1st TN (Knoxville city) speeding ticket...any advice/tips

[scinmyheart]

hoping someone can give me some insight...


I got nabbed this morning with my first speeding ticket in TN...KPD car nabbed me, according to him, going 45 in a 30...I did look at my speedometer after seeing him and it was a little over 40, so probably so


I'm not disputing that...but he checked off that he got it from radar...I have a detector and it did not even blink, so who knows...but I wasn't going to question him


nice man young enough to be my grandson came to the car and asked for my license only...did not ask for registration or insurance card...and went back to his car. So I knew he was coming back with a ticket


came back and said that he was putting it as going 35 in a 30 and gave me my court date/time...no dollar ticket amount on the citation but stamped in red across the front is Summons To Court...

 

there is a number he scribbled in the Narrative section...looks like the number 4 and another number...I'm guessing he's notating where he actually nabbed me at 45 but officially listed it at 35/30i


 so obviously I have to appear in front of the judge...I just wonder why he made a 35/30 as a mandatory court appearance


looking up the code of 17-262 it's speeding 1-14 mph over for $116.50 and 1 point


does anyone know what to expect at court...I'm guessing either plead guilty and pay and get 1 point or be stupid and claim I'm a victim of circumstances and was framed


I have a clean TN license and haven't had a speeding ticket or any ticket in 10+ years...last one was in FL


I'm guessing by pleading guilty I can take the online traffic school to avoid the point


I did read where you have to get court approval to take the class


I'm guessing that 1 point will fall off in a year with no other violations...is it worth taking the class for that 1 point, or should I save my class elective for a future incident (if there is one)...thinking out loud here: wondering if my insurance will be affected by a 1 point violation


 thanks for any insight or tips
 

[TripleGGG]

hoping someone can give me some insight...


I got nabbed this morning with my first speeding ticket in TN...KPD car nabbed me, according to him, going 45 in a 30...I did look at my speedometer after seeing him and it was a little over 40, so probably so


I'm not disputing that...but he checked off that he got it from radar...I have a detector and it did not even blink, so who knows...but I wasn't going to question him


nice man young enough to be my grandson came to the car and asked for my license only...did not ask for registration or insurance card...and went back to his car. So I knew he was coming back with a ticket


came back and said that he was putting it as going 35 in a 30 and gave me my court date/time...no dollar ticket amount on the citation but stamped in red across the front is Summons To Court...

there is a number he scribbled in the Narrative section...looks like the number 4 and another number...I'm guessing he's notating where he actually nabbed me at 45 but officially listed it at 35/30i


so obviously I have to appear in front of the judge...I just wonder why he made a 35/30 as a mandatory court appearance


looking up the code of 17-262 it's speeding 1-14 mph over for $116.50 and 1 point


does anyone know what to expect at court...I'm guessing either plead guilty and pay and get 1 point or be stupid and claim I'm a victim of circumstances and was framed


I have a clean TN license and haven't had a speeding ticket or any ticket in 10+ years...last one was in FL


I'm guessing by pleading guilty I can take the online traffic school to avoid the point


I did read where you have to get court approval to take the class


I'm guessing that 1 point will fall off in a year with no other violations...is it worth taking the class for that 1 point, or should I save my class elective for a future incident (if there is one)...thinking out loud here: wondering if my insurance will be affected by a 1 point violation


thanks for any insight or tips

About a year and a half ago I was able to pay mine online to which you are pleading guilty. No points ever showed up on my license. Not sure why. I would not have bothered with the class even if they had. If I remember mine had the same type stamping etc about court appearance. It did take a couple of weeks to show up in their system for me to pay though. Actually called the courthouse and the were extremely nice to deal with.

[gjohnsoniv]

Chances are you will end up with a judicial diversion (probation 30 days) aND potentially pay court fines. Edited January 28, 2016 by gjohnsoniv

[Monkeybat]

Just pay it. It won't cause insurance problems for this instance when you've not had a ticket in so many years. I got a speeding ticket for the first time in my life last year in Millersville.

I just paid my ticket online to one of those services that handle technology for backwoods PDs that are on par with Roscoe and Boss Hog.

Those D bags fund the city with tickets. My solution? Never pass through their city or spend a dime in it again.

I was pretty proud of my ticket avoidance. It's not like I drive slow.

I talked my way out of half a dozen in high school.

Dads! Don't buy your 16 year old son a 5.0 Mustang.

It's a bad idea. But it sure was a lot of fun.


Sent from the Fortress of Solitude.

[tennesseetiger]

Chances are you will end up with a judicial diversion (probation 30 days) aND potentially pay court fines.

For 5mph over the speed limit....? Even if it was 15mph over I dont understand how 30days would be involved in this situation.

[leroy]

Fee grabbin... It's about the money no matter what the clownish Knoxville Chief of police says... The best way to get even with the city of knoxville is to stay out of it... I drive the speed limit where ever i go in knoxville and most everywhere else... It saves lots of problems...

 

leroy

[Possumslayer]

Got pulled over today for an expired tag(August) lol..,..
I asked the police man not tooo shoot me and asked what did I do this time and he just laughed and said the only thing I did wrong was not getting a new sticker on my tag...he gave me a warning, I asked can it wait till Monday cause I work weekends he said fine just keep the warning in the truck..... Lincoln county po po are cool.

[LawVol]

For 5mph over the speed limit....? Even if it was 15mph over I dont understand how 30days would be involved in this situation.

 

just means as long as there's no further problems during the diversion period, the ticket goes away.  He will pay court costs, though.

 

{edit}  useful info here:  https://knoxcounty.org/gsjudges/traffic/index.php .   Need to see if you're in Municipal or Sessions Court, though.  

Edited January 28, 2016 by LawVol

[A.J. Holst]

Go to court, DA asks if you'd like to plead guilty, pay the fine and walk away with no blemish on your record.

If you agree, you are called before the judge, asks if you like the deal you're getting from the DA and away you go.

At least that was deal I got in Knox County about 1.5 years ago.

It's entertaining to listen to the habitual / non paying previously busted poor drivers.

I was amazed at the number of did not appear and bench warrants issued.

Court cost and fine was equal to fine for speeding...ymmv Edited January 28, 2016 by Gotthegoods

[gjohnsoniv]

For 5mph over the speed limit....? Even if it was 15mph over I dont understand how 30days would be involved in this situation.

Yes. I'm a bit fuzzy on the details on the legal aspect. It's pretty much saying if you don't get another speeding ticket in a month then you won't be charged with that one and it goes away.

[tennesseetiger]

Yes. I'm a bit fuzzy on the details on the legal aspect. It's pretty much saying if you don't get another speeding ticket in a month then you won't be charged with that one and it goes away.

Gotcha that makes sense.

[Ted S.]

lol, never got a speeding ticket out there, but within the passed two years I got one for 31 over, and another written for "17" over after being told by the officer I was going 14 over (which I admit I was going about 15 over).

 

Didn't have to appear in court for either, but I did pay out the ass for them and classes.

 

Maybe he was just flexing his power.

 

Best thing you can do is if you remember the weather conditions, if you were with anyone else (and if that person was male/female, child or adult, etc) and what you were wearing at the time of the stop when you show up in court. Write them down. Ask these things if you have an opporunity before admitting guilt. Any other details you can remember that might call into question the officers judgment should written down and asked in court.  If the judge sees that the officer can't remember simple details from the traffic stop, the judge "MAY" be more lenient on you, and possibly even dismiss it. 

 

If you are able to demonstate that the officer can't recall simple details of the traffic stop, how can the judge be sure that they know how fast you were going over exactly, other than they made a note of it.

 

This isn't legal advice. Just suggestions.

Edited January 28, 2016 by Ted S.

[scinmyheart]

just means as long as there's no further problems during the diversion period, the ticket goes away.  He will pay court costs, though.

 

{edit}  useful info here:  https://knoxcounty.org/gsjudges/traffic/index.php .   Need to see if you're in Municipal or Sessions Court, though.  

LawVol, it's in city court with the green citation

 

everybody, thanks for all of the tips and advice!

[Patton]

Is this for city court or general sessions? Regardless you should have an opportunity to call and plead guilty with an opportunity to just pay over the phone. All of this assuming that is what you wanted to do. Unless you have to take off work, and it cost you money to go to court, I advise showing up for the court date and plead not guilty. The most it generally cost you is what the ticket would have cost anyway, especially if this is a city magistrate that is appointed. A $50 fine and your court cost is generally the max for Tennessee. Sessions court however is not limited to the $50 fine. I do not know of a maximum on court fees. I know one city in TN has one over $200, but most are around $100.

As for your radar detector not giving you a warning there are several probabilities, but we can not rule out the possibility that the officer was not using a speed measurement device. He would be committing perjury by saying that he did when he didn't of course. Officers can write a ticket without confirming speed but it is highly discouraged. More sophisticated speed measurement devices such as Ka band radars are not as easily detectable even if you have a Ka band detector. Some field studies I was a part of ten years ago showed angles and window tint effect radar detector performance. As well, if he was using his device properly it didn't have time to give a warning before you were targeted and he released the button. We call this feature instant on. The waves go out and return too fast to often get detected. Laser is a completely different animal, but he would have checked Lidar instead of radar.

I will say this: If the officer saw your radar detector it is probably the deciding factor for you getting a ticket over a warning. I have told numerous speeding violators, "I was going to give you a warning but I see that your radar detector must have already given you a warning or two." In all honesty, Officers have concluded that there is only one reason a person choices to have a radar detector; that is that they like to speed. Be safe and best of luck with contesting.

[bersaguy]

Last time I got a ticket it was in a small town called Watertown and it was about 3AM and I was heading to a bass tournament on Center Hill lake and the squad car was parked in a used car lot waiting for an idiot like me. I was clicking off 63 in a 35 zone. As luck would have it the LEO also liked to fish and we talked for about 10 minutes while he wrote the ticket. He said he could take me to jail for 20 over the limit but just checked the excessive speed square without putting a speed down. I signed the ticket and he let me go. When I got home that night I read the ticket and I was just going to pay it since it was a 70 mile drive to go to court one way. Then on the bottom of the ticket I see the words, "NO CHECKS". Well, I thought about it a couple days and finally decided it is all about money anyway with small towns and I saw that the fine was 55.00 for excessive speed so I wrote out a check to court clerk of Watertown and sent the check and a copy of the ticket. 8 days later my check cleared my bank and I never heard another word out of them. That was in 1988............................... :shrug:

[Volphin]

The judge is a very fair man.  

Treat him, as all judges, with respect.  

 

Plead no contest, see him at the bench when he calls you up.  Explain your driving record is great.  30 days of probation, (no tickets) and court costs (around $98??) no points, not reported to insurance is how it normally goes for respectful individuals.

 

If the docket is loaded up, an officer of the court will advise a group to just pay up without points.  Not sure that is accurate, and cannot find such in TCA.  Always insist on seeing the judge.

[Omega]

Is this for city court or general sessions? Regardless you should have an opportunity to call and plead guilty with an opportunity to just pay over the phone. All of this assuming that is what you wanted to do. Unless you have to take off work, and it cost you money to go to court, I advise showing up for the court date and plead not guilty. The most it generally cost you is what the ticket would have cost anyway, especially if this is a city magistrate that is appointed. A $50 fine and your court cost is generally the max for Tennessee. Sessions court however is not limited to the $50 fine. I do not know of a maximum on court fees. I know one city in TN has one over $200, but most are around $100.

As for your radar detector not giving you a warning there are several probabilities, but we can not rule out the possibility that the officer was not using a speed measurement device. He would be committing perjury by saying that he did when he didn't of course. Officers can write a ticket without confirming speed but it is highly discouraged. More sophisticated speed measurement devices such as Ka band radars are not as easily detectable even if you have a Ka band detector. Some field studies I was a part of ten years ago showed angles and window tint effect radar detector performance. As well, if he was using his device properly it didn't have time to give a warning before you were targeted and he released the button. We call this feature instant on. The waves go out and return too fast to often get detected. Laser is a completely different animal, but he would have checked Lidar instead of radar.

I will say this: If the officer saw your radar detector it is probably the deciding factor for you getting a ticket over a warning. I have told numerous speeding violators, "I was going to give you a warning but I see that your radar detector must have already given you a warning or two." In all honesty, Officers have concluded that there is only one reason a person choices to have a radar detector; that is that they like to speed. Be safe and best of luck with contesting.

VA must have that way of thinking too, they will give you a ticket for having a detector whether you are speeding or not.  I disagree with the whole premise, if safety were the reason for speeding tickets then they would welcome everyone having detectors so they would slow down when it goes off; but its about the money; that is why they "hide" at speed traps.  I speed, but that is to keep up with traffic flow, and the detector helps me realize that I may be speeding too fast when on a long stretch of road.  I normally lock my cruise control at 5 over to maintain traffic flow but not run the risk of being the one pulled over.

[Ted S.]

VA must have that way of thinking too, they will give you a ticket for having a detector whether you are speeding or not.  I disagree with the whole premise, if safety were the reason for speeding tickets then they would welcome everyone having detectors so they would slow down when it goes off; but its about the money; that is why they "hide" at speed traps.  I speed, but that is to keep up with traffic flow, and the detector helps me realize that I may be speeding too fast when on a long stretch of road.  I normally lock my cruise control at 5 over to maintain traffic flow but not run the risk of being the one pulled over.

 

Radar dectectors being illegal is a huge safety risk. What if you need to find an officer but s/he's too busy hiding in a speed trap?

Edited January 28, 2016 by Ted S.

[TNWNGR]

There should be a phone number to the municiple court clerks office I'd call them and ask if you can pay the citation w/o appearing in court or if a traffic school is avalable. If the traffic school's avalable ask what the total cost (school & court cost) is and if you can pay that w/o appearing in court. If so then theres your answer. Generally speaking the traffic school keeps the citation from showing up on your driving record. Traffic schools are sometimes held  on either a week night or a Saturday morning and generally last around four hours.

[dralarms]

Must have been a school zone. They let you run 80 on I75 in the 55 mph zone.

[Patton]

VA must have that way of thinking too, they will give you a ticket for having a detector whether you are speeding or not.  I disagree with the whole premise, if safety were the reason for speeding tickets then they would welcome everyone having detectors so they would slow down when it goes off; but its about the money; that is why they "hide" at speed traps.  I speed, but that is to keep up with traffic flow, and the detector helps me realize that I may be speeding too fast when on a long stretch of road.  I normally lock my cruise control at 5 over to maintain traffic flow but not run the risk of being the one pulled over.

Those few places that have laws banning detectors will often have radar detector detectors for alerting to their use. We borrowed one just for seeking out commercial vehicle drivers with them. When we purchased a radar drone we gave the detector detector back. The radar drone transmitted a K band frequency for a couple of miles. It did not detect speed, it only transmitted a frequency. We intentionally did this to slow traffic in a construction zone. Once we had that we encouraged radar detectors.

[Monkeybat]

Go to court, DA asks if you'd like to plead guilty, pay the fine and walk away with no blemish on your record.

If you agree, you are called before the judge, asks if you like the deal you're getting from the DA and away you go.

At least that was deal I got in Knox County about 1.5 years ago.

It's entertaining to listen to the habitual / non paying previously busted poor drivers.

I was amazed at the number of did not appear and bench warrants issued.

Court cost and fine was equal to fine for speeding...ymmv

^^^^ This.

Just more proof speeding tickets are just revenue generators. Court cost equal ticket cost. No way you get out paying them cash.


Sent from the Fortress of Solitude.

[Sam1]

I just wonder why he made a 35/30 as a mandatory court appearance

 

It's so that police officer can get some overtime pay for having to show up to court.  Happens all the time, well known scheme that occurs all over the place.

 

And before anyone says it's cop bashing, I support the cops 99% of the time.  Matter of fact we bought a random one and his wife lunch today at pizza perfect just because.

[DaveTN]

so obviously I have to appear in front of the judge...I just wonder why he made a 35/30 as a mandatory court appearance

I’d be curious to know also. Speeding in a school zone was a "must appear" where I came from. But he probably would have mentioned that.

[DaveTN]

It's so that police officer can get some overtime pay for having to show up to court.  Happens all the time, well known scheme that occurs all over the place.

Doesn’t the traffic DA have to subpoena an Officer to appear in court here? Wouldn’t a 35/30 get his attention?