Illinois Speeding in a Construction Zone?

Question

So let's just say one of my friends was caught in Ilinois speeding in a construction zone. How do they get off the ticket, or what is the besty course of action? They have to go to court, should they pay for an expensive lawyer, etc.?

It was late at night and there were no workers present!!

Answer 1

Speeding in a construction zone is of course dangerous. I'm not judging your friend but I've seen accidents caused by people speeding in these zones which have speed limits designed to either protect the construction workers if they are working, or drivers if they aren't due to detours and curves and bumps and other rough surfaces, that usually occur in a construction zone.

Your friend can take the chance and go to court and plead not guilty - it's possible the Trooper or local Law Enforcement might not show up and the case would be dismissed. But if they do show, fighting the ticket might result in a higher fine PLUS court costs. Also consider if your friend has any other tickets. This would way on a decision by the judge if court is the choice.

I know Illinois has high fines for these things but my suggestion is to go to the courthouse and pay the fine, pleading "nolo contendre" or "no contest" which means you accept the fine but do not admit to guilt. Some states allow this to be done by checking a box on the ticket and paying the fine. Others require a court appearance to plead this.

If pleading no contest and there are no other tickets on the record your friend can ask that the ticket be deferred. That way if he or she keeps a clean driving record for sixth months and gets no other tickets, the ticket will not show up on the records and possibly affect insurance rates.

Answer 2

Speeding in a construction zone carries a fine of $300 and counts as points against your driving record. If convicted, you are not eligible for court supervision for this offense, so it is important to hire an attorney to fight the charges or try to minimize the consequences. If you are involved in an accident in a construction zone, the consequences are very severe and you need strong legal representation.

Answer 3

Well you're not going to get off, I drive everywhere, and I know from experience that you can forget catching a break in illinois.

How does a 10,000 Dollar Fine & 14 Years in Jail sound if you hit a construction worker in Illinois? That's real, believe me - I would pay the fine and suck it up. Best advice - don't speed.

You know that if you are traveling a distance of 20 miles, and you decide to go 70mph instead of 50, you are going to save yourself like 4 minutes - that's worth the 450 dollar fine?

Answer 4

Pay the fine and consider your friend lucky that there were not any workers present, otherwise it would be $600.... assuming the fines double when workers are on the site. Best to avoid traffic court, most do not have juries and you throw yourself at the mercy of an unsympathetic judge.

Answer 5

Let's just say one of your friends is a Moran and does not deserve to have a drivers license.... more road maintenance people are killed or injured on the job than any other profession. These guys are just poor working stiffs trying to earn a living by repairing our roadways and idiots like "your friend" are too stupid to slow down a little bit to avoid killing or injuring a fellow human being ...... tell your friend to pay the fine and turn in his license instead of hiring a barrister to help him weasel his way out of his wrong doing.

Answer 6

Get a ticket defense lawyer. Usually they are not expensive...they just charge an equivalent of how much the ticket would cost you, but they manage to keep the offense off your record.

Answer 7

Pay the fine.