2 Tickets in 2 Weeks! Ugh. Help/Advice Welcome

[dpsfm3]

I'm in San Francisco.

Ticket #1 from CHP
Speeding 20mph over (65 in a 45). Got nailed with radar exiting the Golden Gate Bridge on 19th ave under the tunnel. My argument to the officer was I accelerated to overtake and pass the bus in front of me.

Ticket #2 from SFPD
Unsafe lane change. Total BS ticket. Officer said I didn't signal and i did!

What are my chances of winning in court (outside of the officers not showing up)? Can I still do traffic school for one of these if I lose both cases?

My court date for both is in November 2011. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

[saeedg48]

you can do traffic school if you haven't been in (i think 12 or 16 months) do it online..
http://www.idrivesafely.com/ all the answers for the quizzes and exams are online, just google them.

fight the unsafe lane change. & don't worry getting tickets happens to all of us just drive safe.

[1MOREMOD]

go for 3 in 3 is my vote!

[cooler2442]

I think it is time to invest in a Valentine one.

[dpsfm3]

I have a V1...didn't help...happened too quick.

[bsiciliano]

You can go to traffic school once every 18 months. You are allowed to postpone your hearing. Try to reschedule for night court and cross your fingers.

[roy@acuteperformance]

Extend both court dates as far as you can and do a TBD on both. Most of the time you'll win by default because the officer won't even send in a declaration.

Search on Google for plenty of TBD examples and tips.

Good luck.

[fuzzybam]

Originally Posted by dpsfm3

I'm in San Francisco.

Ticket #1 from CHP
Speeding 20mph over (65 in a 45). Got nailed with radar exiting the Golden Gate Bridge on 19th ave under the tunnel. My argument to the officer was I accelerated to overtake and pass the bus in front of me.

The judge will throw the book at you for this one. Even if you are passing you are not allowed to go over the speed limit. I would suck up and do traffic school for this one.

Ticket #2 from SFPD
Unsafe lane change. Total BS ticket. Officer said I didn't signal and i did!

Replace your blinker bulb and state to the judge that you checked your bulb and it was burned out after this incident. You have since replaced it and they will probably cut you a break.

[Bowser330]

Originally Posted by roy@acuteperformance

Extend both court dates as far as you can and do a TBD on both. Most of the time you'll win by default because the officer won't even send in a declaration.

Search on Google for plenty of TBD examples and tips.

Good luck.

This^^^^

Cops are paid to go to court, so its like a half day off for them and often times they show up. What you want to do, like roy said is, file a trial by declaration request, then the actual form/letter. We all hate paper work and the Cop will have to respond via a form/letter, often times they don't respond.

Even if they do, you are still entitled to goto court, or do traffic school or whatever, there is really no reason to not try TBD.

[FVM3]

extend it as late as possible and show up in the court.

[Brocallion]

get an extension for the first one. try to postpone it as long as you can. do take the second ticket to court first and pled not guilty. if the officer is present at trial, just insist that you did signaled. i think your blinker has to blink 3 times before you should change lane. but just say that you always use good practice when it comes to changing lanes. maybe add that you may have accidentally depressed the signal and signaling stops. if you are lucky the office may not show. good luck. if you win, then try again for the first ticket. if the chp got you on radar gun, your only chance would be if the chp don't show on trial. my two cents.

[dpsfm3]

does anyone know if traffic school is an option AFTER going to court? I'm asking in the event I lose. If not, then I will try to postpone the CHP one and try my luck on the SFPD one first in court.

[persian54]

you can only do traffic school if the judge gives you the option

[Joonsup]

If you haven't done traffic school within the past 18 months from the day of your first ticket you can go to traffic school (online or classroom). That'll cover your first ticket. You can either just pay the bail when you get your courtesy notice or go to walk in court and hope that the judge lowers the bail amount. Having traffic school granted by the judge will be a no brainer. You can try to fight it but seems like a clear cut case and in this economy when the state needs money, I dunno how likely you will win.

As others stated you can try to fight it by trial of written declaration or by walk in trial. A friend who's a cop recently told us a story where he had to go to court for trial b/c the person who he gave a ticket to tried to fight the ticket. The judge asked the guy if he was sure he wanted to proceed in the trial b/c if he lost he would not grant him traffic school. In regards to trial by written declaration it's just a matter of whether the officer is too lazy to respond or if he cannot remember the specific incident. If he does remember, you'll lose b/c it's his word against yours.

In regards to your second speeding ticket, assuming you take traffic school for your first ticket, you will not be able to take the level 1 traffic school again b/c the DMV will not accept it and will not erase the point from your driving record. I know that for sure.

The part where I'm a little confused about is the second offense or level 2 driving school which is an 18 hour classroom session compared to the normal 12 hour classroom session. This is supposedly for those who have taken traffic school within 18 months already and from what I heard you need to get permission from the judge before attending. What someone told me was that if you complete the level 2 traffic school, although the point will still be on your record, the insurance company can't raise your rates?

I just went to court last week in order to request traffic school since I wasn't eligible due to a prior moving violation with the last 18 months. I plead guilty and w/out asking he asked if I wanted traffic school and I said yes. I don't think he knew I wasn't eligible b/c in the speech before anything began, he mentioned how if you've taken traffic school within 18 months they won't let you take it again or something like that.

In the end my bail was reduced from 234 to 110 plus 54 registration fee for traffic school and I paid that same day and received the info on traffic school sites. But when I called this past weekend to get more info on the level 2 traffic school, the person told me I need approval for that. What I'm confused about is whether approval was granted since the judge asked me if I wanted traffic school, or whether I needed to ask specifically for level 2 traffic school. I'm going to call them today to double check.

[PAKMAN]

racism i tell you.

[ES_TRADER]

what happens when u get nailed with a V1 attached to your windshield...cop walks up and laughs??

[PKL]

Originally Posted by richpuer

what happens when u get nailed with a V1 attached to your windshield...cop walks up and laughs??

lol!

[Z K]

Originally Posted by Nick@DetailAddict

In the end my bail was reduced from 234 to 110 plus 54 registration fee for traffic school and I paid that same day and received the info on traffic school sites. But when I called this past weekend to get more info on the level 2 traffic school, the person told me I need approval for that. What I'm confused about is whether approval was granted since the judge asked me if I wanted traffic school, or whether I needed to ask specifically for level 2 traffic school. I'm going to call them today to double check.

I got the same thing a couple of years ago, 2 tickets within 18 months. I took traffic school for the first one and paid the fine. For the 2nd one, I went to court and they offered me traffic school and a fine reduction. I took the online traffic school again. No points ever showed up.

I believe if the judge says you can take traffic school a 2nd time, they'll let you do it more than once.

[Sean@PYSpeed.com]

haha, catching too much attention in the M. =)

[Snig]

Advice from a Lawyer:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVnplh7gnlU

[Joonsup]

Originally Posted by Z K

I got the same thing a couple of years ago, 2 tickets within 18 months. I took traffic school for the first one and paid the fine. For the 2nd one, I went to court and they offered me traffic school and a fine reduction. I took the online traffic school again. No points ever showed up.

I believe if the judge says you can take traffic school a 2nd time, they'll let you do it more than once.

when you went to court for the second ticket, did the judge know you had received a ticket within the 18 months? B/c for mine when he explained the proceedings and what to say and do, he mentioned that traffic school cannot be permitted if it is within 18 months of the last time, but when he went through each case that invovled speeding, he asked each one of them including me if I wanted traffic school, which led me to believe that the judge doesnt know how many times one has taken traffic school.

It's interesting that you say that no point ever showed up. Weird

[Z K]

Originally Posted by Nick@DetailAddict

when you went to court for the second ticket, did the judge know you had received a ticket within the 18 months? B/c for mine when he explained the proceedings and what to say and do, he mentioned that traffic school cannot be permitted if it is within 18 months of the last time, but when he went through each case that invovled speeding, he asked each one of them including me if I wanted traffic school, which led me to believe that the judge doesnt know how many times one has taken traffic school.

It's interesting that you say that no point ever showed up. Weird

He didn't know I'd already taken traffic school. I got both tickets within a 1 month time frame in two different counties. I don't think their system updated that fast or something. He asked if I'd had a speeding ticket before before, my response was, "I have not gotten a speeding ticket within the past 10 years until recently." (which is true) He laughed at that and mentioned I was a good driver. I guess he assumed I hadn't gotten a ticket and no record in the system.

I've heard of this happening before. The judge is the law and if he says you can take traffic school to remove your point, you can do it even if it is multiple times.