Can You Be Pulled Over for Going 1 Mile Over

[kdr1151]

My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: Texas.

My boyfriend was recently pulled over by a state trooper after passing the trooper and got back into the "slow lane" in front of the trooper. The trooper pulled him over and stated he was going 1 mile over the speed limit. Now I've been in this situation before and its pretty easy to get off the hook without a fine, however my boyfriend does not have his license yet. He is about to turn 18 in August and get his then. So the trooper gave him a warning for the 1 mile over but a ticket for the license. Is there any way to appeal or get out of the situation without a hefty fine? (note he does have and open ticket for a previous ticket because of his license, could that make the fine on the new one even higher or affect it at all?)

[llworking]

My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: Texas.

My boyfriend was recently pulled over by a state trooper after passing the trooper and got back into the "slow lane" in front of the trooper. The trooper pulled him over and stated he was going 1 mile over the speed limit. Now I've been in this situation before and its pretty easy to get off the hook without a fine, however my boyfriend does not have his license yet. He is about to turn 18 in August and get his then. So the trooper gave him a warning for the 1 mile over but a ticket for the license. Is there any way to appeal or get out of the situation without a hefty fine? (note he does have and open ticket for a previous ticket because of his license, could that make the fine on the new one even higher or affect it at all?)

Your boyfriend, who did not have a license, actually chose to pass a cop? What was he thinking? He never should have been driving in the first place and then to turn around and pass a cop??? On top of that he already has an open ticket for driving without a license. He will be lucky if he can get a license for years at this point. He needs to get himself a good attorney. Whose car was he driving?

[adjusterjack]

Is there any way to appeal or get out of the situation without a hefty fine?

Maybe if he pays a lawyer a hefty fee.

he does have and open ticket for a previous ticket because of his license, could that make the fine on the new one even higher

Yeah, DUH.

Habitual offender, big bucks, probable suspension for a while. If he gets caught again, probably jail.

Maybe you should consider dumping him and finding a boyfriend with more intelligence. This one is an idiot.

[Taxing Matters]

My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: Texas.

My boyfriend was recently pulled over by a state trooper after passing the trooper and got back into the "slow lane" in front of the trooper. The trooper pulled him over and stated he was going 1 mile over the speed limit. Now I've been in this situation before and its pretty easy to get off the hook without a fine, however my boyfriend does not have his license yet. He is about to turn 18 in August and get his then. So the trooper gave him a warning for the 1 mile over but a ticket for the license. Is there any way to appeal or get out of the situation without a hefty fine? (note he does have and open ticket for a previous ticket because of his license, could that make the fine on the new one even higher or affect it at all?)

Going one mph over the speed limit is still speeding, so a cop could issue a ticket for that if he or she chose. However, that is very uncommon because the measurement of speed has some degree of error and a good attorney can use that little bit of uncertainty as to the exact speed to get the driver acquitted on the charge. For that reason cops generally only give tickets for speeding when the driver is exceeds the speed limit by more than that, e.g. 5 mph or whatever. It varies from one police department to another and sometimes from one cop to another so you can't always count on getting the same cut off. So if you speed, there is always some risk a cop will pull you over and cite you for it. The risk obviously increases the more you are over the speed limit. You'll almost never see a ticket for just one mph over the limit. But it's very common in my experience to see a ticket for 10 mph over, and the risk varies in between. Bottom line, it is not surprising that the cop didn't give a ticket for just one mph over the limit here.

But while the cop didn't write a ticket for it the supposed speeding of one mph over would generally be enough for the reasonable suspicion needed to pull the driver over because one mph over the limit is still a violation even though tickets are almost never issued for it. That then gives the cop the opportunity to check the license and insurance and look around for any other violation of the law that he or she can spot. So the cop stopped your boyfriend for the one mph over and then when he/she asked for the license found out your boyfriend didn't have one. That's probably going to stand up in court. Your boyfriend could try to argue that just one mph over the limit has enough degree of error with whatever method the cop used that the cop could not be sure enough of a violation to have reasonable suspicion to pull him over but given that reasonable suspicion is a very low standard to meet I wouldn't hold out a lot of hope of that working. Still he could try that if he wants. He'd be better off with an attorney if he wants to try that because there is a specific way he'd need to set that up to have a good shot at it and likely your boyfriend doesn't know how to do that.

From what I see the penalty for a first or second violation of driving without a license in Texas is a fine of up to $200. One a third conviction on that charge, though, the penalty is a maximum fine of $500 and/or up to six months in jail. So your boyfriend really needs to be careful going forward. If he gets caught driving without a license for a third time, not only does he face a hefty fine but may also get some jail time.

[Harold99]

My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: Texas.

My boyfriend was recently pulled over by a state trooper after passing the trooper and got back into the "slow lane" in front of the trooper. The trooper pulled him over and stated he was going 1 mile over the speed limit. Now I've been in this situation before and its pretty easy to get off the hook without a fine, however my boyfriend does not have his license yet. He is about to turn 18 in August and get his then. So the trooper gave him a warning for the 1 mile over but a ticket for the license. Is there any way to appeal or get out of the situation without a hefty fine? (note he does have and open ticket for a previous ticket because of his license, could that make the fine on the new one even higher or affect it at all?)

The bad side is that your boyfriend is showing a disregard for the law at such a young age and the judge will be very aware of that. The good side is that he is a minor and he will not be thrown into an adult court, rather a private, minor court hearing. These judges know that kids will be kids and they do stupid stuff that is par for being a teenager. They typically will not throw the book at a minor...rather give him time to get his priorities right...which often comes after being a teenager.

His parents will have to accompany him in this minor 'courtroom.' Of course an attorney would be best but he'd be a couple thousand dollars. I've seen parents who act apologietic and responsible do as well with the judge as attorneys.

[Taxing Matters]

The good side is that he is a minor and he will not be thrown into an adult court, rather a private, minor court hearing.

Not the case with traffic tickets in Texas. Traffic tickets are adjudicated in Texas Justice Courts, which hear more minor matters. Under the rules applicable to Justice courts a person age 16 and younger must have a parent present at the hearing. A minor age 17 is treated under the same rules that apply to adults. See Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 45.0215. So in Texas being 17 won't cut him a break compared to adults.

[Harold99]

Not the case with traffic tickets in Texas. Traffic tickets are adjudicated in Texas Justice Courts, which hear more minor matters. Under the rules applicable to Justice courts a person age 16 and younger must have a parent present at the hearing. A minor age 17 is treated under the same rules that apply to adults. See Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 45.0215. So in Texas being 17 won't cut him a break compared to adults.

It may be true that he is thrust into an adult legal setting but I have doubts that "in Texas being 17 won't cut him a break compared to adults." Why wouldn't Texans know what we know, that teenagers are at a very pivotal point in life and they are often more mischievous than adults. And they can benefit greatly from being cut a break. ...Which is what I experienced with my son in those settings.

[Jim Kozlovich]

My boyfriend was recently pulled over by a state trooper...

Why don't you let your boyfriend fight his own battles, after all he's going to have to grow up someday.

[Taxing Matters]

It may be true that he is thrust into an adult legal setting but I have doubts that "in Texas being 17 won't cut him a break compared to adults." Why wouldn't Texans know what we know, that teenagers are at a very pivotal point in life and they are often more mischievous than adults. And they can benefit greatly from being cut a break. ...Which is what I experienced with my son in those settings.

A Texas judge may well think that, though Texas tends to be a more law and order kind of state than your state of California, meaning they cut offenders less slack in sentencing than you would see in your state. I've relatives in Texas who when around 16-18 had traffic offenses and they pretty much got the same outcome an adult would. It seems at least those judges figured that if you're old enough to drive you are old enough to learn to drive responsibly and to pay the fine when you don't.

[Harold99]

A Texas judge may well think that, though Texas tends to be a more law and order kind of state than your state of California, meaning they cut offenders less slack in sentencing than you would see in your state. I've relatives in Texas who when around 16-18 had traffic offenses and they pretty much got the same outcome an adult would. It seems at least those judges figured that if you're old enough to drive you are old enough to learn to drive responsibly and to pay the fine when you don't.

You should know that this is not about simply paying a fine. This is about possibly doing community service or not getting his license until he is 19 or 21.

I would not hire a lawyer to only get a fine reduced.