Can I fight my speeding ticket?

Sorry about your luck Bethany. I totally agree with you about speeding thru a school zone. I have literally almost been run over when I slow down for them. Had one guy pass me and give me the finger. The best thing to do is go to court and keep your composure. Explain that you weren't familiar with the area and didn't see a school or a sign. That will make no difference as far as getting it dismissed , but if presented to the judge in an apologetic manner they may reduce the fine to court costs only. Be brief and don't make a long list of excuses. Just apologize and be contrite.

Because I'm a prosecutor, I'm not going to give you the "golden key" on this one. However, I will give you some valuable advice. As the other Answers have indicated, if you are serious about getting out of a speeding ticket, you need to request a trial. Obviously, if the officer does not show up for the trial, you will request dismissal of the charge. It will likely be granted unless the officer is on duty and responding to a call. Despite what many websites tell you, most officers show up for trial. Here is where my information becomes important to you. [And for the law enforcement officers out there that are reading this, I'm not giving away secrets, if you have a good case, this will not detract from it]. Approximately 90% of those who take a speeding ticket to trial in my jurisdiction admit to speeding within the first three sentences of their testimony. That's it. Case closed. Done. What they do not realize is that their goal and the judge's goal are two completely different things. They want to explain WHY they were speeding. The judge's job is to determine IF they were speeding. See the problem? And I have yet to see a case where a judge justified the speed due to emergency/fiddling with the stereo/imminent bodily functions/ect... The courtroom isn't the place to make those justifications, do it on the road before the officer hands you the ticket. And please, please, don't call a prosecutor regarding a speeding ticket after it has been issued. The officer has discretion to issue the ticket; how can I fairly substitute my judgment for theirs since I was not out on the road?

Not sure but do you *have* to go to court for being 15mph too fast? Presenting all what you wrote might help to lower the sentence but I don't think you will stand any chance to get it dismissed completely. You were going too fast and this is what will matter to the court.

If you don't have to go to court, pay your ticket and leave it at that. Otherwise it might cost you a lot more.

But I think the issue is you. Yes, you didn't see the sign and yes you didn't do it on purpose. You are sorry about it and I think that's exactly what counts! Too many people take speeding tickets with a shrug ... and then the foot again on the accelerator. So, good to see you're a responsible person driving out there! Keep going! And just take that speeding ticket as one of life's things that suck. Try to get over it. Don't lose any more nerves on it.

Yes, you always have a good chance of fighting it. This is mostly because a lot of times the cop won't show up in court and they'll dismiss it or if he does show up the prosecutor might offer you a bond forfeiture. That happened to me. I had a taillight out and I was about five feet from my driveway when the cop pulled me over. The prosecutor basically said, give us 50 bucks (a bond forfeiture) and we'll call it square. I think it was basically cuz they wanted to clear up the docket for the day. I didn't get points on my liscense of anything. Also, I was told by a cop that school zones are basically speed traps where they just hand out tickets regularly, so it's kind of impractical for the cops to show up in court for every one. So, overall I'd say going to court might be worth the gamble. If you lose, you'll have to pay the fine plus court costs and I don't think the court costs are that high. Also, you have the right to appear in court if you choose to.

I'd be really surprised if you could get it dismissed. You went back, and saw a sign you had missed. The fact that you didn't realize you were speeding, that it wasn't intentional, won't matter. Otherwise, everyone who got a ticket could say that they didn't know, or missed a sign.

Yes you can contest the ticket ... any traffic ticket can be contested.

I doubt you will succeed, if "I didn't see the sign" was a valid defense, nobody would ever be convicted of a moving violation!

Sorry, you will probably be convicted and fined.

i say fight it because if you try to fight it and they dont want to they might make you a deal to pay it less and if you want to you can take that deal or try to even win..

and in some cases the officer that gave you the ticket could have his day off and they would have to give you your money back

most likly ull have to pay for the ticket due to the fact it is a school zone. i know in ohio they no tolerance for speeding in a school zone even if you didnt know it was..

Would have and should have are not defenses. Not seeing the sign won't help either.

yeah umm i think the guy under me is a dick (Retire) and he shouldnt of comment because his request has nothing to do with your question **** the law .. **** the police! i have to go to court today -__-