You were driving through another state when you hit an area locals called a “speed trap.” They told you not to go too quickly, so you slowed down and thought you were just doing the speed limit.
Unfortunately, you did get stopped, and the officer claims that you were traveling around seven mph over the limit. You disagreed, but in the interest of going about your day, you accepted the citation.
Now, you’re back home in another state and have to deal with the speeding ticket. What should you do? Can you contest it, or is it just something you should pay?
Speeding tickets follow you to your state
You should first note that most speeding tickets will be transferred to your home state and can affect your license in some cases. There is a national directory called the National Driver Register that keeps track of the tickets you’ve gotten no matter where you were in the U.S.
Since that is the case, you will want to address the ticket as soon as possible. To do so, you can pay it, but paying it is the same as admitting guilt. If you pay it, you will likely receive points on your license, may see an increase in your car insurance rates and could, if you have enough points assessed, end up having your license suspended.
You can fight a speeding ticket from out of state
A better option may be to fight the speeding ticket. If you’re out of state now and don’t want to drive back in to go to court, you may want to reach out to an attorney in that state to talk about how you’re going to contest the information. You may not need to go to court yourself to handle the ticket, or you may be able to do a virtual or remote court date in some circumstances.
It’s your right to fight a ticket and protect yourself against the penalties that come if you pay the ticket. While paying a ticket is often the fastest way to resolve a problem, it’s not always the best route for resolving issues related to your driver’s license.