Speeds Between 91 and 100 mph--What Do You Do?

At speeds between 91 and 100 mph in a 65 mph zone you have a few issues. One, you are not eligible for traffic school because you are more than 25 mph over the speed limit. Two, if you contest this ticket and lose, you run the risk of having your license suspended for up to 30 days and also being ordered to attend a 16 hour in person traffic school that does not hide the points from your record in addition to the fine ($490). This is one of the rare tickets where contesting the ticket could actually make things worse than if you just pay the ticket. If you just pay the ticket through the court's online system you are facing a $490 fine and one point on your driving record, but you would not get the license suspension or the 16 hour in person traffic school because a judge would never see the speed. So, in these cases where you are over 90 mph, you have to decide whether you are willing to risk the punishment getting worse in order to try to avoid the fine and the point going on your driving record. We advise clients of the possible increased punishment on these sorts of tickets because the letter the court sends out does not provide a notice of it and we think people deserve to know what might happen in advance so they can make an informed decision.

Generally, if you would like to contest the citation, we can handle that for you and save you the time and effort of going to court. We handle the first hearing, the arraignment as listed on the bottom of the citation. We enter a not guilty plea on your behalf and the court will set a trial date months in the future. We then appear for you on the date of trial and see if we can get the case dismissed.

The benefits of hiring an attorney for your case include the fact that if you hire an attorney you do not need to pay the fine amount up front to get a trial. Instead, the court waits to see what happens with the case. If it gets dismissed, then you never pay the court anything. In the worst case, we get you a few months longer to pay the fine or set up months payments. Another benefit is that when you hire an attorney you do not need to attend court, the attorney can do it for you. This should save you more than five hours between going to court twice on two separate occasions, waiting in court, and waiting for your paperwork each time. Further, we give you the best shot of getting the case dismissed. We know the law and the loopholes and see what the officer's actually know and remember when they arrive on the trial date.

If you would like to retain us to represent you on your ticket, we charge a $150 flat fee for each case here in San Diego County. I would be happy to provide a retainer agreement if you want us to handle the whole case for you. Please let me know if you have any questions.