OT: Got A Ticket

OrlandoMagic · Post #1 » by **OrlandoMagic** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:02 pm

Hey pretty upset now just got a pretty hefty ticket for speedy, which I was on the phone and didint realize my speed. Funny thing is I was ticketed at 4:02 pm over in winter garden area yet I just got home and it is 3:55pm over in pine hills.. Make any sense whatsoever? Tell me how I drove to my house 7 mins before I got ticketed in Winter Garden? Yet my house and the place I got the ticket is a good 20mins away. I want to take it to court and see what happens. I dunno....

Gerhalt11 · Post #2 » by **Gerhalt11** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:06 pm

how bad is the ticket?

might be worth going to court either way. from what I hear, the cop doesn't show up half the time anyway and you get off.

OrlandoMagic · Post #3 » by **OrlandoMagic** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:08 pm

it was over $200

Post #4 » by **MagicMadness** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:33 pm

Gerhalt11 wrote:how bad is the ticket?

might be worth going to court either way. from what I hear, the cop doesn't show up half the time anyway and you get off.

Is this really true?

Also, if you do go to court and the cop doesn't show up, do you still have to present your side of the story or anything like that? lol, what if the cop does show up? Are you just like "Oh.....damn. I got nothing."

OMPunk · Post #5 » by **OMPunk** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:37 pm

OrlandoMagic wrote:it was over $200

You were going atleast 15 mph over the speed limit, how could you not have realized you were speeding at all?

Anyways, if the ticket was during the day time the cop probably works days meaning it probably won't be an issue to go to court during the day, seeing as he's already working. Most police agencies in the state are cracking down on officers due to poor attendance in court.

Not to direct this at just you, but it's kind of annoying when people can't just accept responsibility for their own actions and live with the consequences. You drove over the lawful speed limit, and you received a ticket for it, that's why there are posted speed limit signs. Sometimes you'll get away with it, and sometimes you wont.

You can try taking it to court, however if the cop does show up and you're found guilty, you can be subject to court costs up to about $500.

Good luck with it.

Gerhalt11 · Post #6 » by **Gerhalt11** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:41 pm

MagicMadness wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Is this really true?

Also, if you do go to court and the cop doesn't show up, do you still have to present your side of the story or anything like that? lol, what if the cop does show up? Are you just like "Oh.....damn. I got nothing."

Don't quote me on it or anything, I'm not a lawyer. But since the cop is the only witness for the county/state, if he doesn't appear, they have to throw the case out since, basically, there is no case. Now, if he does appear, you're basically screwed unless you have some other defense and you'll likely have to pay court costs in addition to your ticket.

OrlandoMagic · Post #7 » by **OrlandoMagic** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:45 pm

D12J14 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

You were going atleast 15 mph over the speed limit, how could you not have realized you were speeding at all?

Anyways, if the ticket was during the day time the cop probably works days meaning it probably won't be an issue to go to court during the day, seeing as he's already working. Most police agencies in the state are cracking down on officers due to poor attendance in court.

Not to direct this at just you, but it's kind of annoying when people can't just accept responsibility for their own actions and live with the consequences. You drove over the lawful speed limit, and you received a ticket for it, that's why there are posted speed limit signs. Sometimes you'll get away with it, and sometimes you wont.

You can try taking it to court, however if the cop does show up and you're found guilty, you can be subject to court costs up to about $500.

Good luck with it.

1st time on that road ever. honestly did not see a speed limit sign and i was on the phone. so i honestly dont know if i was speeding. i have to drive their again tomorrow so im gonna look for signs. hey ive never fought a speeding ticket this would be my 3rd in over 8 yrs. so im a pretty damn good driver. this would be the 1st i would ever fight

OrlandoMagic · Post #8 » by **OrlandoMagic** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:47 pm

oh and for proof i took pics of 2 clocks with time and day with my ticket. than i took pics f me in my home at like 3:45 next to a clock with the ticket in hand than i video recorded me with the ticket in hand saying day and time of accident while i have the tv on next to me and a clock in the background

OMPunk · Post #9 » by **OMPunk** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:56 pm

OrlandoMagic wrote:oh and for proof i took pics of 2 clocks with time and day with my ticket. than i took pics f me in my home at like 3:45 next to a clock with the ticket in hand than i video recorded me with the ticket in hand saying day and time of accident while i have the tv on next to me and a clock in the background

Seems like you will be very prepared if you decide to take it to court. Just remember what I mentioned about the recent crackdown on officer's not showing up, so be ready to defend your side if you go.

Also, depending on the judge, the time difference could help you or not matter too much. Sometimes all a judge will do is give the officer a chance to explain the mistake and to fix it.

Like I said before, good luck, taking a ticket to court is not making up excuses, it's one of your rights as a citizen to defend yourself. Just pay attention more when driving on a road your not familiar with so you don't run into the same problem again.

OrlandoMagic · Post #10 » by **OrlandoMagic** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:00 pm

D12J14 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Seems like you will be very prepared if you decide to take it to court. Just remember what I mentioned about the recent crackdown on officer's not showing up, so be ready to defend your side if you go.

Also, depending on the judge, the time difference could help you or not matter too much. Sometimes all a judge will do is give the officer a chance to explain the mistake and to fix it.

Like I said before, good luck, taking a ticket to court is not making up excuses, it's one of your rights as a citizen to defend yourself. Just pay attention more when driving on a road your not familiar with so you don't run into the same problem again.

I know that now, lol....

Oh yeah question, the officer actually asked for my phone number... Is this a new law? I have never been asked by a cop for a number. I asked house or cell, he said either. So I gave him one. Anyone know?

Max Power · Post #11 » by **Max Power** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:03 pm

OrlandoMagic, you can try to contest it, but it would be a huge waste of time. Winter Garden is the biggest speed trap in central florida. They don't get there tix dropped.

Plus, in all honesty if the cop knew you were on the cell phone, he could have got you twice that hard and he may have given you a break on that part. But he probably did document the cell phone use. In all honesty bro, don't waste your time or money on the court costs. Those clowns in Winter Garden never get beat, hell my bro's a cop in LC and they didn't even do a comp for him.

Max Power · Post #12 » by **Max Power** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:05 pm

Was he Winter Garden PD or a State Patrol officer? If it's a patrol officer that may be why he asked for the number.

OrlandoMagic · Post #13 » by **OrlandoMagic** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:06 pm

Max Power wrote:Was he Winter Garden PD or a State Patrol officer? If it's a patrol officer that may be why he asked for the number.

PD.. why would they need it?

OMPunk · Post #14 » by **OMPunk** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:09 pm

OrlandoMagic wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

I know that now, lol....

Oh yeah question, the officer actually asked for my phone number... Is this a new law? I have never been asked by a cop for a number. I asked house or cell, he said either. So I gave him one. Anyone know?

There's a spot on the ticket for a phone number. Most officers don't ask for your number for just a ticket because it's not required for the citation. However some do just to fill in all the portions of the ticket.

If the phone number isn't on your ticket, then I don't know why he would ask for it.

OrlandoMagic · Post #15 » by **OrlandoMagic** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:12 pm

D12J14 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

There's a spot on the ticket for a phone number. Most officers don't ask for your number for just a ticket because it's not required for the citation. However some do just to fill in all the portions of the ticket.

If the phone number isn't on your ticket, then I don't know why he would ask for it.

yeah it was kind of weird. its not on my ticket, and i had to sign a the ticket agreeing to it, which i knewi had to. but i never got a copy of the one i signed, i recieved a different one, thats really really long.

OMPunk · Post #16 » by **OMPunk** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:29 pm

OrlandoMagic wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

yeah it was kind of weird. its not on my ticket, and i had to sign a the ticket agreeing to it, which i knewi had to. but i never got a copy of the one i signed, i recieved a different one, thats really really long.

Weird, well I'm speaking from my experiences and knowledge in the area I live in and work. They do things a little different where your at it seems.

Dunkin On Ya · Post #17 » by **Dunkin On Ya** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 11:26 pm

What was the officers name? I know a bunch of those guys, I'll ask some of them for you.

EasternMagic · Post #18 » by **EasternMagic** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 1:20 am

Gerhalt11 wrote:how bad is the ticket?

might be worth going to court either way. from what I hear, the cop doesn't show up half the time anyway and you get off.

thats a lie i just got in an accident 6 months ago and got a ticket when it wasnt my fault and once the douche bag cop finally listened to me he was like well if you take it to court than itll get removed. he lied and showed up and argued but since he was obviously wrong the ticket was removed. but the cops do show up

Post #19 » by **UCFJayBird** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 1:40 am

Not sure what I would do with your situation but i'm actually fighting two citations right now in Orange County, waiting for a court date to be set.

Basically I got two toll citations about 5 months ago, .50 each. The citations were $25/each, but I had E-Pass and it just didn't work. So I sent in my forms to show that i had an E-Pass, and they told me that because my account was in the negative that I had to pay the tickets anyway, even though had my E-Pass functioned correctly it would've just put my account in the negative an extra .50/each (like all the other tolls i had gone through in the negative at the time).

So they send me this decision after the 30 days, and the fines for each has gone from $25/each, to $158.50/each, or something like that, even though on the citation it says it would go up to $85.50/each (apparently there was some new law that passed that raised it, but the ticket didn't say the new amount). I even agreed to pay the $85.50 for each and they told me that they couldn't do that and I either had to pay the entire thing by the 90 days, request a court hearing, or have my license suspended.

Obviously I'm not paying $350 for $1 worth of tolls that my E-Pass should've taken care of in the first place.

laVal03 · Post #20 » by **laVal03** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 1:52 am

I live in the Tampa area and I actually paid a lawyer to fight it for me, all he charged was $100 flat and did all the work for me, he went to court and all that. I just gave him a check and the ticket, he guaranteed me that I would not get points on my license so that saved me from taking the class( you can only take it so many times in your lifetime).
Anyways a couple of people I new did it and it worked, once it is taken care of I just had to pay the court fees that were around $20

So for $120 it was worth it for me b/c the ticket was over $200 and I did not have to waste my time in that stupid traffic class