when I saw a man emerging on the road. In the next second I knew he was not just a man but a police officer. We both got tickets - I and the guy driving behind me. Yes, I was in violation but I did not do it just because I was a reckless driver - I wanted to avoid the car that was driving dangerously close behind me. I went to court and got a reduced fine and reduced demerit points.

The second time I got two tickets at once . The road was two-lanes in each direction with a median in between. It was connecting two neighborhoods, going through a field - no intersections, no buildings, no pedestrians, nothing. I was the only car on the road. The speed limit was 70km/h in both direction. During the summer they were doing some repairs and reduced the speed limit to 50km/h in the direction I was driving. In the other direction it was still 70km/h. The repairs were completed but even 2 months later nobody changed the speed limit back. I was going downhill and the gravity makes the car to increase speed if you do not apply brakes from time to time. I got pulled over for doing 67km/h in 50km/h zone. I got a ticket. Then the officer said: "Are these tinted windows?" and started scratching the drivers windows with his nail - "You cannot have tinted windows - I will give you another ticket.". I honestly did not know if was against the law. This was a used car and I bought it like this from a dealership. They shouldn't have sold me a car with tinted windows if it was against the law. I called them and they agreed it was their fault and wrote me a cheque to cover the fine and removed the foil from the windows for free. I went to court again and got the first ticket reduced and the judge cancelled the one for the tinted windows completely when I told him I got them fixed.

In both cases I got a reduced fine and demerit points by going to court. Still I lost time and sometimes it is better just to pay the fine. Again my experience is from Canada and it probably is different than here.

Also only the tickets they give you in person count when it comes to insurance premium increase. If you get a speeding ticket from a radar - it is just a fine, there are no demerit points, so it does not affect your insurance. Again this is for Canada.

So why did you respond? You do realize that Denver is in Colorado, right !?!?!?!?!

[shark6286]

Originally Posted by ArthurDaly

So why did you respond? You do realize that Denver is in Colorado, right !?!?!?!?!

I do realize Denver is in Colorado. Still things are not that different and the same principles apply. If you are given the opportunity to go to court it means you are not automatically found guilty - you have a chance to defend yourself and get a reduced fine / points. It is up to you to decide if it is worth it. I gave my reasons for doing it and the results. I also stated it was in Canada early in the posting - if you think it is not useful do not read the rest.

[McGowdog]

Originally Posted by Robert5

Having a perfect driving record seems like an odd thing to be proud of and obsess about, perhaps this will be an opportunity to set more substantial goals.

Here's a worthless comment ^.

Originally Posted by ArthurDaly

So why did you respond? You do realize that Denver is in Colorado, right !?!?!?!?!

He had me at demerit points. Tell us more aboot demerit points.

[DOUBLE H]

Originally Posted by McGowdog

Here's a worthless comment ^.

Plus one!