My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: WA
I do not want to go into too much detail, but I was moving out of the state of WA and got a speeding ticket on the way out.
I informed the officer that I was moving out of state, he looked in my car and saw all my stuff, and he reduced the ticket to "Speeding 5 mph over limit (over 40)"
I was going much much faster, but don't want to divulge detail of how much and where as it may identify me.
I need advice on how best to proceed. I need to respond to the citation by Friday (I have 3 days, counting today)
From what I researched so far, my goal is to buy time so I can look into taking advantage of state to state and insurance reciprocity as I no longer live in WA.
I have not applied for a driver's license, insurance, or registration in my new state yet.
I am not sure how good (or not good) states are at reporting citations to other states, but if I can take advantage of such a situation to avoid this going on my driving/insurance record I would like to do so.
A simple process I thought of (although probably not advisable or correct):
- Apply for license in new state immediately
- Pay ticket (admission of guilt), as I have no way of going into court since I moved
- Get insurance in new state and register vehicle ASAP after 1 and 2.
Since I only have 3 days, I have a few questions. Please bear with me as this is the first time I have done this before:
- If I contest the citation (to buy myself time to figure out what would be best solution in terms of cost/hassle), should I ask for discovery materials at the same time? I know for sure that I was lasered
- If through discovery, I find good reason for dismissal of the ticket, do I have to show up in court still to do get the ticket dismissed? Since I am now out of state, that would make an in person appearance impossible.
- If discovery shows that i won't have much/any grounds to contest the ticket, will I have the option to just pay the ticket (admission of guilt) after filing for a contest? Will I have to pay extra fees since I decided to contest first?
- If I can take advantage of state to state and insurance reciprocity, what would be the best way to do so and step by step process. Since I have only 3 days to file a response, I would need to know which option to choose (pay ticket, mitigation, contest) to buy myself time and correctly explore this opportunity.
My main goal is to avoid having this show up on my driving record and insurance in my new state so I don't pay any long term penalty. I do not mind paying the ticket up front to the state of WA if it means the easiest and best solution without any long term consequences.
Thanks in advance for your help!

