I recently got a speeding ticket in NJ. I am a PA resident. Should I show up for the court date?

jprophet65

if the court date is not REQUIRED, you DO NOT have to go to court, but you will plead guilty doing so. but if you want tho fight it, obviously, you should go.

gravel128

Im goin with Razor on this one.....If you must appear for court ya better show up or you'll have a warrant out for ya...

mighty i

or u can just pay the fine. its the same as pleading guilty.

D4Pres2012

you can show up and plead 'good driver' instead of guilty or not guilty, if you do in fact have a good driving record. if the court is a long distance from where you live, I would just pay the ticket because driving back and forth is too much trouble and could result in another speeding ticket! also if you show up and plead good driver, they could make you go to traffic school in NJ, which means you have to drive back and forth for that too (1 or 2 sessions). no matter what, you're going to have to pay court costs even if they waive the ticket fine, and sometimes the court costs exceed the amount of the ticket!

cardinalfanusa

You only have to appear in court if you protest the ticket and do not pay the fine. If you pay the fine, then you're fine. Going to court could possibly benefit you if the officer that ticketed you doesn't show up. If he/she doesn't show up, the ticket will be dismissed because there's no "plaintiff" so to speak. In other words, if the officer isn't there to refute your statements, then you can easily say that you weren't speeding. Therefore, the ticket will be dismissed.

The other way that showing up could benefit you is that you can go before the judge and plead guilty but ask the judge to keep the ticket off of your record. If it was your first offense and you have a fairly decent reason for speeding (something along the lines of, "I'm sorry your honor, but I was in So-and-so town and I live in PA. I'd been gone for two days and I had to get back to pick up my kids at school. I guess I was just in a bit of a hurry. I'm sorry", will usually work), then the judge can keep the ticket off of your record.

In any case, if you decide to protest the ticket, and the officer DOES show up, just be polite and sincere, and ask the judge if he can keep the ticket off of your record.

carrieluvsredsox

i am not sure, but really you deserve what you get. people who speed like that have NO second thought on about what could happen if they could not stop on time and killed someone. relay you should have no license at all.

No i am not saying have it gone forever. but that is a HIGH rate of speed. this is coming from someone who had hit behind from some guy who was going 20 miles over the speed limit and sent me to the hospital and over what? because he was late. I do not feel sorry for those who get tickets or whatever when they choose to do that. sorry

nj2pa2nc

I do not know if the law changed but when I lived in Pa I got a speeding ticket in NJ-(57 in a 45). I paid the fine within the 30 days and received no points. How much over the speed limit did you go.

Mom of 2 great boys

It can be reduced or it may not.

My hubby got a ticket in GA and we live in NC, so we did not go to court for it.

We just paid the $200.00 fine. Yeah he got points and I could have killed him for speeding, but what are you going to do?

The points came off in three years.

Not true on a warrant which other's have mentioned. On your ticket it will tell you who to contact. Call them and ask them what the fine is. If you do not pay it within one year, then yes, a warrant will be issued for you in that state that you got the ticket.
We know this first hand.

Razor Sharp

Not showing up results in a bench warrant, which makes you a fugitive. That's just more trouble.

foxychick24

Be glad you didn't get that speeding ticket in NY as a PA resident!!!! My bf's father got a speeding ticket in NY (a PA resident) and was slapped with a $500 fine! Well he paid the fine to avoid going to court- THEN he was slapped with an additional $400 fine!!!
DON'T SPEED IN NY!!!!

Do you have any other points on your license right now? If you reach 6 points in PA you would be notified that you would have to take a special written point exam. Also you would be given 30 days to pass the exam or else your license would be suspended until you pass the exam. If you would pass the exam there would be 2 points deducted from your record.

21 miles over the speed limit is 4 points will go on your driving record (this happened to me almost a year ago). If your driving record can remain clean with no moving violations in a year time span..... then 3 points will automatically drop from your license (BUT YOU HAVE TO STAY CLEAN OF NO MOVING VIOLATIONS FOR A WHOLE YEAR back to the date when you received the violation).

Now to the court idea- you can show up for court, or you can choose to pay the ticket before the court date. If you go to court you can try to have the fine along with points reduced, there is NO HARM IN TRYING. Can't guarantee if it will work or not, but it is worth a shot! Less points are better than more points!

What I learned from my 4 points on my PA dl record.... take my time cause it is not worth it! I was going 16-20 over limit in a 40 mph zone (and it was a speed trap... the car in front of me, behind me, and behind them.... were all stopped along with 5 cop cars on the side of the road). I didn't fight the ticket, I just paid it because I deserved what I got!!! Now I deal with the consequences. I am MUCH more of a careful driver since that ticket ESPECIALLY in hopes that in less than a month I will have 3 points drop from my record!

Hope that helps!

ghost3808

that is true in vt u can get points lowered not sure about nj

Andrew M

I live in Morris County NJ It depends on how fast you were going You talk to the Prosecutor & try to get it knocked down to the bare minimum So

Yes it's better to go

erica j

yes you should show up for the court date if you dont your going to be wanted and they will look for you... my sister did that and they gave her time for not going to court and if she would have just went to court they wouldnt have done anything to her

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