Speeding ticket on Maine Turnpike (Lewiston, Bangor: insurance, home, DMV)

[pulpfiction]

Received a ticket for 78 in a 60mph zone on the Maine Turnpike (right by I-295).

I live out of state (CT), and am wondering what Maine's system for traffic violations is like.

I do intend to fight the ticket--my speed was no higher than 70-72 (which I realize still constitutes 'speeding', but would not get one pulled over in most states). As this was at the very end the month, I'm pretty certain I was only pulled over to meet a quota.

Questions:
-If I plead guilty, how long of a back log is typical in Maine traffic courts?
-Any chance I could plead down for a reduced fine without having to travel there for court?

Thanks in advance.

[AustinB]

You may be able to mail in your fine.

[Maineac]

I think the speed limit there is 65. My rule of thumb that seems to serve (on the divided highways) is 9mph over and they don't tend to bother you. As I recall, to argue an I-95 ticket, you go to Lewiston and they make it as difficult as possible, but you need to find that out for yourself. Doppler Radar is the end-all for the Staties, and unless you bring in Doppler himself as an expert witness . . .

I did speak with a guy the other day that got a ticket for passing a Trooper who had someone pulled over on I-95. The signs on the interstate say "move to the left (or something like that) or slow down." He slowed down. Ticket is for $311. The law says if you can pull over to the left, you HAVE to.

I just saw the "quota" part. For the first time in my life, on March 31, I noticed a Bangor cop with someone pulled over on I-95, two troopers north of Dysarts issuing tickets, a sheriff in Hermon with someone pulled over and one in Hampden on Rt. 1 with someone pulled over, as well as a Hampden cop on Coldbrook Road. Blue lights everywhere. Looks like end-of-month revenue generation to me.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by pulpfiction

Received a ticket for 78 in a 60mph zone on the Maine Turnpike (right by I-295).

I live out of state (CT), and am wondering what Maine's system for traffic violations is like.

I do intend to fight the ticket--my speed was no higher than 70-72 (which I realize still constitutes 'speeding', but would not get one pulled over in most states). As this was at the very end the month, I'm pretty certain I was only pulled over to meet a quota.

Questions:
-If I plead guilty, how long of a back log is typical in Maine traffic courts?
-Any chance I could plead down for a reduced fine without having to travel there for court?

Thanks in advance.

I've been in your shoes. Basically, you'd be lucky to get a slightly reduced fine if you showed up in court (certainly not worth the drive back to Maine). More likely they'll say "Nope, we have you on radar and even with a margin of error of 3-4 mph you were still speeding by quite a bit." Maine traffic courts are tough. You won't get the benefit of the doubt. I've fought speeding tickets and won in RI and MA. I was shut down fast in ME for going less over the speed limit than you were, allegedly, going (and they don't have access to my MA/RI records so I was essentially a first time offender in their eyes).

You were probably pulled over to meet a quota. It happens in a lot of places. I noticed the Staties here in MA out in force the last few days as well.

To answer your questions:
1) I waited about 1.5-2 months to go to court. There are a lot of variables at play here. I'd expect at least a month.

2) No way. Out of staters are easy targets. They don't make it easy (even possible) to save money without returning to go to court (and they hope you won't).

Your chances aren't good at all. You may just want to mail the ticket in. I'm not sure about CT, but because I'm registered in MA (and was at the time), it didn't show up on my MA driving record nor did it impact my insurance. You may want to check on that. It's probably worth it to just pay the ticket either way.

[atrixwolfe]

This just happened to me 5 months ago. And I know your mad but It won't be worth the drive back, unless you were comming here any way.

If Traffic court is in portland(many surrounding towns use the portland traffic court including S portland and scarborough and falmouth)

The judge will explain to every one there how difficult it is to prove you were not speeding. Basically you have to prove with out a doubt that you were not going even 1 mile and hour over. Proving that is near impossible.
He then explained if you plead guilty you can make arrangements with the officer for a reduced fine.
So at my hearing after every one went around the room and (EVERYONE) pleaded guilty, even me and I was prepared to fight...as I had mine on cruse control at 70 (which is the limit in falmouth) when I was pulled over.

I met with the officer and he suggested adjusting it to $75, I told him I was came wanting to fight and explained about the cruse control and suggested he clocked a different car and pulled me over by accident. I Politely said I thought it should be waved as clearly something happened and I felt he had me by mistake, He came down to 50, at which point I agreed....That was pretty far down and I wasn't going to get any place by fighting it.

SO do with that what you will...just reporting what happened.

[pulpfiction]

Thank you. Very helpful information.

Yeah, I'm not going to travel ~350 miles round-trip to likely save $50 or so.

What I primarily care about is that my home state (CT) does not enter minor out-of-state violations on its driving records. According to a conversation with DMV, only serious offenses (DUI, Reckless Driving, etc) or leaving a ticket unpaid would go on my driving history.

I'm pleading not guilty. That'll delay things a couple of months. I'll then request an adjournment right before the court date is scheduled....and then change my plea to guilty (and mail in the fine) right before my 2nd court date. I'm not going to just pay immediately

Originally Posted by lrfox

I've been in your shoes. Basically, you'd be lucky to get a slightly reduced fine if you showed up in court (certainly not worth the drive back to Maine). More likely they'll say "Nope, we have you on radar and even with a margin of error of 3-4 mph you were still speeding by quite a bit." Maine traffic courts are tough. You won't get the benefit of the doubt. I've fought speeding tickets and won in RI and MA. I was shut down fast in ME for going less over the speed limit than you were, allegedly, going (and they don't have access to my MA/RI records so I was essentially a first time offender in their eyes).

You were probably pulled over to meet a quota. It happens in a lot of places. I noticed the Staties here in MA out in force the last few days as well.

To answer your questions:
1) I waited about 1.5-2 months to go to court. There are a lot of variables at play here. I'd expect at least a month.

2) No way. Out of staters are easy targets. They don't make it easy (even possible) to save money without returning to go to court (and they hope you won't).

Your chances aren't good at all. You may just want to mail the ticket in. I'm not sure about CT, but because I'm registered in MA (and was at the time), it didn't show up on my MA driving record nor did it impact my insurance. You may want to check on that. It's probably worth it to just pay the ticket either way.

[TRlaura]

From my experience, speeding tickets are fairly easy to successfully fight in Maine, especially if you were caught with radar. It totally depends on if you said anything incriminating to the cop. Their favorite ploy when you plead NG is to have it changed to a speedometer violation, but with a higher fine. It is all about getting your money.

Instead start requesting all the information that they are required to give you such as copies of all of the manufacturer's spec's of the radar unit, any calibration and testing logs, all service and maintenance records of the unit along with its tuning forks if applicable and those records of accuracy and testing, the arresting officer's training records and qualifications for the unit, and a copy of the FCC license which authorized use of radar.

This is just for starters. But easier yet, if there were any other vehicles on the road I would simply ask how the officer was certain the radar reading belonged to your car. There is just no way I would just pay the fine.
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[IHeartMaine]

If you can't get where you are going at the speed limit then leave earlier. Problem solved.

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by pulpfiction

I do intend to fight the ticket--my speed was no higher than 70-72 (which I realize still constitutes 'speeding', but would not get one pulled over in most states).

Yes, it would. Most cops will give you a leeway of 5-8 mph to account for a change in tire size, equipment error, other traffic, etc. But if you were doing 72 mph in a 60 mph zone, you deserved a ticket.

Originally Posted by pulpfiction

As this was at the very end the month, I'm pretty certain I was only pulled over to meet a quota.

Quite likely, yes. That's the case with most tickets. Having an out-of-state license plate didn't help either. Cops will always pull over the out-of-stater before the local. That's true if you're in Maine, Connecticut, or Texas. Is it official policy? No. But cops will tell you that's what they do.