Traffic Ticket

So I got a ticket like 2 months ago for driving in the carpool lane + expired registration sticker, and I finally took care of it.

I read on ticketassassin.com how it's good to always request a trial by written declaration. This is because the police officer does not get paid to write a report against you and if the police officer does not respond, you automatically win the case.

Side Note : If you request a in-person trial, police officers do usually get paid for this, so there is a good chance they would show up.



So today I marched to the clerk and requested for a trial by written dection (yes that's how I said it).. I think I just had that line in my head for a long time, when I actually said it, I got nervous.

She told me how, if I do a trial and I lose (if the police officer responds), I will not have the option to go to traffic school and there will be a point on my record making my insurance rate higher.

SO... I called my insurance company to find out how much more insurance would be, if it's worth gambling, etc.

these were my options.

If I just paid the ticket
- I pay $399 + $15(fix it ticket) + $30(traffic school) + traffic school = $444

If I had a trial and won (I win if police office doesn't respond)
- I pay $15(fix it ticket) = $15

If I had a trial and lost (I would lose if police officer responded)
- I pay $399 + $15(fix it ticket) + $100 extra/year for insurance = $714

It was a difficult choice. I was not sure if my police officer would be lazy. I asked the clerk if police officers usually respond and she said.. 'It's probably 50/50'.. and I debated if I want to gamble $270... My police officer seemed pretty sharp and I thought he would actually respond so I just took the damage of $444. :(

That's like a nice digital camera. That's like a Xbox 360.. :(

I have to move on... :(