I was pulled over last week on a stretch of 86-East just west of Corning, in the town of Campbell NY. Was keeping a nice pace, enjoying myself, cruising in the 80s - long story short a trooper got me for 87 in a 65. There’s no question I was speeding, I accept that. He was (more or less) cordial and sent me on my way with a ticket, which included a statement on the ticket itself that quoted our conversation (only the bold portion)
“Do you know why I pulled you over?”
“No sir.”
"Let’s think back to the rest area a few miles back, do you know how fast you were going? “To be honest, probably mid to high 80s”.
Now, I have a nagging thought in my mind that he may not have actually hit me on radar, but visually seen me moving out, and I incriminated myself by admitting a speed. Again the ticket quotes me as saying the bolded portion above, so since there seems to be direct evidence, I accept that the deck is stacked against me. Now, do I plead guilty or not guilty? I am not out to “fight the man” and “resist the oppression of NYS tyranny” - I just want to be fucked as little as possible by this whole thing. Seeing as this town is a good 2 hours away, I’d rather not have to appear in person - HOWEVER if it means that I have a chance of getting the ticket reduced I don’t mind making the drive (I am a clean cut, usually well dressed, tax paying homeowner, so appearing in front of a DA/judge wouldn’t hurt me). I don’t want to automatically screw myself by pleading guilty, so I am looking for advice on this.
I would plead not guilty and make the trip to court, dressed as sharp as you can. That should send a message to them that you respect them enough to show up and to be dressed up. They will probably just give you a parking ticket and school and send you on your way. I have always thought that there is a mutual respect between a judge and the people he has to prosecute in court.
Let’s face it, his job is to prosecute, but to also make money for the town/village.
Plead not guilty, go to court and talk to the DA/Judge. They should be able to plea it down, however i’ve never been tagged at over 85 (in a car cough@goffcough haha)
Dress sharp, be respectful, and if you are lucky you’ll walk away with a $300 ticket or less, driving school, and MAYBE a 1pt infraction like failure to yield.
Shouldn’t be too too bad, but DO NOT plead guilty on this.
Other than that. If you plead not guilty it most likely will be reduced without points. If you plead guilty… Lots of points, large fine, plus the mandatory NYS surcharge
mail it in, mark not guilty, wait for your court date MAKE SURE that there is a prosecuting attny there that day (a lot of these small towns only have them there once a month, but have court 2 or more times a month) drive out, and pay the piper
I once had an office ask me if I knew how fast I was going. I said “I can not answer that question” He wrote on the ticket that I said “I do not know how fast I was going” So much for not talking to the police lol. But seriously never answer questions, not even so much as “where are you heading”.
I had a ticket in a small town for 97 or so in a 65. I plead not guilty and drove down there for court. He had gotten me on radar on a clear day with no other traffic. I was one of 4 people in court. They explained to all of us that if they reduce the tickets they get to keep the money in their shitty little town. I got hit with a $350 CASH ON THE SPOT fine. The conveniently had an ATM at the back of the “courthouse” It was an old fucking barn with a nice glass door. They told me if I had plead guilty I would have lost my license. Moral of the story, towns like and need money and that cop is their revenue generator. Go plead not guilty and try not to get pulled over on your way back to court!
I watched a cop write a ticket when a neighbor called the cops about him speeding cops showed up and he told the cops he was doing 35 in a 30 at which point they wrote him a ticket for it.
I’ve been told to deflect the question with something like “what did you get me at”
My favorite small town ticket story was a friend who showed up to court at some small one room place and they were the only people there. A woman showed up and asked if they were here for court and let them in. 5 mins later she came out in a robe and gave them a deal then locked the door behind them on the way out.
That’s pretty to the point on how this went down except the cop was there and they had a prosecutor and judge vs. Just one I think. Maybe it was the same person, it has been a while.
You don’t have to go there in person. The Steuben County DA has all the instructions right on the page I linked on how to handle this. Maybe if I quote it someone will bother clicking on the link?
PURPOSE:The Steuben County Driver Safety Diversion and Reduction Program is an educational
recidivism reduction program. The program offers drivers who are ticketed for relatively
minor traffic infractions, the opportunity to take a 6 hour instructional course. Once the
course is completed the driver may avoid points and other penalties associated with
traffic tickets and at the same time reduce the likelihood that they will re-offend.
Defendants are offered two possible options.
Diversion qualified defendants are given the opportunity to attend the Driver
Safety Diversion Course. On completion of this course, these are the possible
recommendations and outcomes from the courts.
o The District Attorney’s Office will recommend to the Courts to either have
the traffic ticket dismissed or our office will withdrawal the traffic ticket.
o If the court approves of dismissal or our office withdrawals the ticket, you
as the driver will receive no fine and no points accessed to your license.
o This option has an Administration Fee of two hundred fifty dollars
($250.00)
Reduction qualified defendants are given the opportunity to attend the Driver
Safety Diversion Course and on completion of this course. These are the
possible recommendations and outcomes from the courts.
o The District Attorney’s Office will offer a reduction from the original offense
issued by law enforcement.
o If the court approves of the reduction request, this will result in a lesser
fine schedule and reduced points accessed by DMV.
§ Note the fines and points accessed are NOT controlled by the
District Attorney’s Office. The Courts control the level of the fines
and DMV sets the points accessed to your driver’s license, per the
offense charged.
o This option has an Administration Fee of one hundred and fifty dollars
($150.00)
HOW TO APPLY FOR THE PROGRAM:
Pled not guilty to the ticket and advise the court in writing that you are requesting
the Driver Safety Diversion Program. Adivising the court of your request gives
the court notice and aides in setting your next court date; either mail in or
appear in court. It is important to keep any and all court dates set by the
court. Failure to appear on a scheduled court date may result in your
license being SUSPENDED. If you require an adjournment of your case, please
contact the court directly. DO NOT call the District Attorney’s Office. The District
Attorney has NO power to grant an adjournment, only the judge has the authority
to grant adjournments. Our office will advise the courts that you have applied for
the program and will request an adjournment, so that the defendant may have
time to compete the program.
Complete the Driver Safety Diversion and Reduction Affidavit / Application;
Mail the completed Affidavit / Application, a copy of the traffic ticket, a selfaddressed
stamped envelope and a Abstract of Driving Record from your
state DMV http://dmv.ny.gov/sites/default/files/legacy_files/mydmv/abstract-pop.htm to
the Steuben County District Attorney’s Office, Attn: Driver Safety Diversion and
Reduction Program, 3 East Pulteney Square Bath, NY 14810.
I have not quoted the entire thing. For that you’ll need to click on the links. This is as far as I’m willing to go in spoon feeding you to help you get out of this ticket.
@JayS 22mph over should warrant dressing up and making the fairly short drive from Buff-Corning. If it were lesser, i’d say handle it remote, but I think showing up in person will go a long way.
ELIGIBILE TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS:Any New York State Vehicle and Traffic violation, except for the following offenses:
· Any V&T §1192 Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drug Charge
· V&T§1212 Reckless Driving*
· Any V&T §511 Aggravated Unlicensed Operation*
· Passing a Stopped School Bus
· Failure to move for an Emergency Vehicle · Any speed greater than 30 mph over the speed limit*
· Leaving the Scene of an Accident*
· Accidents resulting in physical injury or death*
· Any offense committed in a school or construction zone*
· Any CDL violation that occurs during the operation of a commercial vehicle**
The county doesn’t care. They set the bar at 30mph. Under that and they’ll happily take your $250 instead of sending the money to the state.
They even hint that they might look the other way for offenses that exclude you from applying with their * note…
NOTE There is some discretion and those otherwise ineligible may apply for theprogram. The driver must complete the paragraph on the application form that
describes any mitigating circumstances.
So basically, yeah, we know you fucked up big but we REALLY LIKE MONEY. If you keep quiet about it we’ll even reduce those tickets for passing a school bus at 100mph in a school zone that was under construction.
