Can I challenge my ticket in court?
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Can I challenge my ticket in court?
I live in Arizona, i was coming home from work
on mount Lemmon, and it was snowing. I feel I
was going less than 20mph but the ticket says
25 in a 35. Well trying to slow down my brakes
locked up and I slammed into a guard rail. The
ticket is ‘failure to control speed and avoid
accident’ I can’t afford the traffic school, or the
fine, but I don’t feel like I should be held
accountable. The workers didn’t plow the
roads, and the damages aren’t even bad. Can
you give me some advice please? Thank you
Asked on March 28, 2016 under Accident Law, Arizona
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
Even if the road was unplowed, you were at fault, since whatever the road conditions were, you should have been driving at the appropriate speed and also driving appropriately to conditions (e.g. pumping brakes and decelerating slowly): so if under those conditions, the safe speed was only 10 mph, that's the speed you should have going. Therefore, you are highly unlikely to "beat" the ticket, since by gettng out of control, you prove the ticket.
However, if you otherwise have a clean record and are calm, contrite, and respectful, there is a very good chance that the prosecutor will offer you a deal under which you plead to a lesser offense (less fines and/or less points). Speak to the prosecutor when you first get to court and focus on getting a good deal by stressing your clean record, how sorry you are, etc. and not on being confrontational and trying to prove that the officer was wrong to ticket you.
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