Worth fighting this ticket...? (Front Royal: insurance, how much, live in)

[spike095]

I was on 66 today heading east around Front Royal and got a speeding ticket for 79/65 zone… I was in the right hand lane and just matching the speed of traffic with the 3 cars in front of me (all trucks, incidentally) when a cop pulled up behind me, tailed me for about a minute, and then pulled me over, saying he “paced” me going 79. Kind of wack, seeing as how just as he was about to pull me over someone else passed me on the left. Just wondering if/how I should fight this ticket (live about 80 minutes from Front Royal). This is my first ever ticket of any sort (8+ years clean record split between CA/VA), so I’m not quite sure what to do. Pay the ticket and take a class for safe driver points? Go to court and hope to get it reduced? Any guidance would be great -- not quite sure about people's success rates fighting tickets in VA.

[nwlv]

you let a cop pace you for a mile?

[sweetpotater58]

You won't win in the smaller county courts-they will cook your goose and then have dessert should you give them any lip-I speak from experience dealing with Barney Fife jr. in Greene County, Va. Just pay it. Now, if you live in the county where you received the ticket-then yes, fight it.

[spike095]

it wasn't so much that i "let" him pace me for a mile, i was going along with traffic at probably around 75ish when i saw him in the rearview pulling up to the pack. i slowed down a bit as the pack drifted further ahead and he waited a mile before pulling me over.

[DC_Titan]

The Judge doesn't care that you were going with the flow of traffic and they are liable to believe a Police Officer (who has nothing to gain in pulling you over) over yourself (the individual trying to get out of paying a ticket). It's also generally not worth the effort to claim the cops radar gun / speedometer was malfunction. The only thing that might work is if you have a calibration test done on your vehicle that shows you car understates your actual speed (has to be at a place the Courts will accept a reading from).

For the lazy amongst us, simple pay the bill with-out attending court. For each year that you have lived in VA and had a clean driving history you get +1 pts (to a max of 5) on your driving record. I believe a speeding ticket is 3 - 4 pts (so if you have lived in VA for 3 years) you pretty much offset pts on your license.

If you aren't lazy or simply want to see what other options are available, go to Court. Prior to going before a Judge talk to the ADA. Sometimes they might be willing to dismiss the speeding ticket if you keep a clean driving record for a period of time or they might be willing to knock the ticket down to something that still has a fine (they want their money) but carries no points. If he is unwilling to work with you, I'd generally avoid giving the Judge a story.

[oneasterisk]

It depends on you if it's worth fighting. How much money are you going to lose if you take a day off work to go to court, versus your fine and court costs and possible insurance increase.

If you've got a clean record, you can always take a driver improvement class (PWC accepts online ones, not sure if it's a county or state thing) and take the certificate of completion to court with you. They make cancel the ticket in lieu of you taking the course, but just be aware you can only do that once every 2 years.