[kissa_sky]

Hii,

So I recently received a speeding ticket driving 95mph on a 70mph/highway. I noticed late after that the CHP scheduled the court date for 2 weeks after my already booked flight abroad for school starting when I arrive.

I received the ticket about a week and a half ago and am supposed to be flying in 2 more days. How can I find out the cost to just pay the ticket right away? Is there a way for me to extend it if the notice hasn't even come in the mail yet? Or am I able to just tell my parents if they could pay the ticket for me once the statement is received? And also would I need to show up in court as well?

My return flight back isn't till 6 months from after my flight.

What should I do from here please? The county that I got issued the ticket is also 6 hours up north for me around Sacramento; I'm in soCal.

All help is appreciated; thanks :[

[Praecautus]

If you want to pay the ticket you can do so at anytime the courthouse is open, go there and talk with the information desk they will direct you to where you need to go. If you want to fight it you can file a motion to continue, however in most places you are supposed to file for it at least 4-5 days in advance. You can also call the courthouse, find how much it is and mail a check to them.

If the ticket was given to you by the officer they are not going to send a notice in the mail, or a bill. The ticket itself is the notice to appear, that you signed, the officer should have explained this.

[smoothy]

25 over... thats a reckless driving charge. You CAN'T ignore that because you will have a bench warrant issued against you. Those generally require you to physically be there at the court date, at least in every state I have lived. Call that courthouse first and find out what the prcedure to deffer it is... 6 months is a LONG time to deffer it... I'm not sure they would even let you do it that far out, after all you aren't the only person to be inconvienienced here. Be prepared to make that drive... or rebook your flight if needed.

[Praecautus]

Smoothy it could be a reckless driving charge and be classified as a misdemeanor rather than just a moving violation. However, kissa said it was just a speeding ticket, and the officer can choose to charge her with just the violation and not a reckless driving charge.

[smoothy]

Smoothy it could be a reckless driving charge and be classified as a misdemeanor rather than just a moving violation. However, kissa said it was just a speeding ticket, and the officer can choose to charge her with just the violation and not a reckless driving charge.

Every state I have lived considers a 25+ over the limit as reckless driving. In any case at 95 mph... I highly doubt it would be charged as otherwise, but you are right... they might have gotten extremely lucky.

Simple moving violations can be paid without a court appearance. The ticket will spell this out if their presence is REQUIRED at court. If it isn't it will give an amount to pay, and to where. It won't always tell you what the amount of points to be assessed would be.

If that is the case... you can be sure a bench warrant will be issued for a failure to appear... I've actually seen more than a dozen warrants issued on no-shows for reckless driving charges in various traffic courts. I have fought (and won at least a reduction) nearly every ticket I have received in my life so far.

The ramnifications of assuming its something minor can be very costly if they blow it off. The cost being a bench warrant for their arrest vs. a drivers license suspension.

They MUST contact the court (detailed on the ticket) who can tell them their options either way, in the end THAT is what they must follow.

[twinkiedooter]

If you do decide to pay this ticket do it in person yourself at the Clerk's Office. Many a piece of mail has been lost, delayed, etc. Do you want to have a bench warrant out for you if your mailed in fine gets lost? Go in person. That's the only way I ever pay any tickets.

[Praecautus]

Everything else is arbitrary, one thing that everyone agrees on and that you MUST do is call the court house.