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If you knew you were in the wrong, pay the fine without argument. While you may argue for a new hearing date, that does not get around the reasoning for the ticket in the first place. I am assuming the moving violation had grounds given that those facts were left out of your post. A $300 ticket is pretty harsh and not likely arbitrary. If you feel you were wronged and the police mistaken, then you can try to get a new hearing date, provided there is some basis for a defense. If this is your first violation, or your first violation in a long period of time, you may be able to get it reduced by just asking the Judge for leniency. Sometimes, whether accurate or not, financial hardship at the time of the hearing could get a ticket reduced. If you say the right things to the right Judge, they will listen on occasion. However, that will only work if your driving record is for the most part clean, and again there is some reasonable defense to the ticket in the first place. If you have multiple prior offenses in a short period of time, then just take it on the chin and pay it. You will not get anywhere with arguing over fairness or the initial violation of due process; a new hearing date will take care of that. There are occasions that if you go to traffic court and you waste the court's time, or act inappropriately, a Judge/magistrate can increase a fine, based on additonal facts you give him or her, adding to the violation. So, be careful with how you treat the process. -Chris
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23:56:16 09/17/08
