Court appearance for a ticket?

[redmenace]

I understand the procedures for Deferred Disposition and Defensive Driving with moving violations, but never really understood the court appearance option. Can someone give me the rundown? If you try the court thing and fail, does it automatically land on your record or can you still take DD/DD?

[Rob®]

All the tickets that I went to court by myself in NJ for got reduced just for showing up. Each time I went I'd get a minute or so to talk to the prosecutor. I would tell him/her quickly that I was in school, can't lose my license again, yada yada. When it was my turn to stand in front of the judge, the prosecutor would say we decided to have it changed from a speeding ticket to an "unsafe driving" ticket which was more money but no points. Win-win. I never went to trial by myself though, so if that's what you're asking, that's completely different.

But that was in NJ. There wasn't even an option for defensive driving to reduce points like there is in just about every other state. So I basically just typed that for nothing.

[HudsonHawk]

If you go to court and loose it may appear on your record depending on the judge. They may alow you to still take DD/DA if you loose. But that is entirely up to the Judge.

[Flyin96M]

It depends on the city. In Irving they told me I would loose the option to take DD/DA if I decided to take it to court AND it would be up to the judge to determine the fine if I lost and there was no maximum.

[OZMDD]

You have the option of appeal before it becomes a permenant disposition, but you basically assume that you'll have the max consequences if you opt to fight it in court. Some judges will allow some leeway on fines or payment plans, but I wouldn't expect to be given the opportunity to keep it off your record if you choose to fight it.

[CosmosMpower]

I would just do online DD and call it a day.

[MadMonkey]

I would just do online DD and call it a day.

Don't bother with the comedy one, it was more painful than a regular class.

[SirHustlerEsq]

Hire an attorney or pay online. You can't win if you're not versed in the law.

[redmenace]

Yeah, not diggin the risk:reward ratio on this one.

Part of the entertainment value in my last classroom DD (comedy, years ago) was that the teacher was on a first-name basis with wags. "You again?!"