So here's the story. I'm driving from Arizona to Alaska with my friend (in a separate car) , I'm in washington state literally 1/4 mile from the Canada border and I see a cop with lights so I pull over thinking he's just trying to get to an emergency or something them he stops behind me... He tells me I was doing 45 in a 25. He pulled me over within 1000 ft of the speed limit going from 50 to 25 and there was another car in front of me I was following that he let go by. First of all i don't think i was even doing 45 and the circumstances were argh!

To top it off right after he pulled behind me my friend pulls over a little bit behind him to wait for me not really knowing whats happening. The cop motions him to keep going like "what are you waiting for i'm not pulling you over" but my friends not too bright and he doesn't know where he's going so he sits there waiting for me. the cop asks me if i know that guy and i said yes, so after he writes my ticket he goes and writes one for him too!!!

My question is I'm pretty sure my friend could get off completely and i would like to some how keep this off my record, work a deal with a judge, BUT I am in ALASKA now and the ticket was in washington. can i contest a ticket from out of state? Will the court work with me since i am 2000 miles away?!? any advice would be VERY appreciated. thanks.[/quote]

 

What did you friend get a ticket for? My dad has gotten a ticket from washington a while back and he wrote a letter explaining what happened. I think he got off without having to pay anything. But that was a while back not sure if they changed the law on that.

 

Write them a letter. I believe under certain circumstances you can have a letter be your presence in court.

 

He gave my friend the exact same speeding as me!

 

He can't give your friend a speeding ticket unless he got your friends car on radar. If you ask the cop to show you the radar with the speed your going and he can't then he can't give you a ticket.

 

Well I'm pretty sure my friends ticket is bogus but thats not the problem, the problem is that it could cost me a thousand dollars to show up at court in WA. basically going to court there is not an option.

 

write a letter man. there should be instructions on the back of the ticket or:
http://www.speedingticketcentral.com...ng-ticket.html
http://www.ci.yelm.wa.us/_data/forms/deferral.pdf

 

oh by the way how much was for the ticket?

 

$195

 

And this is your first ticket?

 

yeah, First violation of any kind.

 

Not bad. My first was $365 for doing 58 in a 35. Didn't even realize it was a 35 zone. But I had a Audi A4 1.8T I paid it a week later and they dropped it to $235 because it was my first violation of any kind.

 

I'm more concerned about my insurance going up and this being on my record, then the ticket itself.

 

"If you are a good driver with no violations, you may want to consider paying the fine and taking a deferment. This is an option allowed by Washington State Law. Whether you will be granted a deferment is left completely to the discretion of the judge. If you do not receive another speeding ticket for a period of time (usually one year, the original ticket will not be reported on your MVR. This can backfire if you receive another ticket in the one year period since they will both be on your record with a corresponding major auto insurance rate increase. You can only take a deferment once every seven years so you may want to save this option for a serious violation. If you appear in court, the judge is likely to reduce the ticket and we always recommend that you at least appear in court, even for minor speeding tickets."

 

Yeah that would be a good route if I can do that without being present in court. everywhere I look it seems that there is no way around being there in person, there lies my problem.

 

lawyer?