I suppose that sometimes good things come to those who wait [and come prepared]. I had waited long enough to mail my ticket in requesting a hearing that when the notice arrived it stated that I was to show up to court on December 24th. Yes, I was going to court on Christmas Eve. I knew this could be either very good or very bad. We all know how PC things are these days when it comes to dealing with various holidays. Anyway, I knew that the ticket was bogus because I wasn't speeding. I know what you are thinking; "Yeah, sure...he wasn't speeding". Well, I wasn't. It was a case of tagging one car and pulling over another. I am certain of that and I explained that in my blog ("I got a speeding ticket and I call BS") back in September.I knew that I couldn’t show up to the hearing without any hard evidence so I took photos of the area where I was pulled over. I also printed out the map where I highlighted my position and how it related to the position of the state troopers. I dressed in a suit and put on a Christmas tie. Since I arrived 45 minutes before the hearing I had to wait but that gave me plenty of time to observe other people who were there for their traffic citation hearings. The Magistrate had his door open so I was able to hear most of what he was saying and things started to look rather bleak very quickly. Not one person ahead of me, there were nine of them, had gotten out of paying a ticket. Most of them just had their fines reduced. I thought for sure I would be number ten. At that point I had already decided that I would fight this ticket all the way and that meant a trip in front of the judge. Lucky for me it never got to that point. When I walked into the room where the hearings were taking place I was told to sit in one of the chairs next to a state police trooper. The trooper read the report that the ticketing officer provided and then I was told to tell my side of the story. This is when I took out the map and the photos and explained the situation. What I think really worked in my favor was the fact that just a few days after I got the ticket, the speed limit in the area was changed from 55 mph to 50 mph. My photos showed the new signs but the ticket showed the old speed limit. The magistrate and the trooper were a little confused as to why the limit was changed and why the old speed limit signs were not posted properly. I was asked a couple of other questions and then I was "given the benefit of the doubt".
Final verdict...NOT RESPONSIBLE.
It was a fantastic feeling to have been vindicated. I wished both the magistrate and the trooper Merry Christmas (I know it is not PC but I don’t care) and I bolted out of there.
So, to anyone out there with a speeding ticket; do not give up and pay it right away. Take it to court because you never know what might happen. However, when you do go to court, please dress professionally and come prepared. First impressions are so important and there is nothing more pathetic than someone dressed like a bum mumbling like an idiot in front of a guy who has heard just about every excuse there is why you shouldn't have been given the ticket.
