There are plenty of myths about speeding tickets out there. Many people have questions, for which there are answers. In this post, we’ll be dispelling some common traffic ticket myths.
Myth 1 – “Going with the flow of traffic is a valid excuse for speeding.”
There is a common belief that it’s okay to speed as long as everyone around you is speeding. If going the solid speed limit is causing you to be tailgated, or causing drivers to angrily and aggressively speed up around you, you may be tempted to increase your speed to avoid these issues. It seems safer, after all.
Many people think they can get out of a speeding ticket by pleading this case to an officer, but the fact is, you most likely can’t. A police officer can pull someone over and issue a ticket for literally any moving or non-moving traffic violation. Speeding, even while surrounded by other speeders, is definitely one of them.
There is also no real evidence that keeping up with the flow of traffic, even if it means breaking the speed limit, will increase your safety or the safety of those around you. In most cases, increasing your speed is going to make a situation more dangerous.
It may seem unfair. Why were you singled out when everyone around you was speeding too? The fact is an officer can’t pull over everyone at once, and you just happened to be the one he or she decided to pull over.
Myth 2 – “Traffic tickets don’t follow you to another state.”
Let’s say you were issued a traffic ticket on the very day you were about to move to another state. Many people think they can totally disregard the ticket as they don’t believe it will be enforced at their new place of residence. The fact is most states share traffic ticket information. Your new state is going to care about your traffic ticket just as much as your previous one. The legal repercussions of not paying your ticket will be the same.
Myth 3 – “Paying extra money on your ticket will prevent it from getting on your records.”
Although it sounds like this is the idea that you can bribe the court into keeping a ticket off your record, the actual logic behind this is even sillier than that. Courts are perfectly happy to take more of your money without offering you anything in return. The idea behind this myth is actually about how your ticket is processed.
Let’s say you’re issued a ticket and you decide to pay it through the mail. Instead of paying the exact amount, you add just a little extra. The idea is that later you will receive a refund for the extra money you paid, however, if you never cash your refund check, your ticket can’t finish processing and never end up on your record.
In all honesty, it’s amazing that anyone would ever believe something like this. A traffic ticket will usually show up on your record the moment it ends up in the system, with all of the legal and credit ramifications that apply.