Traffic Court Questions (Cook County)

[Area3Citizen]

I got a speeding ticket a couple days ago. I was guilty...even admitted it to the officer during the stop. I normally don't speed but I guess right place, wrong time. I have a perfect driving record minus the one-time I plead guilty to a no-seatbelt charge. I have had my license for 6 years.

Question one: If I go to court (and plead guilty), will the judge dismiss having sympathy & lessening the amount + no conviction...just for the simple fact that the speed was 20 over?

Question two: The car I was driving is not the car that's on the ticket. The Makes don't match (import vs. domestic). This is because I just got my new car & I guess the DMV hasn't switched the registration stuff (same license plate). Will it be thrown out for that simple fact?

Thanks.

[Jail Guard7160]

I don't think the car mix up will matter.

The Judge has heard every story out there. You best bet is to go to court. Sometimes the Officer does not show up due to other court cases and the ticket will get thrown out.

I remember when you use to get court supervision and a $50.00 fine.
Now they want $$$$$ they might try and send you to traffic school.
If your driving record is clean NO convictions in the last 12 months. You might get lucky with a $75-$115 fine and no traffic school.

If you have money spend $100.00 for a lawyer and he might be able to sweet talk the clerk about the car model mix up and have them drop the ticket.


Next time you get pulled over for speeding and the Officer says his radar shows you were going 75mph in a 45mph zone. Tell him thats impossible because my radar detector did not go off. Humor works sometimes or you might get your ***** kicked.

[blueline1032]

As long as your record is clear and you have not received any citations or supervision in the last year, the judge will most likely have no problem giving you supervision and/or traffic school or some combination thereof. You will pay HEAVILY with court costs beyond the fine. Don't complain to the judge about those though... those are set by the legislature and the courts have no control over them. I have seen many people pay a $25-$75 fine and get hit with over $100 in additional court costs.

[Area3Citizen]

Thanks for the responses. Traffic school is $135 ($20 more than the ticket). So if going to court is gonna cost more, I might as well just do traffic school. I don't expect to get off scot-free...just something more reasonable to someone with a clean record.

How does court supervision work & does it mean no conviction?

PS: humor never works for me....well at least towards cops. The response I get from them makes me feel like I'm digging myself a deeper hole (or maybe they're good at hiding laughter & replacing it with a strict face). Now I just keep it simple.

[hockeycop95]

area3citizen,
the car info will not matter what is written on the ticket. was the ticket in suburban cook or the city? if you go to court these are you options 1) the officer does not show up it will get tossed out, 2) plea guilty or not guilty (the states attorney will give you your options ie: supervision, traffic safety school, etc.). cook-city will charge a 155.00 court fees to the fine, i don't know if suburb cook has the same court fee amount. it may be cheaper to just pay the ticket but its your call.

[cubsfan07]

I personally think it's better to just pay the fine and be done with it. The reason I say that is if you decide to plead not guilty and there's a trial, you will really get socked with court costs, probably more than 3x what the ticket originally was. Minor technicality on the vehicle info. The SA will simply motion to amend the ticket...the type of vehicle is irrelevant to the fact that you were actually speeding. Seriously though, it's just a petty offense, not the end of the world.

[blueline1032]

[QUOTE=Area3Citizen;1421464]How does court supervision work & does it mean no conviction?[QUOTE]

When you receive court supervision, it is usually for a period of 3-12 months where as long as you do not receive any further citations or any convictions during that period, the charges against you will not count as a conviction on your driving record. For most people, this is a good option because once the supervision is complete, your record is clear and genrally it will not affect your vehicle's insurance rates. However, seperate records of supervisions are kept, so it is usually not possible to receive supervision more than once in a 12 month period.

I have seen cases where people lie to the court and say that they did not receive supervison in the last 12 months (this being in a court that did not have immediate access to those records). Once it was found that the person did receive supervision in the last 12 months, a conviction against them was automatically entered.

I would not automatically plead guilty with no deal negotiated. When you go to court, the prosecutor will probably negotiate with or offer a deal to you. This could include several things we have already talked about. Take the best deal you can get.

[Area3Citizen]

The ticket was from Skokie. I hardly go out to the suburbs as it is (mainly a city guy), but missed my exit on 94 and while heading back on the street, I wasn't paying attention to my speed....which is kind of worser than knowingly speeding if you think about it.

cubsfan07...I agree. Might as well just get it over with & move on. I know it's not the end of the world, but my whole reason for posting this is: 1) If there's a legal way to dismiss the ticket, I'm all for it, and if not 2) making the ticket less painful if the court allows is advantageous. But as blueline1032 put it, I just want the best deal I can get. I just don't want to go to court to find out I have to pay more than if I had simply sent back the amount for traffic school.

Thanks for clarifying what court supervision entails, blueline1032.

[NoBody312]

Usually on the back of hte ticket you have an option to just send in the ticket and Check off "Pay 135$ for traffic school". I would just check that box, bite the bullet, pay the fee, and go to traffic school, its MUCH cheaper then havinng to enter a plea through the court.

Thats what I did with my first 2 tickets (spaced years apart) and they are no longer on my record.

[MorseAve1134]

humor is probably not the best way to go, i would recommend traffic school. it is most likely cheaper than all the court fines and all you do is sit there for a saturday, its worse than cps to be honest, lol.