My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: Pennsylvania
I was driving to Philadelphia and I was caught doing 101 in a 65 zone. I was going down a hill, and the officer used a Genesis handheld laser gun to clock my speed. I began to slow down after the descend, but the officer had already hit me from behind. I was pulled over, and the officer was kind enough to only hand me a (1) Careless Driving and (2) Obedience to Traffic Control Devices. I have no court date, just two citations to pay.
As I understand, the Careless Driving ticket carries 3 points onto my license (but 3 points are removed after a year of no violations in Pennsylvania). My only concern is my insurance. I'm locked in at a rate until August 23rd, but after then I have to renew. I thought about contesting this in court and possibly reducing the points to none with a higher violation - And I contacted several attorneys about this. Many of them recommended I just pay it off since the officer was nice enough to give me a break, but some have offered representation. My options are:
(a) Hire an attorney, attend court and hopefully reduce the citation to something with no points. This will cost me about $400-$1500 in attorney fees, + ticket fees, + 2.5 hours of driving time (5 in total, back/forth).
(b) Plead guilty, continue driving until August 23rd, garage the car for a month and a half, renew insurance once my points are gone
From what I've read, Pennsylvania is one of the only states that doesn't offer traffic school to reduce points, so unfortunately that isn't an option. Both citations clearly state that I was going 101 in a 65. An attorney recommended that I admit fault in court but attempt to reach a deal with the judge or the officer. This is my first citation/fine too.
Any advice? Thank you!![]()

