LEGAL MATTERS: How To Beat That Speeding Ticket

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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

John T. Longo, GoLocalProv Legal Contributor

So you got a ticket for going 65 MPH in a 55 MPH zone and you’re wondering whether you can beat it in court. If you have been driving for a few years, and have a good record, maybe. Here’s why:

RI: Good Driving Statute

If you get a minor traffic ticket in Rhode Island, and you have been driving for more than 3 years, and have not received any other tickets in at least 3 years, you can go to court and ask for consideration under what everyone calls the Good Driving Statute (RIGL 31-41.1-7). That allows the judge to dismiss the ticket provided it does not involve alcohol, a school bus, an accident, a child seat violation, or speeding more than 14 MPH above the limit. You will have to go to a hearing, admit the violation and pay at least a $35 fee but none of that will affect your insurance rates.

You can use the Good Driving Statute even if you have a Massachusetts driver’s license. Just be sure you bring an ‘attested to’ copy of your driving record to your court hearing in Rhode Island. That will cost you $20 and you can get in on-line, by mail, or in person at a Massachusetts Registry office.

MA: Clerk Magistrate Hearing

Massachusetts does not have an official ‘good driving statute,’ but you can often get the same results at a Clerk Magistrate hearing.

If you get a ticket in Massachusetts, and you believe you are innocent, or at least not as guilty as the ticket says (maybe you were going 5 MPH over the limit but not the 15 MPH listed on the ticket), you can plead ‘not responsible.’ You do that by mailing the ticket to the court, or by logging on to the Massachusetts Registry’s web site, and paying $25. That fee gets you a hearing in front of a Clerk Magistrate.

The hearings can be very informal; Clerk Magistrates are appointed through a political process and they are not a judge – they may not even be a lawyer. Someone from the police agency that issued the ticket will attend the hearing but it probably won’t be the actual officer who stopped you. You can explain your position to the Clerk Magistrate and ask for leniency. The Clerk Magistrate can then dismiss the ticket or reduce the severity of the charges (i.e. reduce the 15 MPH over the limit to 5 MPH over).

You can get a Clerk Magistrate hearing even if you have a Rhode Island driver’s license. If you have a good driving record, bring a copy of it to your hearing in Massachusetts. You can pay $19.50 and request it in on-line here, or pay $17.50 and get it by mail or in person from the Rhode Island DMV office in Cranston.

If you are unsatisfied with the Clerk Magistrate’s decision, you can pay $50 and appeal. That gets you a trial by a judge and the actual officer who gave you the ticket generally has to attend. At the trial, the police present their case, you tell your side, and the judge then has the same authority as a Clerk Magistrate to dismiss, or reduce, the ticket.

If the officer does not attend the trial, the judge should dismiss the ticket. Sometimes judges will reschedule the hearing to give the officer a second chance to attend; that is frustrating because they seldom extend the same courtesy to people who receive tickets. If the judge tries to reschedule, consider politely explaining you object because you took time out of work and you do not think you should have to again.

Whether you are in front of a Clerk Magistrate or a Judge, how respectfully you present your case will have a lot to do with the outcome. Lying to either of them is against the law and a slap in their face. So if you were speeding, but just don’t think you were going as fast as the ticket says, don’t lie and say you were not speeding.

Caveats

• Massachusetts has an elaborate system for tracking driving offenses and suspending your license if you get too many.
• Rhode Island’s system is not as complex but they do keep track of your tickets; 3 within 1 year and you have to appear in front of a judge and face stiffer penalties.
• If you are a new driver under 18, any ticket is going to be a major headache because both Massachusetts and Rhode Island have special rules that apply to you.
• If you have a Commercial Driver’s License, disregard everything I said in this article and get a lawyer if you get a ticket.

John Longo is a consumer rights attorney practicing law in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. He represents consumers who have disputes with businesses, employees cheated out of their wages or overtime, car buyers stuck with Lemons, and people in need of bankruptcy protection. He is a member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, and the Rhode Island Association for Justice.

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