Posts Tagged ‘law enforcement’

Tips To Overcome A Speeding Ticket

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

If you are charged with breaking the law, such as getting a speeding ticket, in the eyes of the law everyone is supposed to be treated equally. Just because someone has been charged doesn’t mean they are guilty, a court must determine this.

Same is true with speeding violations. You can beat a speeding ticket by knowing your rights which, although requires effort, can guarantee you the best chances of having the case dismissed.

For some tips on how to beat a speeding ticket lets start at the beginning, when your getting pulled over. You absolutely have the right to limit any answer you give the officer to a simple but polite ‘yes officer’ and ‘no officer’. Everybody has heard of the Miranda Rights, but what it actually means is you have the right to NOT admit guilt, or answer any question that might hint at self incrimination. Especially without a lawyer present.

However, be cooperative enough to provide basic details such as your name and presenting your driver’s license. Be clear that this is not included in your rights of silence.

To beat a speeding ticket, doing it in a civil manner is guaranteed to give the best results. Having a temper tantrum or insulting your officer can add to your charges, especially while in court. Respect and courtesy are heavily valued, which are also stated in the rights of others. Also, the road is not the best venue to air out your side.

Your innocence is protected and maintained all through out, so do not be afraid of courts and to beat a speeding ticket. You are not judged unless there is sufficient evidence which is provided by the officer, who is obligated to present the burden of proof, and what you have to do is defend yourself.

Remembering the facts about your traffic stop will help you beat a speeding ticket written against you. The traffic court gives equal opportunity to both sides to prove or disprove guilt.

Some people will bring a lawyer to court, I personally don’t think it is necessary as most people prefer to represent themselves and have a good chance to beat a speeding ticket by simply stating the facts clearly.

You also have a right to have a speedy trial as the court recognizes the constraints to work and personal life of attending court proceedings. Also, you can point out lack of evidence or delay trials in case the officer-in-charge does not show up in the proceeding.

Most traffic courts offer alternative to actually paying for a ticket like community service or attending a traffic school class. To beat a speeding ticket means knowing all options available to all people facing charges.

If you can beat a speeding ticket you will benefit greatly because violations are listed in your driving history, which can in turn affect additional charges or increase in your premium rates so you would want to avoid such inconveniences with a clear record.

Traffic violations can be punishing for several reasons. Just keep in mind when trying to beat a speeding ticket, biases and abuse aren’t tolerated by the court. Which means you have as good a chance as anyone to have your speeding ticket dropped when you go to traffic court.

How To Go To Traffic Court And Beat A Speeding Ticket You DO have to provide the basics such as name, proof of auto insurance and drivers license. Speeding Ticket This will require some effort though.

Motorcycle Coverage May Be More Economical Than You May Think

Tuesday, October 26th, 2010

It’s possible if not likely that the rate you are presently paying for your car insurance coverage is no longer the same as the going rate for that insurance policy. Insurance companies change insurance prices without ever contacting their customers to inform them that the price is either higher or lower.

The premium you pay for your current car insurance coverage could be found cheaper with another insurance provider. Sometimes even through your own auto insurance company. There are many free online sites that will give you auto insurance quotes so you can get the best bang for the buck.

Fact: Cheap car insurance coverage for teens is available for many that qualify.

The internet has made an impact on the way people shop for and buy things in today’s world. Many websites have been developed that can either compare car insurance quotes for you, or even offer you auto insurance outright.

Fact: Websites that offer car insurance coverage quotes can be the easiest way to see if you are overpaying for your auto insurance. They are also great when you simply get curious about what current premiums might be.

These websites have allowed consumers to check their insurance rates daily and buy insurance without ever needing to talk to a sales person in person or on the phone. When you want low rate car insurance coverage you should buy auto insurance online. A few seconds searching online can save you hours on the phone and hundreds of dollars a year.

You can see quickly if you may be able to lower your car insurance coverage with your current company, or with another auto insurance provider. All from the comfort of your favorite chair, day or night.

You are never obligated to buy anything when you use these free online services.

The recession has made shopping for car insurance coverage a buyers market in a lot of respects, so why not take a few minutes and see what you can save?

Isn’t it time to take advantage of the recession?

traffic lawyer Know the territory. Knowing where you’re driving is also very important. Common Sense Ways People Can Avoid Parking Citations Not driving your vehicle is a good way to avoid a speeding ticket.

Instructions On How To Terminate Speeding Citations

Tuesday, October 26th, 2010

Over the years I have heard of some pretty awful defense strategies people use to try and get out of a traffic ticket. You cant blame them though. A lot of these individuals were simply relying on so called insider information they heard from a friend.

In this article we will go over the 5 most common mistakes used by people when trying to fight their traffic ticket. Use these as a guide of what not to do.

Mistake #1- Delaying the traffic court date

Almost every other book I’ve read on traffic tickets advises you to postpone the trial by asking for a continuance. They claim the longer your traffic court trial is from the original infraction, the greater the chance the officer will fail to show up to court on your traffic ticket.

Simply delaying your traffic court trial will not increase your chances of beating your traffic ticket.

The question I’ve always had was if you do put off your court date, what do you do when he still shows up?

Traffic officers get paid overtime to be in traffic court. They don’t bring them off their patrols to be there.

Mistake #2- Request the Prosecution’s Evidence Before Trial.

You have the right by law to see any information the court plans on using to convict you. The process is called discovery. And it would be useful if you were charged with murder, but this is traffic court. Don’t do this, it can hurt your chances of successfully getting your traffic ticket dismissed.

If you file a motion for discovery this tells the prosecution that you intend to plan a defense. In almost every case the prosecutor will make sure his case is airtight so you have virtually no chance of winning.

Do yourself a favor and don’t even contact the court about anything related to your traffic ticket. You don’t want them to know your familiar with the proceedings of traffic court.

Mistake #3- Doing too much needless research.

How many of you like to spend your free time at your local courthouse researching piles upon piles of law books? There’s absolutely no need to do this research. It’s time consuming and not to mention boring.

Although in some cases it may be wise to look up a certain law and see how it is worded, there really is no need to do it with all traffic ticket trials.

Mistake #4- Attacking the officer’s credibility

Going to traffic court with the sole purpose of making the police officer look like an idiot will backfire on you and any plan you had of getting your traffic ticket thrown out. Claiming things like, “the radar gun was faulty”, or “the officer clocked the wrong vehicle”, or “the officer singled you out”, or “the officer hasn’t had adequate training with the radar/laser gun” are all useless defenses.

Don’t ever go into traffic court with the idea you are going to challenge the police officers training on the use of the radar gun. This will only draw scrutiny from the judge, who will accept the officers testimony that he is properly trained on the use of the equipment.

The officer will NOT have to prove his training qualifications in the courtroom. Let’s face it, the officer has been properly trained and knows how to work the radar/laser gun. No question about it. If you try and go this route you will be disappointed when the judge asks you to provide evidence supporting your claim.

Mistake #5- Showing up to traffic court unprepared.

This is by far the biggest mistake people will make when fighting a traffic ticket. They go to court, thinking they’ve done their homework, when in reality everything they did leading up to the trial was in vain. They’re research was done the WRONG WAY and as a result, they lose their case before they even had a chance to defend themselves.

Those who did no research go to traffic court with the notion that they can just tell their side of the story and the judge will see things their way and dismiss their traffic ticket. Yeah right!

Look, I know the thought of going to traffic court can be a little scary for some, but this isn’t a murder trial. It’s just a simple traffic ticket. Traffic court is set up to be extremely ‘user friendly’ due to the large amounts of people who go there every day.

If you avoid these 5 mistakes you will have a better chance of claiming your victory in traffic court, and hopefully getting that traffic ticket thrown out.

Common Sense Alternatives Drivers Can Prevent Moving Violation Infractions Common Sense Alternatives You Can Get Out Of Moving Violation Tickets Stay alert. Don’t sleep and drive! how to get out of speeding tickets

The Red Light Radar Might Mail Drivers An Infraction

Monday, October 25th, 2010

The way cops hand out speeding tickets has its limits. A police officer can pull over only one car at a time. As far as the governments view this is too expensive and slow.

So now technology has developed to the point where different ways have been cleverly created to give out tickets quicker and less expensively.

The old system of traffic enforcement simply wasn’t doing the job of making the kinds of money our government wants to make.

There are just too many factors: First, they have to hire the cop to pull you over. This also means the use of a police vehicle which also costs money. Next, the traffic stop itself is a dangerous situation for the officer and potentially other drivers or pedestrians. Third, after it’s all said and done, the driver may still end up driving away without a ticket (if the officer decides to just give a warning).

And last, in the time it took the officer to pull you over and write a ticket, many more people go speeding by, so there was money lost from not pulling them over!

Now, introducing the photo radar. It is the latest tactic on the governments part to make money. Oh, in the name of safety of course. In just a few minutes a photo radar can catch many cars speeding on a single road.

Talk about customer service, there’s no longer a need to have an officer pull you over. A photo radar, or traffic camera, simply takes a picture and mails it to you!

Photo radar has been effective for municipalities. It has saved tremendous amounts of time and resources of police departments. It maximizes resources available for other enforcement, conviction rates went up, and also your insurance premiums.

The age of photo radar is still in its infancy. To date, there are only 20 or so states that employ this method of speed detection - California, Colorado, Arizona, Ohio and Washington to name a few.

The photo radar is such a money maker that its popularity is growing fast.

Cities are starting to latch on to the photo radar band wagon because of the revenue generating potential. Its relatively simple for a city to have one installed and the photo radar pays for itself quickly.

Cash strapped cities are finding out that when they install photo radar it gives them immediate money generation.

Looking at it from the municipalities’ point of view it makes perfect sense. One photo radar can do the work of what would normally take a small army of real officers.

How does it work? Photo radar, as the name suggests, is a combination of a camera coupled with a radar gun. The two work together. The radar gun is preprogrammed to function at a particular speed.

For example, if a certain street’s speed limit is 25 mph, the radar gun might be set to activate when any vehicle travels over 30 mph.

When a car passes the photo radar unit and is traveling faster than the predetermined cut off point it will snap a photo of your license plate. And so it goes 24/7, courtesy of big brother hundreds of people can be cited this way.

When the database of the photo radar is accessed at a later time, they photos will be examined inaccurancies.

The first thing they will look for is the license plate. If it is blurry or simply unclear, the picture will be disposed of and the next one will be examined.

When a clear license plate is found it will be run through the bureau of motor vehicles database to see who it is registered to. If its a male and there is a male behind the wheel of the car, BINGO, a citation will be on its way to the registered owner. Ah the beauty of photo radar.

This process is repeated until all the pictures from the photo radar have been gone through, until the next batch arrives. Photo radar enforcement is on the rise, hopefully this article will give you a heads up about it.

Its important to know your town or city and what resources they have for law enforcement. Common Sense Ways People Can Prevent Moving Violation Infractions pay parking tickets You cant avoid all speeding tickets unfortunately, but you can take some common sense approaches to cut down on them.

categories: speeding tickets,law enforcement,legal,law,automotive,insurance,auto insurance,advice,family

The Georgia Speeding Ticket May Be Especially Expensive

Monday, October 25th, 2010

As Far as traffic fines go, the Georgia speeding ticket can be one of the more expensive. But you may also want to avoid speeding tickets in Illinois, North Carolina, New Hampshire, and Nevada as well. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA, speeding fines can cost you over $1000.

The severity of the financial penalty of the Georgia speeding ticket also may depend upon the number of miles above the speed limit when clocked and the number of points on a driver’s license, or if the offense occurred near a school or road works. A driver’s license may also be suspended, their car impounded, or they may face jail time.

Some states like Texas, Michigan and New Jersey have “driver responsibility” laws that can add additional fines up to a thousand dollars. In 2009 Virginia changed their driver responsibility laws because of public outrage.

But Georgia is just getting warmed up. They recently added $200 to current fines for what they call “super speeders.” These are individuals who exceed more than 10 miles an hour over the posted speed limit. That puts a Georgia speeding ticket in line with Missouri, Oregon and Maryland who have fines up to $500, before court fees.

The super speeder act, passed in May 2010, also tacks on $200 to those exceeding 75 mph on a two lane, or 85 mph on highways. And depending on the county you are caught speeding in more a thousand bucks is already added on for municipal fines.

The enhanced Georgia speeding ticket fines are justified, says Bob Dallas of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety in Georgia, as a deterrent against speeding. He also points out that funds from the statewide speeding program, which begins Jan. 1, 2010, will be put toward trauma care centers across the state.

Currently he is organizing a public-awareness campaign around the fines using TV, web and radio ads, electronic roadway signs, and fliers at truck stops and filling stations. So if you don’t want to be out a lot of dough, don’t speed and get a Georgia speeding ticket!

Depending on the car you drive, you may stand out from the rest. reckless driving tickets Always maintain a good visible lookout of your surroundings. Common Sense Alternatives You Can Get Out Of Parking Tickets

Look At These Fascinating Tid Bits Regarding Traffic Citations

Monday, October 25th, 2010

More than 100,000 speeding tickets are issued daily. That comes to more than 36,500,000 traffic tickets yearly.

One in every 6 drivers will get a speeding ticket this year.

Average speeding tickets cost $150.

Almost 5 and one half BILLION dollars a year are generated just from speeding fines. $150 x 36,500,000= $5,475,000,000!

Auto insurance for just one speeding ticket can cost you around $900 on average over 3 years.

Take 36,500,000 and multiply by $900 and you get 3.28 BILLION! Thats the extra money auto insurance companies make in increased premiums.

More than 95% of drivers who get speeding tickets will simply pay the fine and not fight it in traffic court.

The other 5% who make an effort to fight their ticket usually have their case dismissed or receive reduced charges that don’t get reported on their driving record.

In the US there are almost 200 million licensed drivers.

Immediate grounds for dismissal of a traffic ticket is the officer not showing up to traffic court. This happens 40% of the time.

Paradise Valley, Arizona, in 1987 became the first town in America to use photo radar.

Brooklyn, Ohio became the first city to mandate seat belts while driving back in 1966.

The demographic that receives more speeding tickets are the 17 to 24 year drivers.

Males receive more speeding tickets than their female counter parts.

More women than men fight their speeding tickets in traffic court.

17 year olds cause more traffic accidents than any other age.

In July 1879, two men are fined for speeding horses in Seattle.

Henry Ford’s first motor vehicle, built in 1894, only went forward.

Traffic lights were used before the advent of the motorcar. In 1868, a lantern with red and green signals was used at a London intersection to control the flow of horse buggies and pedestrians.

Washington D.C. area photo radar cameras since 1999 have been responsible for almost 3,000,000 traffic tickets worth almost $200,000,000.

The earliest known speeding ticket on file was issued in 1910 to the Prime Minister of Canada’s wife. She was traveling at a whopping 10 mph over the limit.

Out of all professions, doctors get the most speeding tickets.

An average police officer will cost a city around $75,000 in salary and benefits per year. That same officer can make that same city almost double that in speeding ticket fines.

Top 10 States Notorious for Writing Tickets:

1. Ohio 2. Pennsylvania 3. New York 4. California 5. Texas 6. Georgia 7. Virginia 8. North Carolina 9. Massachusetts 10. Connecticut

Don’t go over the speed limit. Common Sense Ways You Can Avoid Moving Violation Infractions Is an unmarked police vehicle, until it pulls them over and gives them a speeding ticket! pay parking tickets

Distinguish Where Speed Traps Are Located To Avoid Them

Monday, October 25th, 2010

Speed traps are places commonly known to people where law enforcement writes more traffic tickets on average than other places. These are something all fifty states have in common.

Its usually relatively easy to catch drivers breaking the speed limit in these areas. These can be areas of fluctuating speed limits, stretches of road where the speed limit signs can be difficult to see, or around bends or curves in the road. These can and more can all be considered speed traps.

Small municipalities like to set up speed traps near an interstate or major highway, where they know it is unlikely that a ticketed driver will return to fight it in court. Law enforcement realize that many drivers will use radar detectors in their attempt to evade a speeding ticket. They will render this method useless by setting up a speed trap where they will time you between two preset points with a stopwatch.

What happens in this case is that they will use a mathematical formula to determine your speed by using the time it took you to pass between the preset points. Its pretty simple for them to do this. So if they determine you were speeding, usually another police officer down the road will be alerted to the make and model of your car, what your speed was, and they will pull you over.

The legality of so called speed traps has been hotly debated for years. Politicians and law enforcement officials alike always sing the same song, that its done in the name of saving lives. They take us for fools, because we all know its to increase the revenue. Increasing revenue is always good to a city’s bottom line.

The truth is, using deceptive means such as speed traps is unethical. Not to mention illegal. But law enforcement gets away with it all the time. Deceptive practices of writing traffic violations is quite literally worth billions of dollars yearly in America.

Next time your in your vehicle protect yourself from speed traps. And if you are planning on going on a road trip, do some research beforehand on the internet to determine where likely speed traps might be.

There’s a computerized radar gun and camera inside. But that van or SUV parked on the side of the street could be a photo radar unit. traffic court This is the obvious one, but honestly if you want to avoid a speeding ticket don’t speed.

Your Guide On Ways To Fight Traffic Citations

Monday, October 25th, 2010

Nobody likes to get speeding tickets. Hopefully, this article will give readers some insight on how to fight speeding tickets.

Gather evidence: When fighting speeding tickets, ask the traffic court to see the official documents, like calibration records for either the radar gun or speedometer used to clock your car. File a discovery request with the prosecutor so you can always examine documents in advance for flaws. But note that if you subpoena documents, you’ll remind the officer of the incident, which may prompt him/her to show up in court.

Beat the beam: When you fight speeding tickets, note that speed-measuring devices such as radar and laser (a.k.a. LIDAR, or Light Detecting and Ranging) are subject to human error. In some instances, officers have failed to give sufficient proof of proper LIDAR positioning, and subsequently the cases were dismissed.

Everybody has heard of cases of all kinds being dismissed because of a technicality. And this does happen. Certain things have to be done correctly for a speeding ticket to be valid. If for instance the officers badge number or signature is illegible you may a valid point to have your speeding ticket dismissed.

Make sure to give a brief and concise argument of your side of the case if you go to traffic court to fight speeding tickets. The traffic court judge or magistrate has a very small amount of time to spend on each single ticket. If something blocked you from seeing a traffic sign and as a result you received a ticket then have a photo of that to help bolster your case.

Win by default: When fighting speeding tickets, if the officer doesn’t show up, and the court asks for a continuance (postponement to another day), then your response should be, “I object.” The case should be dismissed if the officer doesn’t have a good reason to be absent from court.

Speeding tickets can raise your insurance, cause accidents and other hazards. The best way to avoid receiving a speeding ticket is not to speed!

The absolute best way to avoid all speeding tickets is to simply not drive. Your mirrors, blinkers, headlights and tail lights need to all function correctly. traffic tickets lawyer Sit up in your seat so you have better visibility.

The Difference Amid Moving And Non Moving Parking Citations

Sunday, October 24th, 2010

There are differences between traffic tickets. Determining the type of ticket you have is important when evaluating your situation.

Sometimes if your ticket is not a serious one that gets reported to your auto insurance company, you may be better off just paying the fine and not challenging it in court.

Traffic violations come under two main headings. They can either be moving violations or non moving violations. They usually involve smaller fines and can be something as simple as a parking or headlight ticket.

Also these don’t show up on your record, and your auto insurance wont get wind of them either.

Some common non-moving violations include: improper registration, failure to use seatbelt, broken taillights, no license plate, no license lamps, and improper parking.

These types of violations are usually better dealt with by just paying the fine. Taking the matter to court is more of a hassle on your part because the fine being imposed is normally not more than $50. The amount of time, energy and cost involved in contesting the charged violation is not worth it. Besides, these types of tickets are very hard to beat in court. I mean, either you parked illegally or you didn’t.

But if you felt the ticket was given unjustly, you should always attempt to resolve it in some way. For example a broken head light ticket will usually be tossed if you show proof you fixed it.

A moving violation on the other hand, is any violation of the law, committed by the driver of a vehicle, while it is in motion. The term “motion” distinguishes it from ‘non-moving’ violations. While parking tickets are charged against a vehicle (which will be towed if violations go unpaid or are frequent), moving violations are charged against the person driving. Moving violations are usually classified as infractions or misdemeanors, but serious violations can be considered felonies.

In most locations moving violations involve both a fine and points being assessed to the record of the driver. As points accumulate harsher punishments can be imposed such as being ordered to take driving classes, or even having your license suspended.

In the US fines are in set amounts that can vary from $50 or so, up to and even surpassing $750 in some instances. In other countries traffic violation fines can be set proportional to the individuals income, and judgments of $100,000 or more aren’t unheard of!

More common moving violations can include speeding (THE most common), failure to secure a load, failure to yield right of way, violating high occupancy vehicle lanes, or not stopping for a pedestrian.

More serious moving violations include: racing on a public street, road rage, drunk driving, and vehicular homicide

Also, traffic violations can either be criminal or civil. They both come with fines and points on your record, but a criminal violation is the only one that can get you jail time.

The sentence imposed in a criminal case is an obligation that a person has towards the “state” for violation of law; that is, it is a punishment for the act that was committed. The ’state’ could be a local township, municipality, city, county, state or the federal government. These are moving violations to avoid at all costs, obviously.

Don’t draw too much attention. Everyone knows that driving a nice high performance car will always draw more attention than say a Ford Taurus will. wreckless driving Most drivers are oblivious to the fact that the car next to them with tinted windows.

Methods To Overcome Your Traffic Ticket

Saturday, October 23rd, 2010

In the eyes of the justice system, everyone is supposed to be treated equally by state laws. So when you are charged with breaking a law, guilt isn’t determined until evaluated by the court system.

By knowing your legal rights, you can have a better chance to beat a speeding ticket. This will require some effort though.

So to beat a speeding ticket, lets start with the scene of the flagging down, you have the right to limit your answers to a polite “no, officer” and “yes officer.” Known as the Miranda Rights, you are free not to admit your guilt or answer questions that can possibly lead to self-incrimination, especially without the presence of a lawyer.

But, you DO want to be cooperative by providing your basic details such as drivers license, proof of auto insurance, and other things such as your name. Your right to be silent does not pertain to these.

In order to beat a speeding ticket, you have to do things in a certain way. Being courteous and respectful to another human being can carry significant weight when an officer is still deciding to ticket you or not. Losing your temper or verbalizing insults toward an officer of the law will absolutely guarantee you will NOT get out of a traffic ticket. And if you push the issue too far it can lead to more charges, especially in court.

Don’t be afraid to try and beat a speeding ticket, because your innocence is maintained and protected, until such time you are actually found guilty in traffic court. There has to be sufficient evidence for you to be convicted, and this responsibility rests on the shoulders of the officer who wrote the citation.

Try to remember specific facts about what happened before and while you were pulled over. Being vague wont help. Its easier than most think to beat a speeding ticket, the court gives both sides equal opportunity to present their side.

A lawyer can be summoned, if need be, or you can also represent yourself for minor charges. The court can grant relevant requests for documentations such as the statement of the officer regarding their version of events, and the make and model of your car according to their recollection. If you show that you have more credible answers related to the event, then you have a greater chance to beat a speeding ticket.

You are also granted the right to a speedy trial as traffic courts realize there are time constraints such as personal life and work. If the officer is a no show you can point out the lack of evidence and simply ask to have your speeding ticket thrown out.

The law can provide alternatives such as community service or going to traffic school in lue of payment. To beat a speeding requires you check out all options available to you before going to traffic court.

If you can beat a speeding ticket you will benefit greatly because violations are listed in your driving history, which can in turn affect additional charges or increase in your premium rates so you would want to avoid such inconveniences with a clear record.

Traffic violations can be punishing for several reasons. Just keep in mind when trying to beat a speeding ticket, biases and abuse aren’t tolerated by the court. Which means you have as good a chance as anyone to have your speeding ticket dropped when you go to traffic court.

In the eyes of the justice system, everyone is supposed to be treated equally by state laws. Having a temper tantrum or insulting your officer can add to your charges, especially while in court. And the burden of proof has to be provided by the law enforcement official who actually wrote the traffic citation. Fine Traffic