Tips on How to Fight a CA Speeding Ticket - Vehicle Code section 22350

Those flashing blue lights that get your heart beat elevated as the officer stops the car and asks if you know what you did wrong are seldom as great as the shock as when you discover how much the state is asking you to pay for a speeding ticket in violation of California Vehicle Code section 22350, the basic speed law.

22350 fine 

The base fine for this violation is $70 (if the officer calculates your speed as 16 to 25  miles per hour over the speed limit), but $100 (if the officer calculates your speed over the limit as greater than 25 miles per hour.) But, that is merely the base fine. California adds penalty assessments to most traffic tickets. Once penalty assessments are added to a basic speeding ticket in 2016, the amount climbs to approximately $367 plus to $490 plus, respectively, depending on the  county where you receive your ticket. Thus, it is only normal to ask yourself about the available options.

Some Options to respond to a speeding ticket

Some options for responding to a speeding ticket are presented below. Only you can determine which option is the best choice for your situation.

Traffic School 

Traffic school can be a good option if you are eligible because you are guaranteed to not receive any points against your driving record from the Department of Motor Vehicles, which could cause your insurance rates to increase.

You are eligible to attend traffic school if you have not attended traffic school in the last 18 months and if the ticket is for a traffic violation that adds one point to your record. If you do not go to Court, you must pay the traffic school fee to the Court by the due date on your ticket or courtesy notice. Your completion date will be noted on the traffic school agreement form that you receive from the court. In most cases, you must complete traffic school within 60 days from the date you pay the Court.

Contest the ticket 

If you decide to fight the speeding ticket, there are two different methods you can use. Both methods: (1) fighting a speeding ticket through a trial by declaration and (2) appearing in court to fight the speeding ticket can result in a dismissal if you are successful. You can be successful using either of these methods if the officer who issued the ticket does not respond. For example, if the officer does not respond to your trial by declaration, the court can dismiss the speeding ticket. Similarly, if you go to court and the officer does not appear that day, the court can dismiss the ticket.

But, in general, traffic officers on motorcycles usually appear in court on the date selected on the traffic ticket. Thus, if a motorcycle traffic officer issued the ticket, it might be to your advantage to delay the hearing to another date during the summertime vacation months or during the winter holidays.

Generally, requesting a trial by declaration can be a good first initial option because you do not have to miss work. You simply present your case on paper to the traffic judge. Make certain that you keep copies and send everything by certified mail so that you have written proof you contested your ticket by declaration. But, even if you lose your trial by declaration, you can still request to contest your speeding ticket in court. Follow the instructions on the Califonia court website under trafick tickets.

Whatever method you initially select to fight the speeding ticket, you will need to present a defense. To do that, you must understand the basic speed law which is contained in Vehicle Code section 22350. Vehicle Code section 22350 states: "No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property."

For example, since the basic speed law indicates that you must be driving faster than conditions on the road warrant, your defense could be that it was a clear day, traffic was sparse, and your speed was safe and prudent for traffic conditions at that time. Our Supreme Court observed in People v. Morgan (2007) 42 Cal.4th 593, "There is no formula for the determination of reasonableness.' Yet standards of this kind are not impermissively vague, provided their meaning can be objectively ascertained by reference to common experiences of mankind," quoting, People v. Daniels (1969) 71 Cal.2d 1119, 1128-1129.

Thus, you can explain the common experience that made your speed reasonable for the conditions on the road during that time period. If you had an adult passenger in your car, you can bring that person to court to testify on your behalf that you were driving safely for the conditions on the road during that time period. If the officer only followed your car for a short distance, you can ask the officer questions about how many minutes the officer followed your car before stopping you, the short distance that you were observed driving, the light traffic on the road, the high visibility and any other factors in your favor.

There are additional methods to fighting a ticket based upon the officer’s use of radar. These are technical defenses that are not covered here. If the officer was using radar to issue your speeding ticket, you can read about these technical defenses in the Nolo book, Fight Your Ticket and Win in California by Attorney David Brown.

Hire a Traffic Ticket Attorney

You can also hire an experienced traffic lawyer to represent you in court on a speeding ticket. Experienced traffic attorneys know the courts and how to present a case when it is believed that an unlawful speed trap was used to issue a speeding ticket.

I hope the information here helped you to think about your options and make an informed  decision on how to respond to your speeding ticket. Leave a comment below if you have more tips to add. Thank you.

You can find additional information about fighting California traffic tickets in the book below.

copyright © 2016 Christine Esser

The information contained here is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice or a substitute for legal counsel. Online readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Information on this blog is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship between you and Christine Esser. An attorney-client relationship is only established when a written retainer has been signed.

Disclosure; If you click on the Amazon link below you will be directed to the Amazon website. This short blog post may not contain all the information you would want to have to be able to fight a traffic ticket successfully. If you are in California, for more information, we recommend Fight Your Ticket and Win - California. If you are not in California, we recommend, Beat Your Ticket.  Both can be obtained from Amazon by clicking on the links below. Good luck. We have not received anything from the author or publisher for recommending these books.