flee the country.....j/k

good luck with whatever you decide.

^haha....not worth fleeing yet....

The only time I got a speeding ticket I had a hope in hell of fighting, I never got the summons, only the suspension notice for failure to appear.

However, I had a nasty parking ticket experience that was similar to Paul's (in principle).

(Montgomery County MD, Silver Spring)
I was in court (witness as part of my job), in the morning, and parked in 2-hour parking in the garage. I was out in ~90 minutes, but had to return for another case after lunch. I came back nearly 4 hours later, and parked in 2-hour parking again (totally different spot). I finished up in court in ~45 minutes, and came out to find a $160 parking ticket for violation of 2-hour parking. I inquired to the garage attendants, and they said that my plate was there when it was first checked, and it was still there when they checked again. Nothing I could do would get them to budge, including producing the exit and re-entry time-stamped receipts. I went to court on it to fight it, and explained to the judge what the issue was, handed over the receipts. He upheld the parking fine. I asked where it says "2-hour parking in a 24-hour period", and he responded by telling me to appeal it if I want and to get out of his courtroom.

I was PISSED. Keep in mind, I wasn't some punk or jackass. I was in that courthouse weekly as a witness for the prosecution, I knew how to behave, dress, present my case, etc. Anyway, turned out the non-refundable fee for appeal was $210, I had to pay the $160 to appeal it anyway, and if the appeal was successful, then I would get a refund of the $160, but not the $210.

So I just paid it and took a few days off from work to cool down.

Getting screwed by the system ftl.

Should have sent 16000 pennies with a note on where they could put them.

I always fight these things, and even though I've only had a couple of victories, one of them made up for all the time it took me to go to court the other times. I've gotten a couple fines reduced, but the big one was that I had been given a careless driving ticket. The police officer was not polite and would not tell me what I had actually done to deserve the ticket. I went to court, which was so backed up that I had to wait 6 months for a trial. I was 2nd on the docket and the place was packed. The judge got up at the beginning and said that he was sorry he wouldn't be able to do much for anybody, that the sentencing guidelines had been restricted. I got called and the cop wasn't there, so the judge threw it out. I almost got a standing ovation on my way out of that courtroom, along with a bunch of dirty looks by the other cops that were sitting there waiting their turns.

Always go to court, you may get a break, and it erodes any profit that the government gets from your fines.

I agree you should fight, or at least make the government make its case. I will say though that in all my years of driving, there is only one ticket I ever got I honestly felt I didn;t deserve.

I was driving a Penske rental truck towing a trailer carrying my RX-8. I was on an interstate in Indiana, I-80 I think, about 10pm, heavy winds, and snow flurries. Max speed on the truck was only 70 or so to begin with and I was only doing about 60 under the conditions.....posted limit was 65. I go by a couple of Indiana state troopers who had pulled someone over on the right side of the road. Didn't think twice about it. I had slowed down to about 50 more out of instinct than anything else.

Well a couple minutes later one of the troopers pulled me over. He cited me for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle because I didn't change lanes when I went by him. Needless to say I was extremely pissed off. Well I finally got to my destination a few days later and looked up the statute on the ticket. Short version is that the driver has to change lanes unless not safe to do so or slow down to a reasonable speed. Well if any of you has never driven a rental truck and trailer and does so for the first time under those conditions, you won't be making any lane changes unless you absolutely have to. I thought that since I had slowed down to at that point well under the speed limit that I had a case, but since the cost of a flight to Chicago, rental car, and overnight stay well exceeded the cost of the ticket, I took deferred adjudication and let it go.

i would have written the judge a letter first.

I don't think there's ever a great reason NOT to fight a ticket. It's your right to face your accuser as presented in the Constitution.

If it's a serious enough ticket, the fine isn't the end of it. In NY, I had a ticket 88 in a 55, which was a $225? fine plus a $50 surcharge, plus I had to pay $150/yr for three years in a "Driver Responsibility" Fee. And depending on your insurance, they could charge you a surcharge for a ticket, which could add up to another $1000 or so over the next 3-5 years.

But you may always get lucky, and the DMV court has a DA in-house that will be able to plea bargain your charge down to a lesser charge. Always defend yourself against a speeding ticket, and I would even weigh out the cost of the fine against what it would cost to get a lawyer.

Or you could just take your punishment instead of letting the tax payers pay for your court appearances. No wonder the US is 2000 billion in minus in budget :P

I always go to court over a ticket. I've had only like 1 or 2 get dismissed but I've just about always gotten the fines and penalties reduced. It is worth it, esp since you can get a good behavior sentence.