Posted by duijim in on February 28, 2015
Beating speeding tickets in Georgia is very difficult. Laser and radar guns have been scientifically verified to the point where judges must always believe the evidence they present i.e. your alleged speed. In order to beat a speeding ticket at trial, you must have a legal defense to beat the speed measurement device.
Defenses to speeding tickets such as “I wasn’t going that fast” or “The officer clocked the wrong car” will not be enough to beat a speeding ticket at trial. There are other ways of keeping speeding tickets off your driving history other than winning at trial. Whether you want to fight the ticket or negotiate it, you should always go to court. You should never pay a ticket online, by mail, or over the phone. Always go to court, and see what you can negotiate.
Speeding Tickets 14 MPH Over The Limit Is The Goal
You should always go to court, and negotiate your speeding ticket with the prosecutor. If you have a Georgia Driver’s License ask the prosecutor to reduce your speed to 14 mph over the posted speed limit. At this speed, the ticket will not go on your driving history, and will not affect your insurance premiums.
For example, if you were given a ticket for doing 83 in a 55 mph zone ask the prosecutor to reduce your speed to 79 in a 55 mph zone. This will keep the ticket off your driving history as long as you have a Georgia Driver’s License regardless of your age.
Speeding Tickets And Out Of State Drivers
If you are licensed in another state getting your speed reduced to 14 mph over the limit may not be enough to keep the charge off your driving history. The Georgia Department of Driver Services is required to report speeding tickets, and other traffic tickets, to other states. Out of state drivers should meet with the prosecutor, and ask him to reduce the ticket to a non-reporting violation such as a city ordinance violation or county ordinance violation.
These violations do not report to the Georgia Department of Driver Services, and, therefore, will not get reported to the home state’s department of driver services or department of motor vehicles.
Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) And Professional Drivers
Commercial drivers, and people who drive professionally need to keep their driving history clean. If a CDL gets a speeding ticket in his commercial vehicle he needs to make sure this charge does not appear on his driving history.
Reducing his speeding ticket to 14 mph over the speed limit will not keep this charge off his driving history. He also needs to get his charge reduced to a non-reporting violation such as a city or county ordinance violation.
A list of Georgia city and county ordinances is available on https://www.municode.com/ located here.
Speeding Tickets And Drivers Under The Age Of 21
Georgia Law treats drivers under the age of 21 differently than older drivers. However, getting the speed of a driver under the age of 21 reduced to 14 mph over the posted speed limit will keep the speeding ticket off his driving history as long as he is licensed in Georgia. The driver does not have to have a full class C license. The driver only needs to hold any class of Georgia Driver’s License.
Speeding Tickets And Diversion Programs
Many courts offer diversion programs that will dismiss speeding tickets, and other traffic tickets, upon completion of the program. This is an excellent option for keeping speeding tickets off your driving history. The Municipal Court of Atlanta has an excellent diversion program for traffic and speeding tickets.
For a list of which charges will report to your Georgia Driver’s License consult the Georgia Department of Driver Services Traffic Court Reference Manual.
Finally, if you are not comfortable going to court, and doing this yourself, hire an attorney. The money you spend on an attorney will be less than the increase in your insurance premiums if you paid for the ticket. Also, people who have retained an attorney get called first so you won’t have to sit in court all day.