Can anyone recommend info on fighting a speeding citation in MA?
I've just been cited 65+ in a posted 55. Since the trooper was using radar and I was in traffic, I figure I stand a reasonable chance. Unlit section of 128, he was sitting just around a hill-crested corner etc.
I have a feeling that there was no way that he could independantly determine my speed, let alone be assured that the radar reading was from my car. Since he had to be using rear-facing radar, there is a good chance that he was picking up traffic on the other side of the road as well.
Finding pay sites doesn't seem to be a big issue. Determining which one to pay is though - can anyone recommend any?

Quick question, isn't the cop supposed to get me to sign the citation? What happens if he didn't?

I had a similar situation to this a couple years ago except in my case the speed limit was not posted between where I got on the road and were I was stopped. I went to court over it all I got was a smart ass remark from some worthless judge and a wasted day.

Now I drive the speed limit not 5 or 10 over and if it isn't posted I go 30 on streets and 55 on highways until I see a sign. This results in being tailgated by some jerk most of the time.

128's purpose is no longer travel. Rather, it is there for the police to pick up their quota in speeding tickets. I swear. That is one route that you really can't get away with speeding on.

Anyway, I don't have any useful information. Your arguments sound convincing, so, as long as you're willing to take the time to fight it, I wish you good luck.

Word of advice. Don't fight it. You're better off just paying the fine and moving on. You'll end up wasting your time trying to argue. They've heard everything. Most Judges and Officers know exactly how to fight every excuse under the sun, and they've done it hundreds if not thousands of times.

Also, about signing the citation, over here in CA it is a requirement for the Officer to get a signature, as it is an acknowledgement of your intent to appear in court (or pay the fine). Don't know how it works in over there, though. I have a feeling it really isn't going to matter, since it will still get filed by the Officer, and it still goes on record.

I've just been cited 65+ in a posted 55. Since the trooper was using radar and I was in traffic, I figure I stand a reasonable chance.

Dunno about your state, but if it's anything like CA, they use relatively narrow-beam KA band radar and document it on video tape with a crosshair and speed-readout overlay. When you see the tape, it's pretty clear that they nail you fair and square.

However. If for some reason the radar unit requires calibration (they used to in the old days, dunno about lately) and the cop can't provide the paperwork in court proving it was calibrated, then the ticket will be thrown out.

Sometimes you can simply try to take it to court, and if you're lucky the cop won't be able to show up that day (or won't want to miss the work, just to waste time prosecuting a piddly 65-in-a-55) and the ticket will get thrown out.

You could go in for the initial hearing, plead no contest, admit your speed, and ask for a sentence reduction based on the fact that 65 in a 55 wasn't dangerous for the conditions at the time and you were going with the flow of traffic (assuming that's really what you were doing). Just don't say that the clocking was wrong unless you really intend to contest the clocking at a trial, and don't say you didn't know how fast you were going because they'll throw the book at you if you say that (if you don't know how fast you were going you're not driving safely, says their reasoning).

Your final option is to pay a lawyer to help you contest the ticket. Didn't someone link an article recently about the lawyer who specialized in getting people out of speeding tickets?

Oh, and your refusal to sign the ticket doesn't mean jack.

Word of advice. Don't fight it.

I've heard just the opposite.

It depends on how much time and money you want to waste. Most of the time it ends up being cheaper to just pay the fine.

It is true that it will be dismissed if the Officer fails to appear.

As my father just told me, he's only seen a handful of cases be dismissed by the judge in his 24 years as a Police Officer.

I had a friend tell me (supposedly worked for him) to always get the officers name and badge number. Then call the station a few days before your hearing and ask when the officers days off are, you need to bring some paperwork or something to him. Get his days off then call and reschedule your court date on his day off... he said they almost never show and it's really the only chance you have of getting out of a ticket.

Never tried it personally, I have a bit of a lead foot myself, one more ticket and I hit 12 points... not good... anyway those points should start dropping off sometime in 2004?

here in chicago, they schedule your court date based on the citing officer's schedule. they group all of the officer's tickets into a couple of appearances per month, to make it easier on them. if you can't make a date, they reschedule for the next date that officer is going to appear in court.

it makes sense, and it certainly minimizes your chances of getting off because an officer didn't appear.

--dan.

Oh, and your refusal to sign the ticket doesn't mean jack.

Hmm. I never refused, he never asked me to, or even gave me a chance. But I figured as much.

This site is for Ontario residents, but the advice applies equally well to many other areas:

http://www.magma.ca/~fyst/

I recently had a ticket for rolling through a stop sign (which was untrue -- it was a trap and I lived about ten feet from that sign as a kid playing in the street, so I always make sure to stop there, if nowhere else).

My initial court date was to plead and nothing else. Then I had another court date that got mixed up and I had to have it continued. The next date the officer didn't show up. I don't know if it wasn't worth her time or what, but it seems to me that simply asking for a continuance the first real court date might mean that the officer is less likely to show up. But I could be wrong.

I don't know if it wasn't worth her time or what, but it seems to me that simply asking for a continuance the first real court date might mean that the officer is less likely to show up.

This is true, or at least has been my experience in Texas. I can recall several instances of people who've gotten out of tickets just by requesting a continuance.

Is this on your shiny new licence?

I dunno about MA but in most urban areas of MO you can get traffic lawyers that will get things amended down to like defective brakes and other BS. But it will cost you big bucks the savings might be worth it in additional insruance costs over the long haul though.

Yep, so shiny it hasn't even arrived yet. 4 days old.

Thanks, that's a great site, although it's proving difficult to determine what is relevant to US and MA law.

I'll speak in favor of getting a good traffic attorney. I'm three-for-three getting tickets dismissed by employing Houston's infamous David Sprecher. He charges you the face value of your ticket and makes no guarantees. In the worst case, he got my ticket for speeding + out-of-date registration reduced to just the out-of-date registration. I then paid a $75 fee and walked away a free man. The only other cost is dragging your butt into court in the morning.

If there's a comparable attorney in your area, that's who you want.

Well, the fine is only $75, so I'm not worried about that. I was worried about the insurance premiums. But after looking at MA law, it appears that the first (minor civil offense) ticket in each 'experience period' doesn't give you any SDIP points. So as long as I don't get any more within a year then I'm fine. Since this is only my second speeding ticket in 13 years of driving (last one about 6 years ago), the odds are in my favor. Even if I did, it's only one SDIP point. Last night when I posted this I was under the impression that it was automatically 3. Don't know where that came from.

Now I've just got to overturn the at-fault major accident in January that just went against me. I'm fairly confident about that - four drivers made an illegal turn across me at an intersection once I was already in the intersection impeding my progress across it and causing me to get hit in the passenger side. Argh.

In reply to:

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I was under the impression that it was automatically 3. Don't know where that came from.

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Possibly from UK traffic law? Just out of interest, how long have you been over in the US?

Hmm. Quite possible I suppose. My last speeding ticket was in the UK, and did indeed incur 3 points on my license.

Hey, maybe you can get it thrown out on the basis that your driving test was a farce!