Fighting a traffic ticket

Editor’s note: This is a transcript of the audio file.

Your chances of beating a traffic ticket are better than you might think. I’m Kristin Arnold with your Bankrate.com Personal Finance Minute.

Fighting a ticket can be intimidating. Traffic courts are set up to move cases in and out quickly and efficiently and to make lots of money for their counties.

But, you do have options, beginning with your admission of guilt. Don’t pay the fine right away. If it’s your first offense, the county may offer special pleas to keep it off your record. If that’s not an option, you can use the legal process to your advantage.

By filing a discovery motion or public records request, you can check the ticketing officer’s notes, calibration records for radar guns and verify that all data was recorded correctly. If something is amiss with the paperwork, you can end up winning by default.

Postponing the trial date for as long as possible can also help your case. Because a defendant always has the constitutional right to question their accuser, most judges will drop the case if the officer does not show or submit testimony which is much more likely with a rescheduled court date.

Those are just a couple of methods for beating traffic tickets. For more on this and other personal finance issues, visit Bankrate.com, I’m Kristin Arnold.