My question involves traffic court in the State of: Washington
I recently received a ticket going 80 in a 60 and the fine was $175. I came around a bend, saw a Dodge Charger in one of the links between highways that cops are supposed to use, it scared the bejeezus out of me when it turned into the shoulder and looked like it was going to try and merge into my lane...turned out to be a cop. I think he saw that I was on my way to a wedding, since he just came up said, "You were going 80", asked for my driver's license (not for my registration or insurance though I had it ready), went back to his car, came back with the ticket, no questions, and just a bit of reprimanding. I've opted for a contested hearing just to give myself some time to do research and learn more about the process.
Anyways, I was wondering a few things:
1) Are you only supposed to receive a single copy of the ticket? It seemed weird to me that I'm supposed to send in my only copy (in retrospect I should have photocopied it) but after you send in the green paper, you don't have any record of the details.
2) At first I thought $175 was high, so I was considering deferring the ticket, but it seems like some people get $500 or $1000 tickets. I've been driving for ten years and this is my first offense, I don't even normally go that fast, except I was trying to get to the wedding. I can't imagine getting another ticket in 7 years, let alone in the next year, but then I suppose you never know...relatively speaking does anyone know the average fine for speeding tickets? I'm concerned about my rates going up because its 20mph over but the fine seems low compared to a lot of other people so I'm wondering if anyone can tell me if deferral is the right choice in this situation, or if I should save it for something worse? I guess I'm just looking for a little perspective.
3) Researching what to do when you get a ticket, the sites always say not to admit guilt, but in my case, the officer didn't ask me if I knew how fast I was going, he just came up and said I was going 80 and then continued talking. I'm requesting discovery on the ticket to see if it says I admitted guilt or something, but I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on how to respond to that?
4) Are there fees involved for requesting discovery, or for requesting a contested hearing? I don't want to turn my $175 ticket into a $400 ticket...
5) Some traffic sites say that the prosecutor might try to make a deal with you before the hearing, is this true? And if so, assuming I'd pay the full fine, what can I plead down to, or ask for, such that it wouldn't show up on my record or raise my insurance rates?
Thanks

