Speeding Ticket

Hi,

I got a speeding ticket this morning at NJ ( I-78 West). I remember you guys gave good advice about this when we were in RF.

The ticket states I was going 85 in a 65 zone. Here are my questions:

1. How many points will I get?
2. I live in NY and the car and drive license are registerred in NY, are these points I got in NJ going to affect my driving record in NY? How about my next year's insurance fee?
3. Should I appear in the court or just plea guilty and send in the payment?
4. How do I minimize the impact on my record and MONEY?
5. What does the traffice attorney can do? Can you guys recommend one?

Haven't told my wife yet. She is going to kill me.

Thanks in advance.

JCH

Originally Posted by jchx5

Hi,

I got a speeding ticket this morning at NJ ( I-78 West). I remember you guys gave good advice about this when we were in RF.

The ticket states I was going 85 in a 65 zone. Here are my questions:

1. How many points will I get?
2. I live in NY and the car and drive license are registerred in NY, are these points I got in NJ going to affect my driving record in NY? How about my next year's insurace fee?
3. Should I appear in the court or just plea guilty and send in the payment?
4. How do I minimize the impact on my record and MONEY?
5. What does the traffice attorney can do? Can you guys recommend one?

Haven't told my wife yet. She is going to kill me.

Thanks in advance.

JCH

You need to check with the NY DMV. Many states do not transfer points if you get a ticket in another state.

Example - I live in Pa and got a ticket in NJ (speeding). Since Pa will not assess points against my record for a speeding ticket in NJ I just paid it and went on my way.

BTW, you might consider posting these questions in the general OT area. You would probably get a much greater and varied response.

Just my .02 cents....

Originally Posted by jchx5

Hi,

I got a speeding ticket this morning at NJ ( I-78 West). I remember you guys gave good advice about this when we were in RF.

The ticket states I was going 85 in a 65 zone. Here are my questions:

1. How many points will I get?
2. I live in NY and the car and drive license are registerred in NY, are these points I got in NJ going to affect my driving record in NY? How about my next year's insurace fee?
3. Should I appear in the court or just plea guilty and send in the payment?
4. How do I minimize the impact on my record and MONEY?
5. What does the traffice attorney can do? Can you guys recommend one?

Haven't told my wife yet. She is going to kill me.

Thanks in advance.

JCH

Here is what I know..but I live in CA....so FWIW:

1. Points vary from state to state, but usually 20 over is 1 point.
2. the points MAY transfer...it depends, since NY and NJ are so close they may infact "SHARE" DMV info with each other and then you are screwed.
3. if you can go to traffic school, I say go. If you cannot go to traffic school and will get the point no matter what...then fight it and say not guilty. Even if you lose the judge 90% of time will not remove the points but lessen the bail amount. So you may save some money by going to court. but here are my questions:
3a - how did he tag you? Radar? pacing? observation?
3b - if you are not guilty are you ready to go all the way and miss 2 days of work to go to court?
4. I think I answered above...you can try to fight it and once in court efven though you are found guilty, the judge will usually reduce the fine.
5. Depending on how desperate you are and how bad your record it a traffic attorney can save you ALOT...but they are not cheap...I think it is like $500 to just appear for you once..and it gets more as they have to do more.

There are so many theories out there about how to deal with tickets regarding points, insurance, appearing or not appearing in court,etc.

I can only speak from one specific example that worked for me. I had gotten a 15 mph over the limit speeding ticket about 5 years ago in NJ when I lived there. My friend who was a lawyer said that if I didn't mind paying the ticket he could almost guarantee me that my insurance company wouldn't find out or raise my insurance.

His recommendation was to pay the ticket IMMEDIATELY....like within 24 hours of getting it. He even suggested that I go directly to the police station and pay it instead of mailing it in. Here's the reason (at that time).... The computer systems used in the police department only send information about moving violations to insurance companies on a weekly basis. Since I had gotten my ticket on a Tuesday he said I could pay it immediately and it would be cleared from the system before the batch job ran at the end of the week.

Most people wait a few days, even a few weeks before paying and they usually mail the payment in and it takes time for the check to clear. I paid in cash the day after getting my ticket AND....there was never a change to my insurance. Nothing ever happened.

I didn't care as much about the $80 ticket as I did about the possibility of my insurance going up. Not sure if this approach still works but it worked for me several years ago.

Now living in Arizona I got a ticket about 2 years ago and since I had no points on my license at the time I was able to go to a driver training class and get the ticket erased from my record.

Originally Posted by jchx5

Hi,

I got a speeding ticket this morning at NJ ( I-78 West). I remember you guys gave good advice about this when we were in RF.

The ticket states I was going 85 in a 65 zone. Here are my questions:

1. How many points will I get?
2. I live in NY and the car and drive license are registerred in NY, are these points I got in NJ going to affect my driving record in NY? How about my next year's insurace fee?
3. Should I appear in the court or just plea guilty and send in the payment?
4. How do I minimize the impact on my record and MONEY?
5. What does the traffice attorney can do? Can you guys recommend one?

Haven't told my wife yet. She is going to kill me.

Thanks in advance.

JCH

Don't waste your time and get a traffic lawyer, fast. NJ does indeed share info with NY and your insurance will find out. You might end up paying 4-500 dollars for a good lawyer but its better than the THOUSANDS you will pay in additional insurance premiums over the next three to five years.

I've used this man for several speeding tickets, successfully. Martin Kron is a former NYC Traffic Judge and knows his way around a courtroom. Luckily for you, he also handles NJ speeding tickets. Don't pay the fine, give Mr. Kron a call. He is the best of the best!

Originally Posted by Arkady

BTW, you might consider posting these questions in the general OT area. You would probably get a much greater and varied response.

Listen, it don’t really matter to me
Baby, you believe what you wanna believe
You see, you don’t have to live like a refugee



I'm not sure that I've ever seen such a high concentration of bad and erroneous info in a single thread with so few responses (although there are a few correct nuggets).

Originally Posted by DougDogs

I hope you are referring to me as a "nugget"

I stand by my statements and questions

Yours was a

Originally Posted by ·clyde·

Yours was a

And yours was one of these.

Originally Posted by PersonaNonGrata

And yours was one of these.

A cheap shot it may have been, but used in moderation, it hits the spot.

From the NYSDMV website:

If I get a ticket for a moving violation in another state, do I receive points on my NYS driver license?

The NYSDMV does not record out-of-state violations committed by NYS drivers in other jurisdictions. The exceptions are alcohol-related violations, drug-related violations, and moving violations committed in Quebec or Ontario. Under special agreements, traffic convictions in Quebec or Ontario are recorded on NYS driver license records and carry points. Except for violations in Ontario and Quebec, points are not added to your NYS record for out-of-state violations.

If you do not respond to a ticket or fail to pay a fine for a moving violation that you committed in any state except Alaska, California, Michigan, Montana, Oregon or Wisconsin, the DMV suspends your NYS driver license until you respond to the ticket or pay the fine. If a driver from a state except these six states fails to respond to a traffic ticket issued in NYS, their driver license will be suspended until the driver responds to the traffic ticket in NYS.

Drivers from other states must contact the DMV in their home state to get information about the effect of a traffic violation conviction that occurs in NYS.

If you receive a conviction for an alcohol-related or drug-related driving violation in any state, your NYS driver license is revoked for at least six months.

Points will not transfer to your NY license, but that's not to say your insurance company won't find out. If your insurance does business in NJ, they'll find that speeding ticket one way or another.

I have had some experience with this (two tickets in the last two years -- both for going 93 on a 65 -- oddly enough), and here is what I know:

1. Get a lawyer. As some have already stated, it may cost $400 or $500, but it is better than the thousands more you'll pay in insurance premium for hte next few years. On both occasions, my lawyer was able to reduce my tickets to 10MPH over, which meant no points. Worth EVERY penny.

2. I live in SC, but my last ticket was in VA. When I called the courthouse, I was told that ALL DMVs in the country are now networked. (Good news for us, huh?) So, you're better off getting a lawyer, and paying your ticket.

3. (Again, from personal experience.) When you call your lawyer, give him your work address. This way your wife won't get the correspondence.

Juan

Not to pat myself on the back, but it was because of me that Martin Kron got a banner on RF. He's by the far and away the BEST traffic lawyer in the NYC area. He represents NY, PA and NJ. Not cheap by any means (closer to the $750 range) but he will turn the speeding ticket into a non-moving violation. You probably won't even have to show up in court. He does it all.

Originally Posted by alpina22

Not to pat myself on the back, but it was because of me that Martin Kron got a banner on RF. He's by the far and away the BEST traffic lawyer in the NYC area. He represents NY, PA and NJ. Not cheap by any means (closer to the $750 range) but he will turn the speeding ticket into a non-moving violation. You probably won't even have to show up in court. He does it all.

You were the one who actually hooked me up with Kron. He's great!

Originally Posted by TommyX

You were the one who actually hooked me up with Kron. He's great!

Must have been quite some time ago. I hope you haven't needed him lately.

I got a lot of tickets in NY State, and they transfer points to Canada. DEFINITELY get a lawyer. It made a huge difference to me. My guy was out of syracuse and is called Thomas Ryan. This is an outstandng lawyer. NY transfers to NJ
Ronan

Originally Posted by alpina22

Must have been quite some time ago. I hope you haven't needed him lately.

Not recently but I have his number on speed dial!

Thank you all for all the good advice. I think I will find a lawyer or give MR. Kron a call.
But $700 is not cheap. Well, I guess it will worth it if he can get my points removed.

Thanks again.

JCH

Take the on-line driving school. When I got my speeding ticket in MD doing 84 in 65 zone, I took the online course which is sanctioned and authorized by VA (where my license is), it knocked off the points I got from MD.

And on the Canada and NY thing, way back when I lived in Canada, I visited my friend at Cornell (Ithaca, NY) and got a speeding ticket, which I prompted ignored. After three years, I moved to VA for school (got a VA license) and after two years moved to Manhattan and when I went to DMV to get my VA license transferred to NY, they told me that my license was suspended!! They matched my name, birthday and my Canadian driver's license with the license I obtained in VA and tracked me through. So my license was suspended in NY for over 5 years, even though I have never had NY license or even US license at the time of infraction an "suspension".

I had to call the court in Ithaca to find out how much I owed (it was too old to be in the system or something) send in the payment and then NY took the suspension away and got me the driver's license.

Lesson learned? Always pay your fine promptly. They know where you are and what you are up to.

hchon

Originally Posted by hchon

Take the on-line driving school. When I got my speeding ticket in MD doing 84 in 65 zone, I took the online course which is sanctioned and authorized by VA (where my license is), it knocked off the points I got from MD.

And on the Canada and NY thing, way back when I lived in Canada, I visited my friend at Cornell (Ithaca, NY) and got a speeding ticket, which I prompted ignored. After three years, I moved to VA for school (got a VA license) and after two years moved to Manhattan and when I went to DMV to get my VA license transferred to NY, they told me that my license was suspended!! They matched my name, birthday and my Canadian driver's license with the license I obtained in VA and tracked me through. So my license was suspended in NY for over 5 years, even though I have never had NY license or even US license at the time of infraction an "suspension".

I had to call the court in Ithaca to find out how much I owed (it was too old to be in the system or something) send in the payment and then NY took the suspension away and got me the driver's license.

Lesson learned? Always pay your fine promptly. They know where you are and what you are up to.

hchon

For insurance and DMV sake, US and Canada share the driving records/ speeding tickets database. Get a ticket in either country and go to other country and they can pull the record even after several years.

The US_Canadian situation is as follows: Contiguous states and provinces share the data. Thus NY, which borders both Quebec and Ontario, shares data reciprocally with each of them, and the points travel.. However, an Ontario driver ticketed in (say) Pennsylvania or vice versa does not suffer from any reciprocal arrangement. I have first hand experience of this and echo the earler point of getting a lawyer and paying the fines.
I got nailed in NY for something I did not expect. I had three tickets in NY in 18 months. When I got the fourth they told me my licence had been automatically suspended after the third ticket. (I had paid all the fines, and the speeding was nothing special). They had never notified me but were determined to prosecute as an AGGRAVATED FELONY. I found a wonderful lawyer in Syracuse called Thomas Ryan who handled the case to my satisfaction.

Originally Posted by LeMansX5

For insurance and DMV sake, US and Canada share the driving records/ speeding tickets database. Get a ticket in either country and go to other country and they can pull the record even after several years.

What was amazing and maybe I didn't explain clear was that I was a Canadian with Ontario driver's license, never having lived in US or had anything to do with US other than visiting my friend in Ithaca and getting a ticket. When NY state suspended my license, my Canadian license was NOT suspended (I checked later to make sure), and then i went down to VA and got a US license about three years later - I didn't turn in my Ontario license which I could have done but rather applied and did the driving test so I can have both licenses, so it must have been not so eacy to cross reference my Ontario license to my VA license (I am not sure if my VA license was suspended) and then moved to NY and tried to get NY license (by simply transferring VA license over), then I was told my license has been suspended all this time (ever since I failed to pay the fine way back when). So either NY DMV has a way of suspending my Ontario license without actually letting Ontario MoT know, or maybe they just suspend my driving privelege within NY state. Anyway, sorry to harbor on a non-point.

hchon