How to Reduce the Fine for a HOV Violation

[Kangaroo22]

My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of California.

I've been cited for 21655.5B, improper use of the carpool lane. Unfortunately I don't think I have a good enough case for contesting the fine to convince a judge, so I'm hoping to get the fine reduced ($446 seems a little steep).

It seems like one option is contesting by mail but that doesn't seem likely to lead to a reduction. Please let me know if I'm wrong.

The other option is to appear in court. I've heard that sometimes judges will offer a reduced fine in exchange for a guilty plea. Does anyone have experience with this?

If anyone has advice on what strategies are most likely to lead to a reduced fine, I'd love to hear from you. Thanks.

[Mr. Knowitall]

You mean, going to court, pleading guilty, and asking the court to reduce the fee based upon economic hardship?

[Kangaroo22]

Not exactly, but would that be a plausible strategy? I'm a student which might lend an air of believability.

I know that sometimes the judge will offer a reduced fine in exchange for a guilty plea -"Mr Doe if you plead guilty I'll reduce your fine from $450 to $200, if you plead not guilty then we'll have a trial" - which saves money since trials can be expensive. My question is how likely is it?

Thanks for your response by the way.

[cyjeff]

You say you don't have a good enough case to contest.

I am kinda curious. You either had a second person in the car or you didn't. Which was it?

[Kangaroo22]

I should add that this has worked for me before, but in a completely different area of law. I was prepared to argue my innocence but the judge offered to reduce the fine from $350 to $60 in exchange for a guilty plea. I took it because I didn't want to have to come back to court. Just wondering if this kind of thing happens for lane violations.

@cyjeff, the funny thing is I did have a second person in the car, but we were on one of the few stretches of highway where you need 3 people to use the carpool lane. There was a CHP car right next to me when I moved into the lane and I was pulled over before realizing carpool minimum was 3 occupants, not 2. There might be some kind of case there, but I doubt the judge will care.