California Speeding Ticket

If you have been cited by a city, county, or Highway Patrol California Law Enforcement Officer for a moving violation – specifically the California speeding ticket – there are a number of possible options available to you. The first is to pay the ticket which is the equivalent of entering a guilty plea. This option usually results in a fine and a variable number of points added to your license score depending on how fast you were accused of driving. Secondary effects are increased insurance rates – usually several hundred dollars a year – or possible loss of your license because the newly added points may push you over the threshold established by the State of California which allows you the privilege of operating a motor vehicle. For these reasons alone, it is worth fighting traffic ticket.

If none of these options is an agreeable or equitable solution, then your only option is fight traffic ticket in court. Trying to dismiss traffic ticket is a non-trivial task. A California speeding ticket is very problematic, especially it involves direct line-of-sight or aerial timing. It takes time and effort on your part and some understanding of the law. Remember, the citing officer is a professional and has probably spent years issuing traffic tickets and assist in prosecuting them in court. It is difficult to be calm and rational in a court when you know they want your money. You must learn to challenge the evidence and not the officer or the circumstances.

Just been cited with a California speeding ticket and decided to fight it in court? Don’t take your chances! A traffic defense attorney can help you dismiss California traffic tickets with far less hassle.

Get over the idea you are going to beat traffic ticket for a minor technicality in the citation. If the officer writes “light blue” instead of “dove gray” that is not a valid challenge. If the vehicle is described as a pickup truck and you were driving a sedan, that may be cause for dismissal. That the officer might not show up in court is extremely unlikely. Don't count on it. Instead, be prepared in advance to make the ticket too expensive or labor-intensive for state prosecution or impractical.

In essence, challenging a California speeding ticket involves discovery and subpoena of all of the evidence used to establish you were speeding. This usually involves pulling the radar gun out of a car – which prevents it from being used for at least a day – compiling all of the calibration records, subpoenaing the radar technician and any other supporting evidence. This is generally cost-prohibitive to the State and the court may be inclined to dismiss the case and find an easier case to try.

As usual, your best recourse any time you are in court is to have qualified legal counsel. You are already looking at at least 500 dollars in fines, lost time and higher insurance premiums, which mitigate the expense of an attorney defending a California speeding ticket. They know the law and how it is applicable. You have a right to legal counsel, don't squander it.