52 mph in a 30 mph zone - how much is this gonna cost me?
 

Crap,

just got a speeding ticket for doing 52 in a 30 zone
Anyone knows how much this is gonna cost me (California)
Any other tips except for "don't forget to switch your radar detector on)?

If you go to court, some states will reduce it to a nonmoving violation and you agree to take a driver's education course. You'll pay the same dollar amount as the speeding ticket but no points and your insurance won't be affected. I did this a few times in NY but CA might be different.

My wife got a similar speeding ticket last year in CA. She paid a total of $319.00 That included the speeding fine, court fees and on-line driving school. The on-line driving school in effect eliminates the point from your driving record and your insurance company does not get to raise your rates.

You can go to court and fight it. But in reality you are guilty until you can prove yourself innocent which is not easy to do. The officer who ticketed my wife did not use his radar to clock her. He just briefly paced her which stands up in courts as strong as if he used radar.

There is a chance it could get dismissed if the officer does not show up but they now show up to the hearings a high percentage of time. Also, while it is true quite often that the judge will reduce the speeding fee if you show up to court to contest the ticket but you lose out in the end because you get the point because by contesting the ticket you lose your right to traffic school, so your insurance company then sees the infraction on your record.

As my brother the attorney told me, "They get you either way."

Isn't there a telephone number on the ticket that you can call to find out "officially" what the fine will be?

It's not just the fine but all the other costs they tack on. If you are guilty and not going to fight it, you can show up for the arraingment and the judge (comissioner) has the ability to reduce the amount you have to pay if they like you. That's a real difficult ticket to win. there are tricks to to maximize your odds like changing the court day the week before. the first time you show up is not the actual court day, it's only to let them know how you are going to plead, guilty or not guilty. At the end of the day the government needs money and you are screwed.
good luck

I'm not sure where the misconception comes from that driving school prohibits your insurance company from factoring in the ticket, but that is not true, at least in the states where I write business (KY/OH/IN).

All driving school does is keep the points off your license, or help with obtaining a reduce offense on your record. The ticket is still on your record (should be obvious since the court offically ruled that you are guilty of speeding or for whatever reduced infraction they decide) and can be factored in by the insurance company if they run a new MVR (motor vehicle report) at renewal.

Been writing insurance about 5 years now. Before I started, I thought the same thing.

In KY it's usually right on there on the ticket, but there should be a number you can call and find out if it's not. Try just calling the courthouse.

However, tickets in my state I think 20mph+ over the posted limit are subject to increased fine's or even community service, depending on your driving record (hence why it's important to keep the points off your license for any future offenses). Back in college I received a 92 in a 65 ticket, had to do 16 hrs community service and pay around $300 for the fine/court costs...

In california it will probably cost you an arm. I would say at least 150-200. Either way I think it is crap that they do not put the price on the ticket itself. It is quite garbage. In New Hampshire at least when I lived there, on the back of the ticket there was the list of all fines.

Good point. My experiences in NY, the court reduced the speeding tickets to parking citations, paid the same amount in fines and went to driving school.

In CA it is NOT a misconception that by NOT fighting the ticket and going to traffic school your insurance company will not be notified. The reason being is that by just paying the fine and taking the traffic school option the court in effect is dismissing the citation. Your record will show you were pulled over for doing "X" over the speed limit on such date but that the court dismissed charges/citation.

In CA they charge you an additional $50 in court fees to take this option. In a sense, the court is saying, "Slip us an additional $50 and take some silly traffic school course and we'll drop the whole matter." Kind of like getting pulled over in Mexico.

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...k/caticket.jpg

Kind of akin to what happened to me in Kent, Ohio. Was doing 37 in a 25, IIRC, and was nailed by a laser unit (which I didn't know until then that the Kent law enforcement people used. Didn't have my V-1 at the time, but probably would not have helped me anyway). Decided to fight it, but at my hearing (at which I believe they were only going to set a court date) the prosecutor pulled me aside and offered me a deal: Plead guilty to an amended offense, pay the fine (which was probably larger than I would have had to pay for the speeding offense) and, in turn, I would have a conviction for a non-moving offense and no points and, by the way, the insurance company either won't know about or won't worry about, rate-adjustment-wise.

So, after thinking it over, I pleaded guilty to a broken headlight (a "legal fiction", as the prosecutor referred to it), paid my fine and left. Was it a great deal? Hell, I don't know, but it seemed like the best thing to do at the time...

$50 for a get out of points free card?
Works for me

I got shot in the back with radar in Tremont City, Ohio. I had left the village, but since they don't have signs telling you when you can resume 55, they can shoot you anywhere they feel like it and claim you're still in the village limits. Anyway, I got a lawyer and they did the same thing, called it driving with a broken light, fined me $100 bucks and the insurance company doesn't get involved. It's still annoying, but my insurance won't go up.

When I was living in Texas the law allowed you to take traffic school and erase "any record of the ticket." This meant that the next time you got stopped you could opt for traffic school again because there was no record of your having done it before. I went to traffic school a couple of times and it was a joke. It was the same people there each time.

In Germany they had on the spot fines. They'd give you a receipt and you were on your way. I drove a Carrera, kept some Deutsche Marks in the glove box, and never worried about my license or insurance. A friend in the PCA who drove a Turbo once got a letter in the mail from the Polizei saying send us the fine and your driver's license. They had him on camera driving double the speed limit and passing cars on the zebra in a posted section of the Autobahn.

The ticket will cost $328 plus fees. :(