Fighting a CVC 22350 Ticket with Commercial C License

[northbayone]

My question involves a speeding ticket from the State of: California

I received a traffic citation cvc 22350 for doing 52 mph in 35 mph in a non residential two lane road that was clear of traffice at the time. The officer was using a new radar device called lidar to have a more accurate reading. I thought that i would be would be attend traffic school since I have not had a moving violation in over 20 years. But upon further research, I cannot attend attend traffic school since I have commercial C drivers license. Based on this text...
Have a valid driver's license.
1.*Do not have a class A, class B, or commercial class C driver's license.
2.The current violation(s) did not occur while driving a commercial vehicle as defined in Vehicle Code 15210(b).
3.Must not have attended traffic violator school for dismissal of a prior citation issued within the past 18 months.
4.The citation must be an infraction that is reportable to the DMV.
5.The citation must not have a point count of more than one point, involve alcohol or drugs, involve exceeding a speed limit by more than 25 miles per hour, or require a mandatory court appearance.
Here's my question... Is it possible to go to court and still request traffic school? Is that even a possible option? Or better to challenge the ticket with nothing to loose? Seems funny the officer told that i could go to traffic school Any ideas or suggestions would greatly be appreciated.

[lwpat]

With a commercial driving license you cannot do traffic school and this is a serious CDL violation that could lead to a suspension of your license. Lidar is not new, it has been around for a number of years. You do need to contest the ticket and the judge cannot give you traffic school.

[northbayone]

I gather from the advise that I should proceed with going to court over the ticket since there appears to be nothing to lose. Seems like very harsh consequences for only having a c commercial license with hazmat endorsement. Not a or b license. I'll have to wait and see what comes in the mail and proceed from there. Any chance that I can get the bail reduced??

[EWYLTJ]

I don't think your lisence will be suspended. I also don't think you will be able to get your fine reduced. However, I do think there is a great chance you can simply beat this ticket. Do a search for 22350 and see some of my other posts on the topic. It is not very hard to beat.

[northbayone]

Thanks for the help.... I have a couple of other ideas. Is there a chance that I can challenge on the basis of traffic conditions?? Officer wrote heavy conditions on the citations where in fact the conditions were light. Is that too weak of an argument?? Also, since the street is straight and parallels the freeway, is there a chance he clocked someone on the freeway instead? Or is that to weak of an argument as well. One last idea... Since i drive for a living (its not commercial vehicle), is there a chance a judge would be more favorable or not? I did receive the traffic citation in my work van.

The speedometer could be out of calibration. Thanks again for the help.

[lwpat]

Speeding is a strict liability offense so it doesn't matter about the speedometer. Some judges might take it into consideration if you have a certification. Since this is a serious ticket, your CDL license will be suspended if you already have another serious violation on your record or if you receive one within the next three years. Your company's insurance will also "flag" you and, if you already have some tickets, may refuse to allow you to drive.

You may want to consider giving up the CDL, especially considering the new costs. If you do that and get a continuance they may let you take the traffic school. Ask the clerk.

[EWYLTJ]

Thanks for the help.... I have a couple of other ideas. Is there a chance that I can challenge on the basis of traffic conditions?? Officer wrote heavy conditions on the citations where in fact the conditions were light. Is that too weak of an argument?? Also, since the street is straight and parallels the freeway, is there a chance he clocked someone on the freeway instead? Or is that to weak of an argument as well. One last idea... Since i drive for a living (its not commercial vehicle), is there a chance a judge would be more favorable or not? I did receive the traffic citation in my work van.

The speedometer could be out of calibration. Thanks again for the help.

You likely have a better case than you think. Rather than socializing a weak defense concerning traffic (you could have been the only car on the road and still be found guilty), you should be doing what I recommended. Do a search for 22350 and read some of the other threads. I have posted many times about ways that 22350 is easy to beat. "HEY THERE" is also a very good poster on the issue. Now, do some research and if you still have questions, you should come back to this thread with something specific to ask. There is a lot of people who can help you here.

As a head start, you should be contacting CALTRANS and getting a copy of the traffic engineering (speed) survey.

[cdwjava]

A note: CalTrans will not have the speed survey on a local road.

If it is a county road, check with the county roads department - if a city road, check with the city roads department. If those departments do not hold the speed survey, they can tell you what office does.

- Carl

[northbayone]

According to Caltrans, the road I received the ticket on is considered a "connector" as opposed to a "local" road. I plan to get the engineering study for that road as well.

Since I no longer need the commercial license for work, can I ask the traffic clerk if its possible to down grade my license as a condition of being able to go to traffic school. Or is that idea too far out there??

If I have to go to court, can I go after the fact the officer said the traffic conditions were heavy, when in fact it the conditions were not heavy at all.
Or go with other premise, because the traffic conditions were heavy, how could I be going that far over the speed limit. I prefer not to blow the case either way on this premise.
One other thing about the traffic conditions, the office said that the weather conditions was cloudy and in fact, the conditions were foggy. Is that too weak of an argument because of those two inconsistencies??

[EWYLTJ]

Let us know when you get the speed survey. If it doesn't justify the speed limit, then all of the other arguments you have are moot.