Did I make a good decision?

[Jered]

I paid a lawyer to turn a speeding ticket into a parking ticket and keep it off my driving record. It seems like a worthy use of resources because it won't affect my insurance premiums that way.

[Aesop]

It depends: how fast were you going in that parking spot?

[Rod]

Depends on how much the speeding ticket cost vs. how much it cost to get the lawyer to downgrade PLUS the parking ticket cost.

[Jered]

I wanted to keep it off of my driving abstract so my insurance doesn't know about it.

It's not a moving violation, so, it won't be on my driving abstract.

[308Mike]

Are parking tickets a civil offense where you were cited, or are they a criminal offense? FYI - in Commiefornia, parking cites are a civil offense and nothing goes against the driving record of the owner, however, the owner is responsible to any and all parking citation issued against their vehicle, unless they can prove someone else was driving the vehicle.

[Jered]

Are parking tickets a civil offense where you were cited, or are they a criminal offense? FYI - in Commiefornia, parking cites are a civil offense and nothing goes against the driving record of the owner, however, the owner is responsible to any and all parking citation issued against their vehicle, unless they can prove someone else was driving the vehicle.

I speeding ticket goes on my driving abstract, but a parking ticket doesn't.

Speeding tickets and parking tickets are a civil offense.

I wanted to keep it off of my driving abstract so my insurance doesn't go up.

I think I'm going to take a trip into the courthouse and see if I can't find out the models of the radar guns that the traffic cops use and perhaps, invest in a radar detector.

[PawPaw]

I think I'm going to take a trip into the courthouse and see if I can't find out the models of the radar guns that the traffic cops use and perhaps, invest in a radar detector.

We used to love guys who had radar detectors, and routinely wrote them tickets. Here's the way that works. If I'm running radar, it's not on all the time, emitting the sweet beacon that guys with detectors love to see. No, it's on standby, and I only turn it on when I have a target. So, I see a guy driving too fast, and hit him with the radar gun. By the time his detector light up, I've already got my reading. It confirms my original suspicions, so I pull him over.

I don't like writing tickets, so I talk to the guy. Glance at his dashboard. Look at his license, registration, and proof of insurance. If he's a reasonable guy, no problem, a friendly warning, and we all go about our day with only a minor inconvenience.

If I see a radar detector on the dashboard, he gets the ticket, straight up.

Edit to add. Some of the newer speed devices now are laser, rather than radar. There are advantages and disadvantages to using laser rather than radar, but one of the advantages is that it renders the radar detectors useless.

[Netpackrat]

Jared, I think if you can afford it, you did the right thing. Forget insurance; better to pay $100 in lawyers bills than $1 in speed tax.

[Vonz90]

Jared, I think if you can afford it, you did the right thing. Forget insurance; better to pay $100 in lawyers bills than $1 in speed tax.

+1

[Durham68]

I paid a lawyer to turn a speeding ticket into a parking ticket and keep it off my driving record. It seems like a worthy use of resources because it won't affect my insurance premiums that way.

I did the same recently for the same reason. I also had in mind that some jobs check your driving record. Not sure I couldn't have accomplished the same result on my own, but the lawyer saved a lot of time by cutting a line of about 100 people.