Late for my Dr appt, so I took the HOV lane exit got a $400 Ticket?

Question

I have three options
1. $400 tkt pay it and get points on my license and increased insurance rates.
2. Go to Court and talk to the judge
3.Go to Traffic school for 8 hours reduced tkt to $100 and no pts on my license..

Thing is I have never gotten a tkt in since I have had my license,
I am a very careful driver, but someone told me a quik way to exit was to use this exit, and as I was doing it I said to myself this doesnt feel right, sure enough there was a motorcycle cop waiting a the lite.
I am opting for traffic school, has anyone gone, what does it entail? is it difficult .
Or do I stand a case in front of a judge?

Thanks

Answer 1

What you did was very wrong but you sound very young so I believe in second chances so graciously pick number 3 and you will be a better driver for it :-)

Answer 2

You don't stand a chance with a judge. The motorcycle cop had you dead to rights, and running late for a doctor's appointment isn't an excuse for using the HOV lane if you didn't have enough people in the car. It would be different if it were a medical emergency, but your situation wasn't an emergency.

Traffic school is your best bet (reduced fine, no DL points). I can't tell you what it's like since I've never done that, but I would certainly choose it over having to pay an extra $300 and getting higher insurance rates. So if I were you, I'd opt for traffic school even if it meant I had to take vacation from work. Good luck!

Answer 3

Sucks to be you. From personal experience, a Judge doesn't appreciate someone fighting a traffic ticket unless it's a result of an accident.You are better off to take care of any other way than to stand in front of a Judge.

Answer 4

You dont' stand a chance in front of the judge unless someone in your vehicle had a life/death emergency and you have proof.
I had to take traffic school.......it was a bit boring because they tell you things you already know however paying $100.00 is better than $400.00 plus court costs. It never fails on things like this....other people do bad things all the time/never get caught but us good people do it just once and boom.....that is it. Good Luck!!

Answer 5

Go to traffic school. You don't want the points on your license, that never looks good. And you're unlikely to get sympathy from a judge in this case. He'll just think you're making up an excuse. Swallow your pride and have those lessons.

Answer 6

$400 bucks for a carpool lane ticket I thought they went up to $1100+ now? Damn that stupid chain email haha.

If you wanted to try going to the judge try the site I'm putting in my source. Lot of people have used it to fight tickets and win. It's mostly for California but you might get some tips you can use if you're not in that area as well.

Answer 7

Well owing to the fact that you know you did something that was against the road laws of the state I think you really have to pay it. You can try talking to the judge and if that fails take the 100 and the course.

Answer 8

I'd do traffic school. Don't even bother going to the judge, he'll say that being late is no excuse, that you should have planned your time better and its not okay to break laws because you're late. To save $300 I'd do 8 hours in school though.

Answer 9

If you talk to the judge he;ll reduce your fine; and the school is like a school where you;ll learn traffic tickets ' lanes and a few; or for you 8hours worth of traffic questions.Either one would be good....Lots of luck.

Answer 10

Shame on you for taking the HOV. You know good and well you deserve that ticket. I would opt for the classes. You can even rent it at the video stores if you want to do it at home.