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Question on Traffic Court and pleading not guilty to a speeding ticket?
September 28th, 2009 | 
Author: If in PA, does anyone know if I plead not guilty to a speeding ticket, can I submit a statement along with the citation as opposed to having to go to Traffic Court? Thanks everyone!
No, you have to show up in court.
On the back of the ticket there will be 2 options (plead guilty or plead not guilty & request trial). Once you check "not guilty" and mail the ticket, you will either be sent a summons with your court date on it OR you be mailed an informational postcard/letter which will have a phone number for you to call within a certain amount of days in order to schedule a court date that is somewhat convenient for you.
Either way, you MUST APPEAR in court. If you do not show up, you will lose by default. You can’t just send in a statement, that’s not acceptable testimony. You are requesting a trial by pleading not guilty and you must go to court and explain "your side", and the police officer has the right to explain "his side" of why he believes that you were rightfully ticketed. That’s just how it works.
Having said that, if your ticket is just a run of the mill speeding ticket (as opposed to no insurance, expired tags, etc.) and you have a clean driving record, then you have a decent shot of beating it or at least lowering the fine (and insurance points). On straight forward speeding tickets that don’t involve extreme speed or other violations, it is not uncommon for the police officer to not even show up for the court date (unless you live in a jurisdiction that employs a traffic court officer, whose job is to represent the cops on all tickets brought before the court).
So, it pretty basic…….Plead guilty & mail a check or plead not guilty and go to court. Your choice.
Good Luck!
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No, you have to show up in court.
On the back of the ticket there will be 2 options (plead guilty or plead not guilty & request trial). Once you check "not guilty" and mail the ticket, you will either be sent a summons with your court date on it OR you be mailed an informational postcard/letter which will have a phone number for you to call within a certain amount of days in order to schedule a court date that is somewhat convenient for you.
Either way, you MUST APPEAR in court. If you do not show up, you will lose by default. You can’t just send in a statement, that’s not acceptable testimony. You are requesting a trial by pleading not guilty and you must go to court and explain "your side", and the police officer has the right to explain "his side" of why he believes that you were rightfully ticketed. That’s just how it works.
Having said that, if your ticket is just a run of the mill speeding ticket (as opposed to no insurance, expired tags, etc.) and you have a clean driving record, then you have a decent shot of beating it or at least lowering the fine (and insurance points). On straight forward speeding tickets that don’t involve extreme speed or other violations, it is not uncommon for the police officer to not even show up for the court date (unless you live in a jurisdiction that employs a traffic court officer, whose job is to represent the cops on all tickets brought before the court).
So, it pretty basic…….Plead guilty & mail a check or plead not guilty and go to court. Your choice.
Good Luck!
References :
Work in Courthouse / Current Law School student