Prepping For Traffic Court

You've gotten a ticket.  Oh, well, it happens to the best of us.  You now have the option of paying it off and taking whatever insurance hikes come your way, or you can sacrifice half a day and go to traffic court.

My advice?  Go to court.  You never know how things might turn out.  I've gone and still ended up paying the fine and getting points on my insurance, but I've also gone and had the whole thing thrown out for whatever reason.  Of course there are some things to consider when going to court if you want to make the best impression.

Dress well.  If your normal attire is a t-shirt and jeans, dig up, beg, borrow, or steal (well, maybe not that last one) some slacks, a nice shirt, and tie.  Judges require a level of respect, you'll only be in front of him for about a minute or so; you want to make the best first impression possible.

Do your research on your case.  If you ran a stop sign that you really couldn't see, go back and take photos of the scene demonstrating that the stop sign wasn't visible.  Have your evidence assembled before going in.

Look up the law as it pertains to your case.  In some cases perhaps the letter of the law wasn't followed, or may have been inappropriately applied.  Sometimes these technicalities can result in a case being thrown out.

Use your driving record as evidence.  If your record is clean, that will really impress the judge, making your citation look even more like a one time thing.  He may be more likely to throw the charge out as a result.  On the other hand, if your driving record requires ten able bodied men to carry into the court room, then you may have problems.

If possible, sit in on a court session before yours is scheduled.  This will allow you to see how things proceed, what sort of questions are asked.  Anything that helps you to prepare for your own defense is a good thing.

Go to court prepared to pay your fine.  There is a much better than average chance that you will be found guilty, so have sufficient funds to pay your fine in full.

Before doing any of this, you might want to check with your auto insurance provider.  If the charge is not likely to have repercussions on your insurance, then you might want to think twice about spending so much effort fighting it and just pay the fine.

In some cases, you may never have to make a case before the judge at all.  You may have opportunity to meet with the solicitor before the court is in session.  They will help you work out an acceptable deal and present it to the judge on your behalf.  Unless there are extenuating circumstances that suggest otherwise, the judge will usually go along with the solicitors recommendations.  This author only had to pay a fine on my last ticket charge, but no points were applied toward my record or my insurance.

Whatever course you choose, knowing your options going in will put you ahead of the game.