It’s really annoying to get pulled over especially when you’re enjoying a great ride. You would need to enter an uncomfortable conversation with an officer regarding what you did wrong.
A lot of times, you get a speeding ticket because you went above the speeding limit by as little as a meter. You can actually change your verdict when you know how to fight a speeding ticket allegation.
A speeding ticket is not a good thing for your driving record. You could lose your driver’s license or even get a ban from driving as a whole.
You can completely avoid this scenario by staying within the limits depending on where you are driving.
How to Avoid A Speeding Ticket
You can easily avoid a speeding ticket when you stay within the speed limits. However, speed limits in certain areas are not written on post signs so it’s truly difficult to know the numbers.
Instead of just throttling and getting yourself into trouble, you can stick to 30kmp/h. This is usually the speed limit for schools and a lot of residential areas as well.
You might think this is incredibly low and might burn up more gas, but it is still safe and you avoid a huge embarrassment.
Best Tips On How to Fight A Speeding Ticket
If you want to fight a speeding ticket, you would have to start from the minute you get pulled over down to when you’re in court facing your allegations. I will show you how to do this here.
When You Get Pulled Over
Immediately you get the signal to pull over, you’ve started fighting your speeding ticket.
You can follow the following instructions to make a worthy claim. They include:
- Ask the Officer the fault that you committed and write it down
- Only respond to the questions in one or two words
- Be polite and never argue but hold your stance
- Document the whole incidence and you can even use your phone to record a voice note
After the officer is done talking, he/she will issue you a fine to pay a speeding ticket or something worse. However, if you’re not convinced that you’re wrong, you can choose to fight your case in court.
If You Choose To Pay The Fine
As much as paying the fine is a good option, a lot of other things can get affected. Your insurance company can increase your charges because you didn’t keep to the law. And you know what increased charges can do to your income.
For instance, NerdWallet’s rate study found that:
- A 40-year-old driver with good credit and full coverage will pay $355 more per year after one speeding ticket, on average.
- On average, a 40-year-old driver with good credit and minimum coverage will pay $148 more per year with one speeding ticket on their record.
So, you can see that paying the fine is not really a great idea which leaves you with an option to fight it in court.
Read more: Cheap Car Insurance for New Drivers under 25 in 2022
When You Choose To Fight The Ticket in Court
If you decide to fight the ticket in court, then every evidence you gathered from the pull over spot till now will be crucial for your vindication.
If the officer doesn’t make it to the hearing, then your case will be tossed away. However, that hardly happens.
So, in preparing for court, you will need to hire a prosecutor who will stand for you or you might decide to do it on your own. Additionally, you must do other things such as:
- Delay your hearing to gather evidence
- Investigate the process the officer used in pulling you over and find the errors.
- Prepare your witnesses to testify for your good behavior
- Plan questions you will ask the officer during the hearing.
If You Choose to Renegotiate Your Fine
If you’re finding $50 and above a little too much, you can renegotiate you fine. You would simply make a deal with the prosecutor and the court to avoid a hearing.
It’s very advisable that you start your negotiation before a hearing date will be fixed.
All you need to do is set a meetup with the prosecutor and agree on a different and fair amount.
Final Thoughts
Prevention is the best cure for any problem especially when it can be avoided. You only need to maintain the limits to avoid fighting a speeding ticket at all.
