The results showed that Florida was the “winner”, with Nevada and Georgia following close behind.

Montana and Wyoming ended up on the opposite end of the spectrum as the two states where drivers are least likely to be handed a traffic ticket.

Interested in hearing more? Want to see where your state ranked?

Check out the full article here and have a great holiday weekend!

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By Gary Biller, NMA Executive Director

As outlined in an NMA email alert sent to Association members nationwide in early June, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that a driver can be convicted of speeding based on a police officer’s observation of vehicle speed, aligning Ohio law with that of several other states that already have bought into the notion that visual speed estimation is a skill rather than guesswork.

Need a radar or laser reading to judge how fast a car is going? Nope. The officer’s visual estimate is good enough despite a paucity of evidence that human beings can, with consistency, gauge accurately how fast a vehicle is going under a variety of weather, road, and traffic conditions by simply watching it from a distance. A few hours of “training” and a certificate is all an officer needs to be considered a reliable practitioner in the art of ascertaining the travel speed of a car by observation.

Much has been, and will continue to be, written about the Ohio ruling. More importantly, we hope it raises the consciousness of the public that speeding convictions in many states are obtained by relying on testimony which is based on a method not supported by scientific study.

The NMA has been flooded with email traffic expressing alarm and concern about the implications of courts giving judicial notice to what is, at best, a questionable method of determining how fast a vehicle is going. One concerned Ohio citizen put into words what most of us are thinking. He sent the following letter to his state representative and senator:

On June 2nd, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that a person can be convicted of speeding merely by a police officer’s visual estimate of speed.

This is an incredible blow to fairness. How can an innocent driver defend himself against a mistaken officer who can deem you guilty just by his visual guess? The officer will always be right, and you are guilty just “because I said so.”

I realize that an officer can claim that is he “trained” to make an accurate visual guess. Common sense tells us this is absurd. Just imagine all the variables that can skew that guess from day to day.

Police officers are only human; we must hold them to a higher standard than this.

We are in an economy where towns, counties, and states are scrambling to meet budgets and make ends meet.

We are seeing revenue-hungry Ohio towns set up more speed traps and allow the deployment of privately owned and operated automated ticket cameras. Such petty infractions as not having a vehicle’s headlights illuminated whenever its windshield wipers are on can result in a fine of up to $150 in the state.

The general public is becoming increasingly aware that “traffic enforcement” is now driven far more by the desire for revenue than for the purpose of public safety.

This is a slippery slope. The average law-abiding citizen, who once respected those who enforce traffic safety, now mistrust them, and see only an ambush for the purpose of fleecing the ensnared victim.

I must assume the recent Supreme Court ruling was simply a clarification of existing state law. If so, the law is wrong and unjust, and should be changed.

More people should speak out against the Ohio ruling because it gives credence to an unproven and highly questionable method of estimating vehicle speed, a method that the outcome of many speeding verdicts will unfortunately rely upon.

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The Rockford Register Star has the story:

Gov. Pat Quinn is expected to soon sign legislation that could save the jobs of 464 state troopers and keep five state police headquarters from closing, including District 16 in Pecatonica. [...]

Senate Bill 3695, which has passed in the House and Senate, would set up a new fund that would send a portion of county bond fees collected from minor traffic violations to state coffers. Rep. Jim Sacia, co-sponsor of the bill, said the total of all such fees collected from across Illinois would total about $22 million.

Winnebago County Board Chairman Scott Christiansen argues that the legislation would be “raiding” counties and municipalities to make up for the state’s budget problems.

[...]

One solution, Christiansen said, would be to increase the traffic fine from $75 to $120, which would reflect the rate of inflation over the past 20 years.

In order to do so, the Illinois Supreme Court would have to approve a change, which has not been done since 1992, Sacia said.

Sacia said increasing the fine would be reasonable — Wisconsin fines violators $186 — and that he is 95 percent sure the change will come within the next calendar year.

Essentially this is a case of two different governments (local and state) fighting over who gets to keep the money that they’re extracting from motorists. With budgets tight everywhere, this is a scenario that is happening more and more often across the country. Unfortunately, motorists are often the easiest target when any branch of government needs more money.

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It’s rare to get a straight answer from local governments on this topic but a recent report in the Washington Examiner exposed some interesting statistics on ticket fighting in Washington D.C.

Here are the bullet points:

22,693 moving violation challenges
58 percent of drivers won

117,656 parking ticket challenges
41 percent of drivers won

20,251 photo ticket challenges
37 percent of drivers won

2,211 appeals from lost initial challenges
33 percent of drivers won

The last statistic refers to situations where a driver challenged a ticket and lost initially but then filed an appeal of the decision.

As you can see, the odds are actually much higher than most people would think. And the odds would likely increase if more people fought their tickets. The Examiner also presented statistics that show that most people don’t bother to even try fighting tickets:

• Overall, the city issued some 2.4 million tickets in fiscal 2009.
• Only 3 percent of photo tickets were challenged .
• 7 percent of parking tickets were challenged.
• 20 percent of moving violations were challenged.

The paper quoted AAA, ostensibly to give the everyday drivers’ perspective on the statistics, but instead they offered their (increasingly typical) anti-motorist perspective:

“These numbers are so staggering to me,” said AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman John Townsend, whose agency unearthed the performance plan. “Something is wrong with the system.”

As an auto insurance company, AAA, is probably upset that they’re missing out on the additional revenue that those dismissed traffic tickets would have generated. The system is broken, but successful challenges of traffic tickets are a good sign. The discouraging part is the low percentage of people of who are taking their cases to court.

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By James Baxter, NMA President

There’s a random pattern around the country where state and local courts are systematically making it harder and more expensive for ticket recipients to fight traffic tickets.

This is an admission by the judiciary and state and local governments that there is growing public resistance to being ripped off via bad laws, unethical enforcement, and revenue hungry courts.

Defendants are growing in numbers, they are coming to court better prepared to defend themselves, the police are being found lacking in knowledge and compliance with mandated procedures, ignorant arbitrary judges are being exposed, and pro-se defendants are mucking up the good “ole” boy plea bargaining system and demanding trials.

This could lead to the collapse of the whole money grubbing system that has evolved around the traffic ticket industry.

To protect itself, the “system” is fighting back. Here are a few of its strategies being implemented around the country:

1) The State of Massachusetts passed a law requiring traffic ticket defendants to pay $25 to contest a ticket; non-refundable.
To appeal a case to a more legitimate court requires payment of $50, again; non-refundable. Win, lose, or draw the court gets $75 — regardless of the merit of the ticket. What an incredible incentive for the police to write bogus tickets by the thousands! Why not, every ticket will generate at least $25 to $75, regardless of the outcome.

2) Some of the ticket camera operations run their own court systems.
There is no thought given to the obvious conflict of interest, plus requiring pre-payment of the fine and additional fees to get a one sided hearing. Even when solid evidence is provided that shows the defendant is innocent, the evidence is ignored and the victim’s money is kept.

3) If defendants learn of a law that requires certain procedures be implemented before enforcement activities can commence, the law is changed or eliminated.
For example, in California, the speed trap law required traffic engineering studies be done every five years, and the speed limit was to be set according to the results of the study. Many communities sloughed off on the engineering studies and as a result speeding tickets had to be dismissed. The State Legislature addressed this by extending the time period between studies from once every five years to once every ten years.

4) In Marion County, Indiana the local court is telling defendants that if they challenge their ticket in court they will be assessed additional fines up to $2500!
Let’s see, I can pay my $150 bogus ticket or I can challenge it in court and be on the hook for ten times, or more, than the cost of the original ticket. What’s the wisest thing to do? That would be a rhetorical question.

5) Under the guise of classifying traffic tickets as civil violations, state and local units of government strip defendants of the right to discovery, jury trials, public defenders and the requirement that guilt be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
The testimony of police officers is openly given more credibility than that of defendants, supposedly because they have no direct or financial interest in the outcome—other than bonuses, retirement benefits, preferential work schedules, promotions, and income-pumping overtime; all rewards for being a “producer.”

The catch-22 is that to challenge this cascade of lost due process rights takes us right back to the same court system that is bent on protecting its prerogatives and its cash flow, along with reducing its work load.

Here’s an idea; lets eliminate all the arbitrary, irrational, pre-emptive, and just plain stupid traffic laws seemingly intended to make every driver in America a criminal. That will kill the cash flow, but it will also cut back on the courts’ work load.

The trade-off is less money, but more time on the golf course. That can’t be too bad a deal.

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By Eric Peters, Automotive Columnist

Not many of us know someone who’s been in the clink for a serious crime — but almost everyone knows someone who’s been on the receiving end of a traffic ticket, or received one themselves.

This fact tells us that good, honest conduct is no sure guarantee of avoiding interaction with the police — at least when it comes to traffic violations.

But you can improve your odds; here’s how:

1) Try not to drive faster than 9 mph over the posted limit on the highway and about 5-6 mph above the posted limit on secondary roads.
In most places, most cops will not ticket you if you’re within this range. Part of the reason is simply that most car speedometers are not perfectly calibrated and so it’s easier to challenge such a trivial ticket in court. The other is the unwritten rule most cops follow that “spots” traffic a few mph over the posted limit — because the cops know (even if they won’t say so publicly) that the speed limits are generally under-posted, too — and for the most part don’t like to harass people for exceeding them by just a little bit. Exceptions to this include 25 mph/school zones — where you should never drive even a single mph faster than the posted limit.

2) Don’t drive significantly faster (or slower) than the traffic around you.
If you do, you’ll stick out — and if there’s a cop around, he will notice and focus on you. Learn from the prey animals of the African savannah: There is safety in numbers. Even if you are driving faster than the speed limit, if you’re one of a dozen cars in a pack, there’s only a one in twelve chance the cop will target you.

3) Never speed at night, especially after midnight.
There are more cops on the road during these hours — and fewer cars. You will stand out. And the cops are looking for any excuse to pull you over, because night-time is DWI time and every car a cop comes across will be closely scrutinized. Give him a reason — any reason — to pull you over and he will pull you over.

4) Make sure your car’s registration, license plates and state inspection are always up to date.
Cops are trained to look for passed-due inspection stickers (and also things like cracked windshields and dead headlights/brake lights, etc.) and if you’re speeding, even a little bit, your car will be the one that gets pulled over. And once pulled over, odds are you will end up with a ticket. The number one goal is to avoid getting pulled over in the first place.

5) Pay close attention to the behavior of other drivers, especially if you’re driving in an unfamiliar area.
If you see cars ahead suddenly slowing down for no apparent reason (or oncoming cars are flashing their lights at you) it’s likely there’s a radar trap up ahead. Slow down now.

6) Be on your guard driving through small towns you don’t know, especially small towns just off an Interstate or when a major road goes directly through a small town.
Speed traps are a reality of life and you’re most likely to encounter one when driving through a small town in the middle of nowhere. Some towns get a large percentage of their budget from traffic tickets and the local yokel cops are on the lookout for cars with out of state plates because they know the driver is not likely to come all the way back there to try to fight the ticket in court — no matter how trumped-up the ticket might be. It’s unfair, but it’s the reality on the ground.

7) Be on the alert for sudden (and often poorly indicated) reductions in the posted speed limit.
On many roads, the maximum will drop from say 55 to 45 for no obvious reason — and sometimes, there’ll be a cop just after the sign change, waiting for you with his radar gun. Watch for work zones — where the limit may drop by half (and the fines double).

8) Educate yourself about photo radar, or automated tickets.
If you’re traveling to say Phoenix, AZ or Washington, DC — be forewarned that these areas use automated cameras to ticket people for both red light running and speeding. You may get no warning — and have no idea you just got a ticket — until it arrives in the mail a few weeks later.

9) Familiarize yourself with the makes/models of cars that cops tend to drive.
The most commonly used cop cars (marked and unmarked) are the Ford Crown Victoria, the Chevy Impala and the Dodge Charger. The nice thing about the Vic is that it’s very easy to pick out because it’s very large and pretty much only cops and older people drive them. The Impala’s harder to sniff out because they are anonymous-looking and really blend into the crowd. The Charger’s even worse because it’s a popular car and also a car that younger, sporty drivers favor. But in general, be on the alert whenever one of these cars is around; be extra wary if you see telltale signs such as multiple low-profile antennas, large tires with inexpensive-looking trim rims/hub caps and a spotlight on the driver’s side door.

10) Don’t exceed the posted in adverse weather such as heavy rain or when it’s snowy.
Not only is it unsafe, it may also be a moving violation even though you may not have been driving faster than the posted maximum. Keep in mind that the speed limit is just that — the lawful maximum — under ideal conditions. If a cop sees you driving faster than he deems safe for conditions, he can still pull you over and give you a ticket. And besides, this is a case where slower really is safer. Even if you have a 4WD vehicle, it takes longer to stop (and the vehicle is more prone to skidding out) if the roads are wet or slicked from snow/ice.

Finally, be courteous and calm if you do get pulled over. You’ve still got a 50-50 chance of not being ticketed. Sometimes, a cop will let you off with a verbal warning — but your odds of getting one plummet to Absolute Zero if you’re confrontational, uncooperative or disrespectful.

Even if you believe the cop is being unfair, it does you no good to argue with him. He has all the power; you’ve got none — and any belligerence on your part will only make things worse. You don’t have to bow and scrape — or incriminate yourself. Just answer his questions politely and provide your ID/insurance/registration paperwork. A friendly attitude can go a long way.

Comments?
www.epautos.com

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By Eric Peters, Automotive Columnist

It was a small incident but it revealed something interesting. Not just the hypocrisy of Those Who Rule Us when it comes to the issue of “speeding” — and much else besides. But more deeply, we are afforded a glimpse into the unconscious sense of privilege and entitlement that operates the wheels and cogs inside the minds of these people.

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford — he of the love junkets to South America on the taxpayer’s dime — recently got pulled over on SC Interstate 385 because a state trooper clocked his car at 85 mph. The posted maximum is 70. In many states, over 80 mph is an automatic reckless driving charge — which will cost you your license as well as affordable insurance for the next several years if you’re convicted.

At minimum, 85 mph means a big ticket for… well, anyone except one of Those Who Rule us.

But Sanford’s driver (and Sanford himself) was let go with no ticket at all. The perks of being one of Those Who Rule Us, you see.

In fact, he was barely inconvenienced. The stop itself lasted less than two minutes. Once the cop found out who was in the car, he backed off — and the governor’s car rolled away scott-free.

Here’s the video of the actual stop for your delectation:

When news of this leaked, guess who got nailed to the wall? Not Governor Sanford. Initially, the trooper who failed to write the ticket was to be “cited,” according to State Department of Public Safety DIrector Mark Keel. Eventually, the driver did, in fact, get a ticket. But only after a massive public outcry. The fact we should fix on is that the state cop immediately backed off once the governor made himself known. He, you see, may drive with impunity at high speeds on public roads. It is only “unsafe” (and ticketable) for the little people to do so.

As not One of Those Who Us, my sympathies are with the cop. A lowly functionary doesn’t ticket the state’s jefe anymore than a sergeant tells a general to drop and give him twenty. The poor cop no doubt feared for his job and whatever other dread repercussions the governor might decide to rain down upon him.

So, he let him (and his driver) go.

That’s not what aggravates here. What does aggravate is the Herman Goring-esque sense of importance and entitlement these poo-bahs radiate. Not since the Bourbons of 18th century France has a political class become so grating, unctuously arrogant. You or me or any other non-person doing 85 on the highways of South Carolina would in all likelihood be subjected to a gun-drawn felony stop and very likely, a roadside cuffing and stuffing. Probably our car would be searched for drugs. And then, impounded. We would have eventually been brought before a Torquemada-style judge and raked over the coals. After investing in a lawyer to defend us and hundred of dollars in fines and a suspended/revoked license later, we’d be “free to go.”

Free, that is, to pay jacked-up insurance premiums based on our “reckless driving” for the next three-to-five years, or however long the record remained active.

But kissy-face Sanford Man? Nothing. He hasn’t got an SCCA license and probably can’t drive as well as many of us “speeders.” But he is, after all, the governor.

Apparently, speed only kills when you’re not that.

Oh, and it bears mentioning that back in 2006, when the lieutenant governor of the state was stopped — and let go –twice for speeding, Sanford went on and on about the horror of it all. He felt “…very strongly that preferential treatment should never be a factor when enforcing the law.”

Just like those “family values,” you see.

These people are beneath contempt.

Unfortunately, they also have their boots on our necks — which means there is nothing we can do about it except take it or begin to resolve not to take it anymore.

And then, to do something about it.

What that something ought to be I cannot say. But clearly, it is time to do something. Everything is out of whack. Average people are held to one standard; the politically connected elite to another.

Those Who Rule Us need to go. Either that, or we can expect to be on the receiving end of more of the same.

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The Highway Patrol predictably denied having a ticket quota.

They said that the officer was fired for not meeting “performance standards.”  This is a common response anytime a ticket quota is mentioned in the press.

However, since the number of citations given out by an officer are at the heart of most department’s performance standards, it’s hard to tell the difference between the two.

Here’s an excerpt from the article describing the ticket quota allegations:

Christopher Maul, who spent 12 years with the FHP, says he was fired in June for not writing enough tickets.

“The only reason I can see why I was fired was I didn’t write enough tickets,” said Maul, 38, who lives in Largo.

The FHP disputes that, saying Maul was fired for failing to meet performance standards. [...]

But the number of tickets Maul wrote was frequently cited in a lengthy June memo laying out the case for his dismissal. Maul was four months short of completing a mandatory probation after leaving briefly for the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and returning to the FHP.

Maul received a positive review earlier in June from his immediate supervisor. Later, an FHP major told Maul he was rescinding the evaluation because it did not “accurately reflect” his performance.

Maj. Ryan Burchnell noted that Maul wrote “only 63 citations, 22 warnings and eight faulty equipment notices while working 56 traffic crashes.” And he wrote only 16 citations in December, Burchnell noted.

Maul, who said he didn’t have radar in his police car for part of that period, improved his numbers as the months wore on, from 33 in January to 53 in April. Not good enough, Burchnell concluded: “Trooper Maul’s citation-issuance has been substandard.”

A captain for the area Maul patrolled sent Burchnell an e-mail saying that Maul’s supervisors believe he has “a good work ethic.” Burchnell was not swayed and demanded a new evaluation.

The head of the union representing troopers said the FHP is using Maul to set an example for other troopers.

From the way the article describes the situation, it seems clear that the head of the troopers’ union was right:

During his probation, Maul’s immediate supervisor, Sgt. Raymond Ada, concluded that Maul was meeting or exceeding expectations.

Capt. Robert French scrawled “keep up the good work” on a February review that read: “Trooper Maul is a good trooper with a lot of experience. I do not foresee him having any difficulty in completing his probationary period.”

Burchnell disagreed and set about to change Maul’s evaluations.

In an e-mail exchange, Burchnell told Capt. Urana Harris: “I am going to hold the supervisors accountable, which means you.” He added that Maul “is not cutting it.”

Unfortunately, ticket quotas — and denials of their existence — are nothing new.

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By Eric Peters, Automotive Columnist

Do you think it is ever a good idea to tie a money incentive to law enforcement of any kind? Not me. It is a guarantee of corruption and abuse. (See also: The War on Drugs.)

Let’s consider just one specific example — the use of cameras to catch (and “process”) red light violators. It’s all about “safety,” right?

Not so much. Here’s the truth:

Automated enforcement began as a completely, openly “privatized” operation, run by a private company — which explicitly, brazenly, promised local governments huge windfalls from the system.

And delivered on that promise.

The “profits” were gleefully split between the two. When this fact became common knowledge, they rejiggered it a bit to make it appear less of an obvious scam. But money is still the main motive. If that were not so, these systems would not be so focused on “revenue enhancement,” to use the favored term of the smarmy little bureaucrats who rule us.

Ask yourself how eager these state/local governments would be to turn over a law enforcement function to automation if there were no profit involved. Why are red light cameras never set up on a budget neutral, “pay as you go” basis — to cover operating costs and no more?

It is a known fact most red light running can be dealt with by properly adjusting signal timing — making sure the yellow is long enough to give people approaching the intersection time to slow and stop safely. And to allow those who can’t to clear the intersection safely before the yellow turns to red. Multiple studies have born this out. (See http://thenewspaper.com/news/02/243.asp and http://thenewspaper.com/news/26/2650.asp.)

The National Motorists Association also has a wealth of material on this subject available.

Yes, of course — a few people deliberately run red lights — and no amount of signal timing adjustment will deter them. As a motorcyclist and a motorist too, I hate these people a lot. They should be dealt with harshly. Fine and good.

However, it is equally true that most people do not deliberately run red lights — because most people are not deliberately reckless and neither want to risk being killed nor killing someone else.

Most people, in a word, are not sociopathic.

Just as most people do not drive excessively fast/beyond their skill/comfort level, either. (Though they may be “speeding” — but that doesn’t tell us anything other than the person was driving faster than a number on a sign).

And: Cameras will not stop all deliberate red light runners, either. But they will and do entrap more people who get caught in the shortened yellow intervals that are typical with camera enforcement. Yes, it’s true. When red light cameras go up, very often the yellow goes down. Signals are retimed — deliberately shortened yellows — to increase the number of violators, and thus, the amount of money the system generates. Not my opinion — an established fact. See the documents referenced above — and specifically, the court decisions where RLCs have been thrown out because of the obvious flim-flam, including deliberately cut-down yellow signal intervals.

You have to have your head up your hind quarters not to see that, to a very great extent, traffic enforcement in this country — and the laws/regulations underpinning it — are set up to extract money from people on the basis of trumped-up “violations” administered by rapacious officials whose bottom line is the bottom line …. money.

It’s not about “safety” — or “the children.” It’s about cold cash, dollars and cents. The sooner you come to grips with this fact of life, the better your mental filter will be at properly sorting whatever new law comes down the pike.

And the sooner you will begin to understand the true nature nature of The Beast.

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By Eric Peters, Automotive Columnist

It’s more likely than it’s probably ever been that you’ll get pulled over by a cop at some point in the near future.

Not only are there more penny-ante laws and violations on the books than ever, state and local governments are dealing with major cash flow problems, just like the rest of us. They can’t raise taxes directly; that would spark a revolt of the masses at this point. But they can turn loose the cops — whose ticket books and radar guns serve as a very effective means of indirect taxation.

So, first, be on the alert.

Second, be prepared. Do you know how to handle yourself during a traffic stop? How you behave can be the key factor that determines whether you can successfully beat the ticket later on — or maybe (if you’re really lucky) get off with a warning right now.

* Pull over the right way.

Yes, there is a definite right way to pull over during a traffic stop.

When the cop turns on his lights, you should immediately slow the vehicle and put your turn signal on. Then pull off the road — to a shoulder or side street — as quickly as possible. Do not stop in the middle of the road. The idea is to park your car so it’s out of the way of traffic — which makes the stop safer for the cop. Which makes him happy. Which is good policy, because aggravating the cop — or conveying the impression that you’re an addled idiot — will not help you.

Next, put the car in Park, shut down the engine, turn on the hazard blinkers and turn on the interior light (if it’s dark outside). Put both hands on the top of the steering wheel and sit quietly. Do not root around for stuff.

Again, the idea here is to make the cop feel safe by conveying the impression that you’re an Honest Joe or Jane — and not some thug.

Important: If you have a concealed handgun permit, keep it with your driver’s license (a paper clip works well). Do not reach for or produce your weapon.

When the cop comes to your window, hand him your license and your permit and tell him, “Officer, I have a concealed carry permit.” If you are carrying a weapon or have one in the vehicle, tell him exactly where it is but do not reach for it.

Usually, cops relax around CWP holders because CWP holders are by definition not criminals (having undergone state and federal background checks) and rarely cause trouble. But it’s very important to let the cop know you have the CWP before he discovers you have a gun on you.

* Be polite and cooperative but not talkative.

The cop is not your friend. Remember this. He is there to give you a ticket and anything you say can and will be used against you in court.

The cop is taking notes and trained to ask you leading and entrapping questions, such as “Do you know how fast you were going”? To which, you should reply along the lines of “I’m sure you have an opinion, officer.” Never incriminate yourself — unless you feel you did do something wrong and want to pay the fine. It’s best to keep the conversation as short, sweet — and forgettable — as possible.

If you are confrontational or sarcastic, not only will the cop remember you, he is much more motivated to see you’re convicted. If, on the other hand, you’re remembered as a nice, polite, cooperative person, the cop is more likely to not object come court time when the judge considers a reduced charge or “driving school” to nix the ticket.

* Take notes yourself.

If you are going to contest the ticket, you should be prepared to present facts in court — or have facts to give your attorney.

For example, was the speed limit sign clearly posted? If it was obscured by a leafy tree, and you can show this in court (keeping a small disposable camera with you in the car for this purpose is a smart idea) that is an objective fact that may just get you out of the ticket.

You want to record and keep track of any fact that either puts into question the offense you’ve been charged with or which serves as what they call in legal lingo a mitigating circumstance — such as the fact that you were rushing your pregnant wife to the emergency room.

At court, unless you have a driving record peppered with previous violations, you can almost always get the judge/commonwealth’s attorney to agree to a lesser charge, or even a reduced charge — or to drop the moving violation in return for agreeing to attend one of those day-long DMV driving schools many states offer.

The main thing they want is your money; the main thing you want to avoid is “points” on your driver’s record, because they can lead to hiked insurance costs for several years vs. the one-time hit of a fine.

Comments? www.ericpetersautos.com (click on “Forum”).

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