V8Mike

So I got a speeding ticket this morning. 56 in a 40 (the cop said he would have let me off for 54 ). This is in Cook County, IL. Question for anyone who has delt with this before - I do not want my insurance to go up. Am I better off doing traffic school or going to court and hoping the cop doesn't show up? It says that I can plead guilty, pay the fine, and do the traffic safety school and not get a conviction entered on my record. Does that mean the my insurance company would not find out? That's all that I'm really concerned about, I haven't had a ticket in 5+ years, and this falls into the lowest category of speeding violation fortunately.

Any advice is welcomed!
edit - sorry if this is not the right place for this question . . .

howarmat

I haven't gotten a ticket in IL in about 3 years but I had to pay a fine and take the drivers class and that got it completely erased from the record. Hoping the cop doesn't show is probably not the best idea.

freebass55

Is 15 over a much larger fine there?

I got a ticket for the first time in five years, also. Went to traffic school(online) and my insurance never went up. Granted I'm in California, but I would think, like Matt, that hoping the cop doesn't show is not the most secure option.

codeman94

My wife has had two tickets....we had the first deferred...and just paid the second and our insurance had never gone up.

silverGTvert

I always showed up to court hoping the cop didnt show up. Actually the cop didnt show twice. In California you would show for a preliminary and then they would schedule a court date. Try to schedule the date around a holiday so hopefully the cop is on vacation or cant get way from his shift due to a need for him on the street. If you are found guilty they still gave you a chance to take traffic school and then it would be erased. At least this is how it worked in cali when I lived there.

tsaints1115

I`m in IL and have averaged about one ticket every fives years or so and have just paid the and have never had my insurance go up. Heck,I get the good driver discount and everything. From what my agent said once was that it only mattered if you were a new client signing up for insurance,then they would check. He said they have too many clients to run dmv checks every year over a simple speeding ticket. Mine`s with Allstate. My advice is just pay it if you earned it and let it go at that. If your agent never asks,never tell.

into the blue

When I got my last ticket I took a online driving course. the charges were dropped ,but I still had to pay court cost.

stangster

I'd pay the ticket and do the school. If it doesn't go on your record, the ins. company won't find out.

touring

pay a ticket. always get a lawyer they will delete everything i know it might be more but it's the safest way to go

Zastava_101

I got speeding ticket in Wisconsin about 15 months ago. 65 mph in 50 mph zone. $165 ticket + $50 court fees. Insurance company never found out about that.

shaun_beauchamp

Take the class and watch your @$$.

Emu Hunter

I live in the militant insurance state known as Massachusetts. Any and all tickets through the courts or straight-out paid get reported to the insurance companies, so it is always a lose-lose scenario it seems here, the insurance companies never pass on an oppurtunity to steal more money from you here. When I can make a halfway decient story I fight the ticket with an appearance.

We can't even price shop insurance here, it is all regulated by The State. Metlife, Allstate, Geico, Commerce, doesn't matter, they are all the same cost and all seem uncannily able to nail you on the next re-up cycle if you've gotten even a "failure to yield" ticket...

Twisted_Reality

I used to live in Will county (12 years) and had to deal with that stuff there. If you take the course, the ticket won't be reported to your insurance but it isn't "removed" from your record. Think of it as probation. If you get another ticket in 12 months, that ticket will stick and your current ticket will also be applied to your record (and be made convieniently available for your insurance company). If you fight it in court and the cop shows, more than likely you will have court fees, the fine, and the class. I have fought some tickets up in IL and won while I have had some that I just pleaded guilty and took the course.

jjcastle

In NY if you take the school option they record the ticket as a parking violation, so your insurance company wont know. They dont really do this to benefit the person with the ticket, they do it because of the way the fines work in NY. The state actually gets a large part of a speeding fine, but the town gets ALL of a parking ticket fine.....
I got a ticket in Canada in December of 2005 for going about 35 mph over the limit (I was speeding anyway, but didnt see that the limit dropped way down ). I figured it was no big deal, I would pay the fine ($385!) and it wouldnt affect my NY license. I just got a letter saying I actually got 8 points on my NY license and that I now have to pay NY a $450 "driver responsibility assesment fee". Insurance never went up though.

mot250

Ain't that a

mrkabc

Ouch! Could you blame it on the stupid Metric system? "Officer, the sign says 'speed limit 100mph!'"

Back to original topic: Take the class, take the class, take the class. Keep it hidden from the insurance company.

Shea

Same here, my insurance is with Allstate and it has never gone up for a speeding ticket. I live in MI though.

jt14894

I say, the easiest thing to do is go to court.
I live in Florida, but I'm sure Cook County is similar in their court proceedings.
If you go through those ticket agencies, clinics, or whatever you're probably going to spend the same amount of $$$ as you are trying to save on paying the fine so you're back where you started.

Back in July 2005, I got a ticket for a suspended license unknowingly in Hillsborough county (Tampa) and, to my surprise, my ticket was dismissed.
I had no idea what to expect, since I had never been to court before, but the Judge explained the court rules and proceedings and gave three options to plead: NOT GUILTY, NO CONTEST (NOLO CONTENDRE), or GUILTY.
NOT GUILTY - Claims innocence
NO CONTEST - Will not contest charge, but neither admits guilt nor claims innocence.
GUILTY - Committed crime

If you plead NO CONTEST or GUILTY, no points go on your license and you WILL NOT have to attend drivers school. In addition, the Judge will enter Adjudication Withheld (Insurance will not be affected by law) to your driving record and all you'll have to pay is a $10 court fee. Thats it! You're done!
I would expect it to be similar up there, but if you know someone who has been to court, I'd ask them and see if its similar to mine.

If you decide to go to court, I'm pretty sure you won't be able to pick your own court date so you'll have to appear on the date the Clerk of Court assigns you. It may be a few weeks so make sure you have the time to be there because, depending on how many people there are, and when your last name is called (they call names from A to Z), it may be a while.

I wish I had done that a long time ago, after my first traffic ticket, then I would have never worried about going to those boring 4-hour driver improvement classes. Well, you live you learn.

One more thing, always dress appropriately. I mean something a little formal or business casual. It doesn't look good in front of the Judge if you're not clean shaven, wearing a baseball cap, dirty T-shirt, ragged jeans, shorts or flip flops, etc, etc. (which a lot of folks were wearing when I went), you get the picture.
If you look professional, then he or she may give you a break and not have you pay the court fee, which I didn't have to.
I didn't even get to plead, he just looked at my ticket and said OK dismissed. BAM!! Piece-A-cake!! Have a nice day!!

So my advise to anyone is to just go to court, if possible, plead NO CONTEST or GUILTY, pay a small court fee, and thats it!

Anyway, thats my 2 cents.

Best of luck.

kevinb120

Well if you are not too young a normal speeding ticket probably wouldn't do much for insurance. If you were caught red handed speeding by radar its not going to be easy to 'beat' per se. I wouldn't put much faith in the old 'spedo error' or the cop not showing up scenarios either. Reckless driving charges are much different and have a much more severe impact on your record then speeding does, and REQUIRES a lawyer for your own good.

You can take the class online(abettertrafficschool.com) before going to court, but make sure they are eligible in your state. By doing this you pretty much admit guilt but shows acceptance of responsibility. With a good presentation of yourself you may get it reduced to something such as failure to obey a traffic sign. A lawyer may help you get to that point as well but it's up to your personal budget if its worth the cost. Most minor traffic infractions may be on your driving record for 5 years, but insurance companies only look at them for 3(5 for reckless speeding infractions-DUI; forget it you're screwed).

You have to be carefully 'ducking' insurance companies too, as if they find out you did not inform them 2 years later, they may want the additional monies immediately or may drop you, but this is relatively rare. They will typically catch it though if you change or add vehicles on your policy, unless they are still using paper files...If you are over 25 or married it probably won't make a big impact on your insurance.

Insurance companies do not make any discernible sense as to how they determine risks/costs-typically you can total a car they write off and be better off then one reckless ticket that didn't cost them anything.

I've never heard of just saying NO CONTEST and just dodging all points and insurance though?? Something tells me you have a better chance of getting hit with falling airplane parts then getting away with that in Fairfax Va....So instead of paying a fine, receiving points and possibly going to jail for driving on a suspended license, you just say 'no contest' and leave...hmmm I'll have to remember that. I guess all counties/states have certain rules as to how they treat traffic violations, but I don't think I will count on finding a Judge high on crack. States do score the points system differently and how it affects insurance rates. That kind of information definitely needs to be either researched or through council.

But unknowingly driving on a suspended violation gets thrown out if you prove you didn't know it at the time or you immediately corrected the reason(i.e. paid an old parking ticket or DMV fee). So its not really a 'normal' court case. You said no contest and the Judge didn't think you knew it was suspended and threw it out-he probably didn't care what you pled. Driving knowingly on a suspended license(i.e. the court took your license in your presence) is a criminal offense and not a traffic one, and can result in jail time.

dustindu4

Yes they suck

And so does Drum Hill Ford where you ordered your car, I work right across the street on Technology Drive. I can see it from here.

The service people there are all personality, bunch of grumpy old men. I only took my car for service there because I had to.