Okay,

I got a question for all of you boys in blue or those experienced with tickets:

last week (the 24th) I got a ticket in my Acura TL-S while coming home late one night (Thought it was a 55mph zone, it was actually a 45mph). I was doing 60, but the cop was cool and gave me a ticket for doing 5 over.

NOW, when I looked at the ticket later, I realized that he had put the wrong home address on it! In MI, when we change addresses, they don't issue you a new license. You go to the DMV ("Secretary of State" it's called here), and fill out a change of address form. A few weeks later, they send you a sticker that you apply to the BACK of your license. So, my actual address was on the back, and the cop copied down the old address.

I can't remember clearly, but I thought I had heard something at some point about the fact that if ANY personal information on a traffic violation is incorrect, the ticket is null and void. Has anyone heard this before, or am I just using wishful thinking? Or, does this vary from state-to-state? Any info on this topic is much appreciated.

As an FYI, if I can't get out of the ticket on this technicality, I still intend to go to court and ask for leniency (i.e. pay the fine, but no points). But if I can get out of it altogether, that would be ideal.

Any advice is helpful, thanks.

 

not sure what to tell you... i'm assuming you signed the ticket?

someone PLEASE correct me if i'm wrong, but i believe that by signing the ticket you acknowledge the alleged charges and verify that the information is correct. that might alleviate the state from any liability (and thus keep your ticket valid), but i'm no lawyer by any means.

 

a little ungrateful if you ask me... Cop cuts you a break, and you throw it back in his face. It's 5 over -- it can't be more than $100, pay it and be thankful. In Oklahoma tickets that are less than 10 over are not reported to the insurance companies -- and points are not given -- I'd check your state laws.

 

Nope,

I haven't signed the ticket yet. I don't have to sign it until the court date is over.

As for MI laws, a 5 over speeding ticket is 2pts. I'm not so worried about the cash (it'll be about $140), as much as I am about the points. Some judges in MI are cool, others are real sticklers.

Not trying to be ungrateful, but I do understand what you're saying.

 

I cant believe its $140 and 2 points for 5 over. That's insane.

I'd look for a notation on the ticket stating your real speed. I have had atleast 10 speeding tickets. Almost every time I was going 10 over, and each time the officer marked it under 10(except once). Each of those tickets had my real speed written in the corner or somewhere else on the ticket usually in small writing. (ex. 78/60) -- I don't know for sure but I would imagine they do this incase I try to argue they can actually have the documented speed somewhere on the ticket, rather than it just stating "10 Under." I also think if I tried to fight it the real speed would have been brought up in court, and I damn sure wouldn't have gotten any breaks. Keep that in mind.

 

where can you check state laws regarding points?

 

iirc, signing the ticket, in part, acknowledges that you understand that you could be arrested but are opting to appear in court instead- it does not mean that you are admitting guilt but if you dont want to go to court you can pay the ticket.

read what you've signed if you ever get a ticket and you'll see this is true (esp the part about not admitting guilt)

you should always read something before you sign, but if the cop is asking you to sign the ticket its not necessarily because he's trying to mislead you into having more problems or anything...

 

i road-tripped into michigan last summer, got pulled over, and was let off on a warning. i'm VERY thankful for that, the traffic fines in Michigan are INSANE!! 5 over the limit in Nebraska is $10 + court costs = ~$50.

 

I think this will only apply if they put the wrong car, color, number of doors, date, time, etc.. The address he put used to be your old address so you really can't debate that. If the cop put down the wrong color and amount of doors then you can contest that in court.

 

Thanks for all of the advice so far, guys.

I did some checking on the MI Secretary of State website, and sure enough, it's 2 points for a speeding ticket 10mph and less. For 11-15mph, it's 3 points! Glad he was nice enough to give me only the 5 over. The fine part varies from city to city around here, but a friend of mine got a ticket recently for the same thing, and his fine was $144.

I've called in for a court date, but they don't have my ticket on file there yet, so they said call back on Friday. Hopefully they'll give leniency....*BEG*

 

Dang, in CA if you don't sign the ticket you go to jail because signing it only says that you promise to show up in court....correct me if I'm wrong.

 

in some cities, you can meet with the prosecutor before the court date and can usually either get the charges dropped or pay double and get it amended to a parking ticket.(no points off for a parking ticket) call the courthouse or prosecutor's office. the city court system can't handle everyone contesting their tickets b/c the cost for the court time, officers time away from the job, and prosecutors salary would cost more than the ticket itself at times. if you give them a chance, they will usually cut you a deal or drop it if its a small ticket like yours b/c its not worth their time to fight it. this is a site that is run by a former cop, he might be able to help. http://www.radardetector.net good luck

 

Well,

I checked the ticket, and all of the vehicle information is correct.

I also know what you're saying about the "notation" n the real speed, I've seen some officers do it here in the past. I checked the ticket, no such note.

As for the fine amount, I'll ask them when I call in on Friday.

Thanks.

 

I actually got a ticket last year and they wrote down my old address, I called the court house a week before the date and told them that I had not received a letter with the amount the fine was and she told me that they had sent it out to my old address but I still needed to pay the fine.
In the end they gave me an extra 2 months to pay the fine which was cool, but the answer is yes you still have to pay even if it goes to the wrong address, it is your job to follow up if you do not receive any paperwork on the amount of the fine.

 

This is what I've always used when I got a ticket. They gaurantee no points and they go to court for you. Usually only cost about $100 more than if you just pay for the ticket itself. It is worth is though, if I don't go to work for the day, it can cost me more than $100.

http://www.ticketclinic.com/