Went out to California for my five year anniversary and of course got a speeding ticket heading down to Pebble Beach from San Francisco. Got me doing 80 in a 65. The cop mentioned doing driving school and it would be off my record for good, anyone have any experience with this and if it really is off my record and my insurance won’t be affected. Should I get a lawyer? I’ve heard different opinions from different people at work and was hoping someone on here might have gone through this before. NA… cakewalk??
you’re gonna fly back to cali just for driving school?
yeah, it usually is off your record.
or you could just plead it down and pay it, especially if you have a clean record. There’s a chance Cali won’t even report it to your insurer/NC DMV.
I’m not the one to ask though. I’ve never even been west of Chicago!
The class takes 4 hours and costs money. Plus, the class would probably have to be taken in the county the ticket was given.
Instead, hire a lawyer with that money and they’ll take care of it for you.
80 is “normal” speed limit around here in LA. Which freeway were you on?
NaHy. I had to do driving school here and it took me About 30 minutes online. The cost was like 50 bucks. All I had to do was fax my attorney the ‘certificate’ the website for the test was something pretty generic like drivingschool.com or something. I can look it up when I get home
My last lawyer said the class should be used as a last resort i.e. if they are going to send you to jail if you get another ticket (at least in NC). If you have a history of tickets I would save that one in your back pocket and just pay the fine.
When’s the last time someone got sent to jail for speeding tickets (besides running from the police, which makes it an automatic felony stop).
Driving school’s a CA thing. It’s online, too. About an hour and a half. Think around $250. Do NOT go this route, though. It’s more for us Californians to get down license points.
I am guessing you got pulled over in San Mateo County? Santa Clara? They are anal retentive in the Bay Area about reporting speeding tickets. Don’t hold your breath on it getting lost.
Unfortunately, your safest bet is to hire an atty. Matters on the county as to how successful you’ll be. Let me know the county (or jurisdiction) and I’ll ask around for attys for that specific courthouse.
Be prepared for the atty cost to be $400. You got pulled over in an uber expensive area. The trick is just going to be finding the atty who knows all of the judges at the courthouse in order to have a quick deal cut for you.
You can PM me and we’ll discuss. Welcome to California! 
This all seems so shady and ridiculous to me. Why is it that this is acceptable?
My rich friend used to speed all the time, but because he was rich he could afford lawyers easily- pardon me, his daddy could afford lawyers easily, and so his record stayed much cleaner. His brother ran from the cops after speeding (and got away), but they tracked him down, BUT no jail time.
Why is it acceptable for money and “knowing the right lawyers” to be such a well known player in all this? The rich (and sociable) get off, while the poor, quiet folks get the stiff.
I was on High way 85 in San Jose, and there seemed to be cops everywhere giving tickets… I guess they need to pay off the California debt somehow.
Cakewalk, check your PMs.
[quote=“EE9er, post:11, topic:23347”]I was on High way 85 in San Jose, and there seemed to be cops everywhere giving tickets… I guess they need to pay off the California debt somehow.
Cakewalk, check your PMs.[/quote]
Since you are in SJ…you are pretty lucky. That court allows driving course every 18 months. Of course you have to go through their contracted provider, but the court is good about dropping your ticket and not mentioning you took the driving course.
Don’t forget you have to pay court costs and admin costs on top of the driver school costs.
My advice is to see if NA can delete the ticket the same way he deletes certain posts on this board he disagrees with.
I’ve had lots of experience with speeding tickets and have always been successful going to court myself and pleading down to a lesser charge. An attorney may be able to get it reduced to a non-moving violation. I would also look into which is cheaper, the insurance rate going up, the cost of going to Cal, or the price of an attorney.