Is it illegal to use a police radio scanner to avoid getting a traffic ticket
At the present time it is only illegal to use a police radio scanner to avoid cops in certain states – and even in those places the laws are relatively recent. However, while the majority of states do not have laws against using the scanner on their books, that does not mean that you will get away with using one if caught.
Right now the states where it is definitely illegal to obtain and use a police radio scanner to avoid cops include Washington, D.C., Illinois, New York, Virginia and Minnesota. The state of Florida currently has a law being proposed that would ban the use of police radio scanners to avoid cops. The state of Connecticut repealed their law banning the use of radio scanners in 1998 so that it is now legal to use the devices in order to avoid speeding traps set by the police.
Now whether using a police radio scanner in order to avoid the cops works or is a good idea is a totally different ball game. In fact, programming a police radio scanner for all of the jurisdictions through which you are likely to pass will take a long time and might be a waste of time – why? Well, unless you are familiar with the place in which you are driving then you will find it hard to figure what the cops on the scanner are referring to. Police on the scanner talk about a lot of things and unless you are familiar with what they are referring to, then you just might find yourself as clued out as though you did not own a scanner.
Most people who use police radio scanners on a regular basis to avoid the cops do so in their own home towns where they know the landmarks, the reference points and the different neighborhoods. However, those people who purchase police radio scanners in order to use then when traveling cross-country on a road trip will quickly find that they can be more of a hindrance than an aid. In either case, just make sure to check before purchasing and using a police radio scanner because laws are being changed constantly and a state where it is legal to use one today, might not be so lenient with the devices a year from now.
What can you do if you can’t afford to pay for your traffic ticket?
Most people are shocked when they are slapped with a citation for a moving violation. Naturally we go about our daily routines without a care in the world for tickets – however, one moment of inattention can result in a ticket totaling hundreds of dollars – especially if the infraction is for something significant such as passing a school bus when it’s lights are flashing. When something like that happens, it is always jarring as the fine is high and points are added to your license. What can you do if the fine is high and you cannot afford to pay for it?
Well, although the court will never let you off the hook for a traffic citation, you can always plead your case with the judge. After all, judges are human and they will understand your hardship case if properly presented. What generally happens in such circumstances is that you pay what you can up front and then ask for a continuance so that you have additional time in which to collect the money needed to pay the remainder of the fine. However, be warned that such stays are never more than sixty additional days.
Sometimes the court will even set up a payment plan whereby you can pay off your ticket. However, the monthly payment plan is very rare and only works in very exceptional circumstances. Your best option is to plead your case with the court and to ask for a continuance and then put yourself on a weekly payment plan until you have collected the funds needed to cover your fine. The other alternative is to ask your family for a loan or try to get a loan from your financial institution in order to cover your fine and then pay it back slowly.
Receiving a traffic violation can really throw a wrench into your budget – especially if you are on a very tight one. While there is no real way of getting out of paying your fine, there are ways of mitigating the impact and asking for a continuance is really your best option.
Is attending a traffic school mandatory?
In most states across the country attending traffic school – either online or land-based, is a voluntary move done when people wish to have a citation removed from their permanent driving records. However, in certain states, some infractions will automatically land you in traffic school for a basic refresher driving course.
The state of Florida is the most recent state to legislate mandatory traffic school for drivers who either run a red light or pass a school bus with its stop sign out. In the state of Texas speeding over a certain limit will also net you mandatory traffic school.
However, in most states traffic school is still a voluntary option. A court can mandate you to attend traffic school if you are repeatedly fined or pulled over for a certain offense and some courts will simply send you to traffic school if you try to argue with them, but in general, the only time you will be forced to attend mandatory traffic school is if the state you live in has statutes set up enforcing such laws.
The benefits of attending traffic school are many. While it is true that you will have to pay to attend the traffic school, when you obtain your certificate of completion and have it sent to the court, then you can have any citations removed from your permanent driving record. Furthermore, you will once again get an overview of basic driving rules and of defensive driving strategies, which will go a long way towards helping you avoid getting into a similar driving situation in the future. Furthermore, if your infraction resulted in the removal of a point from your license, successfully completing traffic school can result in the restoration of that point.
While attending traffic school might not be the top priority on anyone’s list of things to do, the pros of completing a course far outweigh the cons – especially if you have been stopped for a serious infraction.
Does the court check if you did 2 traffic schools in the last 18 months?
When you get a moving traffic violation, which results in you having points added to your license your first inclination might be to try to get into traffic school to get the demerit point removed from your permanent driving record. However, unless you have not attended traffic school in the last 18 months you will not be eligible to attend.
While the court does not check if you attended two traffic schools in the last 18 months, the DMV is notified if you have been told to attend traffic school. The DMV will only count one of the results and discard any additional results. So, you can always take traffic school for a second time but it will not count toward anything. However, in many instances you will not even be able to attend traffic school and doing so will count against you.
If you have been ordered to take traffic school but did not attend for one reason or another then you risk having your licence suspended and losing your insurance. The option is not a pleasant one to contemplate. Should the DMV or the court find out that you did not attend your traffic school then you will be in far worse trouble than previously. If your licence is suspended then the only way to get it back is to comply with the court’s ruling.
In the end, traffic school is a good way out if you have not had too many violations in the past and you have not attended traffic school in the last 18 months. Traffic school was not designed as a “get-out-of-jail” free card. Instead it was designed to help drivers get brushed up on road rules and safety. Those who abuse the system will not be able to do so for long before getting caught. So, if you have attended traffic school twice in the last 18 months and find yourself facing another moving violation, then your only choice is to pay up and wise up so that you do not find yourself in a similar situation again.
Preventative driving safety measures to take to avoid getting tickets
One of the biggest reasons that people get traffic tickets is for road infractions while driving. The main infraction that people assume will get them a citation is speeding – however, that is only one of the many ways in which you can see yourself slapped with a fine and possible demerit points for breaking driving rules.
After we obtain our driver’s license most people tend to take driving for granted and end up promptly forgetting most of what they learned in driving school. However, many of the things taught to us in traffic school are actually extremely good lessons on how to avoid getting tickets. The preventative driving safety measures to take to avoid getting tickets we have all learned, but sometimes need a refresher course on in order to jog our memories into remembering them. Here are some ace tips to help keep you safe and secure – and ticket-free, on the road.
Always signal!
That’s right – although it might seem like a pointless waste of time, using your signals to indicate your intentions is not just common courtesy but it will also minimize your chances of meeting with an accident and also of getting a traffic ticket. Police will hand out traffic tickets for failing to use a signal and in some places that infraction can set you back nearly $30.
Check your blind spots!
Another preventative driving tip that too few people employ is checking their blind spots. Checking your side mirrors before changing lanes is not the only thing you must check before you begin your move. Oftentimes, a car will be hidden in your blind spot and you will find yourself in an accident if you are moving at high speeds or the other car does not have enough time to slow down. Make it routine to check your blind spot before initiating a turn.
Drive at the speed limit
Yes, what they say about speed is true – it kills. Most traffic road fatalities are the result of drivers going too fast. The speed limits have been set at a point where drivers are still able to wield solid control over their cars and have enough time to react to changing situations. Besides – driving the speed limit will also help you to conserve gas; and with gas prices being what they are today – who doesn’t want that?
Drive defensively
Driving defensively is driving without the assumption that the other person is aware that you are there. Never take for granted that the drivers around you are paying attention and will be doing what they should be doing. Driving defensively means that you should always maintain a safe distance between you and the car ahead of you. Come to a full stop at stop signs. Slow down at yellow lights and always be polite.
Preventative driving will not only make you a safer driver, but will also ensure that you will always avoid costly traffic tickets.
Can a speeding ticket be dismissed if the police officer wrote the wrong info on the ticket?
As much as it might make sense to think that if the police officer wrote the wrong information on your ticket that it would get automatically dismissed, that is not always the case. In fact, most of the time the judge will allow the officer to explain the circumstances and give them the benefit of the doubt when handing down their judgment – and generally it is not in favor of the defendant.
However, that being said, you can always use that incorrect information to your advantage when you are in court. The trick is to ask for a court date and then not inform anyone of the error on your ticket. You must actually use the information to your advantage when cross questioning the officer who gave you the ticket. For instance, if the officer marked on your speeding ticket that you were driving a two door car when you actually drive a four-door model, then you ask the officer leading questions getting him/her to describe your car. You get the officer to swear that all of the information on the ticket is true and then when the court is convinced that the officer has the official version of events, you pull out your ace and let everyone know that you actually drive a four-door car and how could the officer possibly know what speed you were driving at if s/he could not even notice the number of doors on your car? Once you can prove that one item on the ticket is in error, then it does throw everything on the ticket into question and you can, possibly, have your ticket dismissed on that basis.
Bear in mind, though, that if you are simply planning on walking into court and saying that the ticket is wrong because the officer got a few details wrong, then you are in for a big surprise. Not only will you be dismissed, but you will then be responsible for paying all of the court fees, which will boost the total of your ticket considerably. So, if you do want to contest your speeding ticket based on the wrong information that was written on it, then keep your cards close to your chest until the right moment and you just might get what you want.
How much on average is a speeding ticket fine?
Did you know that in the United States more than one hundred thousand people receive speeding tickets every day? That means that over forty one million speeding tickets are being handed out every year. The average cost of a speeding ticket is $150, which means that over $6 billion is being raised through speeding fines alone.
The part about a speeding ticket that really hits home is the rise in insurance rates that you are likely to face if you get a ticket. Depending on the speed at which you were caught traveling, a speeding ticket will net you anywhere between one and three demerit points. The more demerit points you have the higher your insurance rates will rise. Oftentimes the rise in insurance is just too much for a person to handle and they lose their insurance until the points are removed from their license and they are once again able to afford coverage – this is also the reason why traffic schools have become such a popular way of getting your license back to zero points.
Online or land-based traffic schools can either be ordered by the court or can be taken on a voluntary basis. If the court orders you to take traffic school courses, then you have no choice but to comply or risk losing your license altogether. However, if you want a way to remove the points from your license then you can always enroll in traffic school by yourself and send your certificate of completion to the courts once you obtain it. Attending a traffic school is one of the best ways to clear your record and ensure that your insurance rates remain the same.
While traffic school is a great tool for occasional offenders, those who frequently get traffic violations cannot assume that attending traffic school will automatically solve their problems every time. You are only entitled to attend traffic school every 18 months. If you attend more often than that, your subsequent trips will not be counted by the DMV.
So, if you get a speeding ticket and it is your first, your best bet is to pay it off and then request to attend traffic school in order to have the demerit point removed from your licence.
Can you take traffic school for parking citations?
Whether someone can take traffic school for a parking citation is a commonly asked question – the short answer is “no.” Most traffic schools are offered only for moving violations. However, that being said, there is no reason why you cannot plead your case with the court.
When you receive a parking ticket you have two options – pay for it or contest it. However, if you choose to contest it, then should you lose, you can immediately ask the judge if you could attend traffic school instead of settling the ticket. In some instances the judge will allow you to do this – however, such a move is only recommended if the parking ticket is substantial in amount as most online or land-based traffic schools will charge you more for their courses than the cost of the average parking ticket.
The only instances where you can reasonably expect to be offered the potential of attending traffic school in order to clear your citation is if it is your first moving violation or you have not attended traffic school in less than 18 months. If you are a repeat traffic offender or you have already obtained a certificate of completion from a traffic school within the last 18 months, then you will not be able to attend another online or land-based traffic school to wipe your citation off your record.
Parking citations are among the most innocuous of traffic violations – that is unless you simply choose to ignore your ticket. If you do not pay your ticket by the deadline, then you risk incurring additional fees and will eventually have a “boot” put onto your car, which can result in more hassle than the initial ticket is worth. So, if you find yourself stuck with having to pay for a parking ticket – just do it. Contesting it is only worth it if you are guaranteed to win and ignoring it is just plain silly.
In the end, a parking citation will not even show on your permanent driving record, so creating a situation where it will show up is certainly not the best option you have open.
After I finish up traffic school and the certificate is mailed to the court, how do I find out if the point was removed from my driving record?
Once you have obtained your online traffic school certificate of completion and the certificate has been mailed to the court, you can always call your local DMV to find out whether the point was removed from your record. Finishing a course at a traffic school entitles you to request the removal of up to three points from your driving record.
Points are, in fact, demerit points. They are added to your license for certain moving violation offenses. If you rack up twelve demerit points in any twelve month period, then you automatically lose your license. Generally points stay on your driving record for a five-year period after which they are removed. However, the more points you accumulate the longer the points will remain on your record.
Getting points added to your driving record will impact your license in a number of ways. Firstly, your insurance rates will go up when it comes time for renewal. Secondly, if you are pulled over for another traffic violation and the officer at the scene sees that you already have demerit points against your name, they are less likely to show you any kind of leniency. However, having to pay higher insurance rates is probably the most motivating factor for trying to have the points removed from your driving record. After all it is merely a cash grab on the part of insurance companies who need little or no excuse to hike up their rates.
So, if you are anxious to know if the point has been removed from your driving record following the completion of traffic school all you have to do is call or local DMV or even look it up online. Some states allow you to access your permanent driving record through your DMV website. If the point has not been removed then you will have to follow up with your court to find out if there was a delay or if they might not have received it. In some instances certificates have become lost in the mail, so it is always a good idea to keep a signed copy of your certificate of completion with you in case you need to send it again.
How do you verify a course you take at an online traffic school will be officially recognized by the court?
When you are shopping around for an online traffic school in which to enroll in order to wipe a citation off your driving record, you must always make sure of three things:
a) the school offers a recognized and accredited course
b) the school is officially recognized by the court that is requesting the course
c) the school will take care of mailing your certificate of completion to the court for you.
With the proliferation of online traffic schools clogging up the internet in recent years it is very important to verify that the school you are interested in has a solid reputation and courses that will be recognized by the courts. There is no point simply choosing the least expensive online traffic school, if you will have to retake the course at some point or, even worse, lose your chance of clearing your driving record. Asking the online traffic school for references and seeing if they are recognized by your court are two good ways of ensuring that you make the right decision.
Making sure that the online traffic school you settle on is recognized by the court sending you for the course is also imperative. Not all online traffic schools are recognized by every court across the country. The only sure way that you can verify if the school you are interested in is recognized is by asking your court for a list of the online traffic schools that they will accept. By choosing from the list handed to you by your court, you can rest assured that your certificate of completion will be recognized.
Finally ensuring that the traffic school will take care of sending the certificate out on your behalf will save you the time, hassle and expense of having to do it yourself. Since the traffic school will likely be sending several hundred, if not thousands of certificates off to the courts at the same time, it is a quicker, cheaper and more efficient process. However, do insist on getting a copy of your certificate just in case something goes wrong.
If you follow these few simply guidelines then choosing an online traffic school and completing the prescribed course will not be a tough prospect and you should have a clean driving record in no time.
