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Old 10-31-2009, 01:35 PM
 
13 posts, read 59,304 times
Reputation: 10

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Fellow people,
Hope you're having a good day. Here is my story:
I was driving back from the airport after having dropped off a friend there - I was driving her car (2001 Volvo with TX plates) and I was stopped by a cop for doing 79mph in a 65mph zone. I didn't realize I was going faster than I should have since I was in a different car and everything. Anyhow here is what happened.
The officer came up to me and asked me for my license and insurance, I told him I was driving my friend's car and would have to call her and ask her where she kept her insurance papers and handed him my license meanwhile. It is a Missouri license since I got it when I lived there for a few years in 2005. Technically I should have changed it over to a TX license but have not done so because the lines for license changes are huge here. Anyhow I told the cop that I went back to MO often on company work and then he asked me how long I have lived here. I said I've been in Houston since 2007 but I go back to MO on business. He took my license and proceeded to write me a ticket. He then radioed me on his loudspeaker and asked me if I had the insurance papers. I showed him my friend's insurance papers which were unfortunately expired as of Oct 21 2009 (She forgot to put the updated papers in her car). He just looked at the date and said that they were expired and went back to his car and walked away while I was still trying to explain to him that the policy number was still valid. He came back and gave me another ticket for the same. When I tried to explain again that the policy number for the insurance was still valid he said that he ran the plates but the insurance did not show up on the car. Basically he gave me two tickets:

1) Violation for speeding 10 percent above speed limit (79mph Alleged vs 65mph posted speed limit)
2) Fail to maintain financial responsibility. (I believe this is for the insurance part)

He then pointed to the judge's name and number and asked me to contact her/him before the due date (Dec 09,2009) and asked me to sign the papers. I signed the insurance ticket since I can provide insurance details (showing present coverage, my friend has emailed me the pdf showing her latest policy coverage so I am hoping this will cover that bit) and dismiss the ticket hopefully. However before signing the speeding ticket I politely asked him if he could give me a warning instead. He curtly told me to sign the ticket and then said if I didn't want citations I should stick to the speed limit.

Can someone on here please tell me what my options are? I'd like to get out of the speeding ticket by doing the driving school if possible. Also, since my license is from MO will this cause me further problems? Please help...this is my first ticket ever and I don't know what I should do...

P.S: The ticket does not say how much money I have to pay. I also went online and looked up to see if I could take the defensive driving course and it says that I must have a Texas license in order to do that. My only option on the ticket is that I must contact the judge at the phone number provided in it.
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Old 10-31-2009, 02:16 PM
 
Location: A little suburb of Houston
3,702 posts, read 18,213,847 times
Reputation: 2092
Your options are to pay the ticket and count yourself lucky. It does not matter whose car you are driving, you were speeding and got caught. Technically, he could have written you up on the out of state DL issue as well, be thankful for that. As for the insurance, that was a legitimate call as well. The state has an insurance database that should have shown if your friend had up-to-date insurance. If your friend had insurance and can prove it...good for you. BTW can't talk about costs since you did not say the jurisdiction or what type of cop wrote the ticket. Even if you take DD, you will still have to pay a significant portion of the ticket.
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Old 10-31-2009, 02:23 PM
 
1,211 posts, read 3,557,434 times
Reputation: 1593
Options? Pay the ticket. You have many excuses, but not any real good ones. Maybe it will be a wake up call to get yourself in compliance with the law as it exists here in Texas. Having your license and insurance information in order will get you on your way quicker the next time you get stopped.
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Old 10-31-2009, 02:31 PM
 
Location: Houston
3,565 posts, read 4,866,021 times
Reputation: 931
1. It's up to the judge, so you might be able to do it ( show some skin if it's a male judge)
2.You can fight that. Just hsow the judge that you had it.
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Old 10-31-2009, 02:36 PM
 
Location: Northwest Houston
9 posts, read 22,435 times
Reputation: 13
Quote:
Originally Posted by thesfactor View Post
Fellow people,
Hope you're having a good day. Here is my story:
I was driving back from the airport after having dropped off a friend there - I was driving her car (2001 Volvo with TX plates) and I was stopped by a cop for doing 79mph in a 65mph zone. I didn't realize I was going faster than I should have since I was in a different car and everything. Anyhow here is what happened.
The officer came up to me and asked me for my license and insurance, I told him I was driving my friend's car and would have to call her and ask her where she kept her insurance papers and handed him my license meanwhile. It is a Missouri license since I got it when I lived there for a few years in 2005. Technically I should have changed it over to a TX license but have not done so because the lines for license changes are huge here. Anyhow I told the cop that I went back to MO often on company work and then he asked me how long I have lived here. I said I've been in Houston since 2007 but I go back to MO on business. He took my license and proceeded to write me a ticket. He then radioed me on his loudspeaker and asked me if I had the insurance papers. I showed him my friend's insurance papers which were unfortunately expired as of Oct 21 2009 (She forgot to put the updated papers in her car). He just looked at the date and said that they were expired and went back to his car and walked away while I was still trying to explain to him that the policy number was still valid. He came back and gave me another ticket for the same. When I tried to explain again that the policy number for the insurance was still valid he said that he ran the plates but the insurance did not show up on the car. Basically he gave me two tickets:

1) Violation for speeding 10 percent above speed limit (79mph Alleged vs 65mph posted speed limit)
2) Fail to maintain financial responsibility. (I believe this is for the insurance part)

He then pointed to the judge's name and number and asked me to contact her/him before the due date (Dec 09,2009) and asked me to sign the papers. I signed the insurance ticket since I can provide insurance details (showing present coverage, my friend has emailed me the pdf showing her latest policy coverage so I am hoping this will cover that bit) and dismiss the ticket hopefully. However before signing the speeding ticket I politely asked him if he could give me a warning instead. He curtly told me to sign the ticket and then said if I didn't want citations I should stick to the speed limit.

Can someone on here please tell me what my options are? I'd like to get out of the speeding ticket by doing the driving school if possible. Also, since my license is from MO will this cause me further problems? Please help...this is my first ticket ever and I don't know what I should do...

P.S: The ticket does not say how much money I have to pay. I also went online and looked up to see if I could take the defensive driving course and it says that I must have a Texas license in order to do that. My only option on the ticket is that I must contact the judge at the phone number provided in it.
Call Atty. Paul Kubosh. He will be able to get it taken care of for you. I've used him in the past and I recommend him to all my friends. m
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Old 10-31-2009, 02:36 PM
 
7,540 posts, read 11,573,598 times
Reputation: 4074
There is this new thing I heard about not 100% if it is true or not goto court plead guilty then if you do not get another ticket for 3 months they will drop your ticket
Best bet would be pay your ticket online if you try to get a laywer it will need up costing you 2 to 3 times more than just paying the ticket off
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Old 10-31-2009, 02:42 PM
 
Location: Underneath the Pecan Tree
15,982 posts, read 35,212,805 times
Reputation: 7428
Quote:
Originally Posted by DJboutit View Post
There is this new thing I heard about not 100% if it is true or not goto court plead guilty then if you do not get another ticket for 3 months they will drop your ticket
Best bet would be pay your ticket online if you try to get a laywer it will need up costing you 2 to 3 times more than just paying the ticket off
I though if you plead guilty; you have to pay the ticket???

Anyways; you don't really have to contact the judge; just get the ticket paid. However, if you want to fight it than you can go to trial and if the officer doesn't show up; it will be dismissed. If your friend can provide proof of insurance; it will help lower the ticket.
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Old 10-31-2009, 03:15 PM
 
13 posts, read 59,304 times
Reputation: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kgirl4273 View Post
Call Atty. Paul Kubosh. He will be able to get it taken care of for you. I've used him in the past and I recommend him to all my friends. m
How do I get a hold of this person? I'd like to know what my options are...it would be nice to talk to someone who can give me some tips...please let me know...thanks
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Old 10-31-2009, 03:22 PM
 
13 posts, read 59,304 times
Reputation: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by Poltracker View Post
Your options are to pay the ticket and count yourself lucky. It does not matter whose car you are driving, you were speeding and got caught. Technically, he could have written you up on the out of state DL issue as well, be thankful for that. As for the insurance, that was a legitimate call as well. The state has an insurance database that should have shown if your friend had up-to-date insurance. If your friend had insurance and can prove it...good for you. BTW can't talk about costs since you did not say the jurisdiction or what type of cop wrote the ticket. Even if you take DD, you will still have to pay a significant portion of the ticket.
My friend just sent me the latest copy of her insurance via email. I have the pdf file so I could show a print out of that as evidence. Is that enough to prove the second ticket (Fail to maintain financial responsibility)? I'm not sure why the cop was not able to pull that out on the insurance database...I'm as perplexed as you are but if the latest insurance papers will solve that problem then I have them. Does that mean that the ticket will be dismissed once I provide the insurance information?
As for the speeding ticket, I understand that I was at fault and I'm not too proud of having done that, I don't want to fight it, I'll just pay the ticket as long as there are no points on my license or insurance increases. I guess I might not have the option of taking the defensive driving course since my license is from MO when I live here in TX.
Regarding the jurisdiction or type of cop here is the info that is on the ticket:
Issued by: 07005 - T Grillet
Region:2
District: A
Area: 03

Apart from this, what kinds of questions should I ask the clerk when I call the court on Monday? If they won't let me take the defensive driving course, i don't mind paying extra to get it off my record.
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Old 10-31-2009, 03:26 PM
 
Location: Houston
3,565 posts, read 4,866,021 times
Reputation: 931
You wouldn't pay extra. The ticket gets dismissed and you'll pay 100 or whatever in "court costs".
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