| Author | Message | ||
     Patrickmitchell |
I got a speeding ticket on the Palisades Parkway yesterday... If anyone on this board is an attorney, or can recommend someone, I'd appreciate the lead. The citation requires you to either show up in court or plead guilty without knowing what the fine and points would be. I need to know the rules... Free advice would be appreciated, but I am willing to pay for representation. Feel free to PM me if you don't want to post names and numbers on a public forum. Thanks in advance! (Message edited by PatrickMitchell on February 19, 2010) | ||
| Glitch |
Just go to court and ask for a trial by jury, it's your right to have one if you ask. They quite possibly aren't willing to spend the money it would take to have a jury trial for a speeding ticket, putting you off indefinitely. A friend of mine is still waiting for his jury trial, two years after having receiving his speeding ticket... | ||
| Patrickmitchell |
Glitch, Thanks for the reply. I'm really looking for a NY attorney. The ticket appears to be a revenue racket. There are some things wrong, like the year of my vehicle, on the ticket... The system appears to be geared to making it as difficult as possible to defend yourself. Hence the need for real legal advice. I can't stand these deals from our governments. I drive a lot and travel to NY frequently, so I can afford to show up. Some of the people on this board have to be attorneys. Given the nature of bikers, I know some of you need attorneys... Lol. | ||
| Ulynut |
I got nabbed more times than I can count. On the Palisades too. You can ask for a jury trial, but what if they grant you a court date? Then your lawyers fees just went through the roof. I guess it all depends on how fast you were going. I usually just plead not guilty and pray that the judge has mercy on me when I get to court by lowering the fine. I have a court date next wednesday in Highland Falls, New York. If you plead guilty, it's a roll of the dice as well. I got nabbed in New York once, plead guilty, waited six months to find out my fine was $650.00, paid it, then received a letter in the mail that I had to pay another $600.00 to keep my privilege of driving in the state of New York. I would have plead not guilty if I knew they would do that. Bottom line, I would say if you're going 20 over the limit, get a lawyer. I'm sorry I can't help you out with a good one, I have'nt found one yet. | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
You might ask Hammer71. He is an outstanding New York Police officer. The last time I got a ticket, it was written wrong too. I asked for a "Supporting Deposition", by checking a box on the part of the ticket I sent in. The town of Southampton then dropped the case, presumably because of a faultily written ticket, or because the writing officer was unable to write the supporting dep. I never found out exactly. | ||
| Kyrocket |
Were you speeding? Was it the first time you ever sped? Last time I got a ticket he had me dead to rights, I went to court, got traffic school, paid less than $100 and never blinked an eye. If you were speeding, got caught, just pay it and go on. Now if you weren't speeding then I'd fight it tooth and nail but if you got caught then you just got caught and need to man up. | ||
| Patrickmitchell |
Thanks for the replies! I sent Hammer a PM. I am still looking for a reply from a NY attorney or the name of someone decent. Thanks again and keep the replies coming. | ||
| Hammer71 |
State Police? How many over and what type of ticket (new style is printed out old style hand written). Circumstances may help with my advice as well. what exit location will help as well. | ||
| Swampy |
My opinion, shop for an attorney, 99% of them are shyster pettifoggers and have no backbone nor passion and only pay attention long enough for the retainer to run out. I personally will not hire one again. It is possible to conduct legal matters yourself, just ask for time to make a decision(don't let them rush you) and ask alot of questions. Most of what you have to do is filing the correct paperwork, and pleading(begging) during the hearings. I have a friend that is notorious for confounding court proceedings and is very good at what he does. Remember, judgywudgy is nothing more than a shyster himself that was voted in by the community or appointed by the governor(also possibly a shyster by trade) and sometimes has an interest in pleasing the people he is judging. He will not acknowledge the judge nor will he touch any paperwork or sign anything acknowledging judgements. It is great entertainment watching him do his thing. If you do hire a shyster, put your requests in writing, ask pointed questions demand yes and no answers, and shamelesly ask for a specific result for your money, remember, when you hire a shyster they are your bloodsucker and should be acting in your best interest, not in "getting things done quickly" | ||
| Hammer71 |
+1 on the above, most lawyers will charge more than the fine you would have gotten by yourself (and you'll still have a fine). Numerous things to factor in here is location of his car, Radar,Lidar,Pacing or observation. traffic conditions and weather also plays a role. (i used to teach Radar and such in the Police Academy) so I can get you pointed in the right direction. If the ticket was one of the new printed ones a supporting Deposition would have been included. If it was and doesnt include the make model and serial number of the equipment used or the date of last calibration you have the right to request such and go from there. | ||
| Patrickmitchell |
Hammer, I just sent you a PM with specifics. Thanks for the above post. (Message edited by patrickmitchell on February 19, 2010) | ||
| Pso |
Wife just got a ticket for speeding. Went to court, after hearing what everyone else was saying and watching judges reaction she told him that after listening to everything she was guilty but this was why. They had changed the road (widened considerabley, put in shoulders etc) and she was just cruising along unaware of the lowered speed on the improved road. She apologized. Now she is PBJ. It is fun to remind her that she is on probation and if she does not do as instructed I am obligated to contact her probation officer  . My last ticket I got was in 67 for racing on a hiway. Hard to beat the P.O. was right behind my MG. Went to court contrite etc. Just got court costs. Good Luck on whatever you chose to do. | ||
| Fahren |
Your chances of having the damage reduced is increased if there are errors on the ticket - you mention year of vehicle, for example. Hammer, any advice you feel ok about putting up about this type of situation for those of us who are looking at this thread would be greatly appreciated. Buell + Palisades Parkway = too tempting... Patrick, I feel your pain. | ||
| Ulynut |
Buell + Palisades Parkway = too tempting... Same goes for the Taconic. It's just too easy to break the speed limit on these roads. Anything beyond 3rd gear will get you busted. Especially when there's a radar gun behind every bush. | ||
| Danger_dave |
We have different laws/system here but I've always found it's best to just write a cheque and put the incident behind you. The pain lasts hours instead of months. (Message edited by danger_dave on February 19, 2010) | ||
| Froggy |
Dave, again I am not sure of how it works with you, but here in the states most states have various points systems. Depending on the infraction, if you are found guilty you earn some points. After X amount of points your license is suspended or even revoked. The more points you have the higher your insurance is too. If the infraction won't get me points or raise my insurance, I would normally just pay it and move on with my life. | ||
| Patrickmitchell |
OK: I had a brief conversation with an attorney. Some of this is not new news, but is worth repeating. The legal system is sort of like a guild. The lawyers have a set of complicated rules (laws), that require their participation (job security). If you show up with a lack of understanding of those rules, you are ripe to be taken advantage of... Like I said, not new news. NY has a wonderful system where you can plead guilty without knowing what the fine will be (I found the points scale online). They can hit you with a big fine $600.00 and then the DMV in NY has a new wonderful procedure called "driver responsibility"; which allows them to hit you for another $150.00-$300.00. The attorney fee for a traffic/speeding ticket appears to be $500.00. It appears, with representation, that it is possible to have the charges reduced to a lower fine and the number of points reduced. Essentially, these guys know exactly what they can charge, and still be a good deal. Looks like I'll get my day in court sometime in April. Hammer: Thanks for the lead, your guy appears to be OK. I'll let you know how it goes. Good luck with the powder coating business! | ||
| Danger_dave |
Similar but without the insurance component. Demerit Points are 're-set' after 2 years without any. And fines are fixed amounts. $90 for a small one - $800 for one that will get you suspended for 3 months. In Aus a big one is several thousand$ (Message edited by danger_dave on February 19, 2010) | ||
| Ulynut |
+1 Froggy. The thing that gets me is, they set the speed limits back when cars had biased ply tires and wooden brakes. They have you doing 50mph when you can SAFELY do 70-75mph, and they're sitting behind the bushes, ambush style, armed to the teeth with radar guns. Blame the insurance companies, D.O.T., local municipalities, whoever you want. It seems everyone is making money off of it, so it's not going to change. Keep milking me, I'll just work more overtime for you.  | ||
| Drkside79 |
no points here in Illinois they have other ways to bleed us. | ||
| Pso |
Side note-Sky Line Drive rangers have been know to be ruthless in ticketing. Blue Ridge Parkway much less so. I would like to see more CB's on back roads. Radar Detectors almost useless w/ the instant on on back roads. On hiways handy to talk w/truckers about ambushes. | ||
| Nm5150 |
I got a careless driving ticket before Christmas here and went to the station to try to take care of it before court.They let me sign up for a defensive driving course that was about 6 ours on a Saturday.The course cost less than my fine and kept it off my record.(Arkansas)I got a failure to yield in Texas a few years back and called the prosecutor ahead of time.They let me pay the fine and sign an affidavid saying I wouldn't get in trouble for six months and that kept that one off my record.Before getting a lawyer I just go see them and act stupid and see what happens.If that don't work I seek legal advice. | ||
| Ulynut |
I get my pee pee smacked wednesday.  | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
I live in France & use a UK licence, (both EU countries & I still have an address in UK) so I don't get any problems with points, the fines are a fixed scale, so I just write a cheque & carry on as usual. | ||
| Ulynut |
WOOOO---HOOOOOO! Went to court last night. Talked to the prosecutor and he let me slide with "parking on the pavement". No points, $100.00 fine. I'll take it! Radar got me doing 22mph over the limit. No lawyer involved. What a relief. |
