Fighting 22350 Basic Speed Violation and 22349(a) Maximum Speed tickets in Santa Monica

General information, not legal advice. This post describes how traffic stops, accidents and traffic court work in general. Every case turns on its own facts, and reading this post does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your own ticket, call The Traffic Ticket Attorneys at (310) 455-6810 for a free consultation.

Getting pulled over for speeding is an everyday occurrence of the roads of Santa Monica. One never realizes that they are over speeding until they look into their rear mirror and see the patrol car signaling them to pull over. The siren of the cop’s trooper can make anyone nervous, and the reason being that the events which precede getting stopped by the traffic police often end with the motorist chucking anywhere from a couple of dollars all the way to a thousand dollars in fines. Worse still, things could spiral out of control effectively leading to someone getting their driving license revoked.

Staying Calm, Cool and Composed

If one ever finds themselves in such a scenario involving cops on the roads of Santa Monica, here are some useful tips and pointers to increase their likelihood of walking away scot-free with just a warning.

• Never dare hesitate to pull over once motioned by the traffic officers
• Make sure you are buckled into your safety belts and reduce any audio playing
• Be polite and ask the officer why he pulled you over
• Ask to see the proof that you were indeed over speeding on the radar guns
• A driver who was actually speeding may ask to be let off with a warning.

Useful Tips and Pointers

Two outcomes are possible here. One, the ticketing officer lets the offender off easy with just a warning. Alternatively, the driver feels confident about contesting the allegations before a judge and the trial begins.

• Some drivers ask for a court date as far out as possible.
• If the officer does not appear in court, the court may dismiss the case or reschedule it.
• In case the police officer shows up, you’ll have to face the judge and make a convincing case.

Costs of Different Tickets

The most commonly issued types of speeding tickets in Santa Monica, California are the 22349 a & b violation fines.

• Being apprehended doing speeds above 65 mph on the California roads is grounds to call for a prosecution.
• However, the decision is by all means open for a contest as per the regulations of the Traffic and Engineering Study.
• On the other hand, doing speeds above 55 mph on two lane roads without any division is a traffic violation under the 22349 b statute. If one gets pulled over while doing 1-15 mph above 65 mph, the penalty paid is $146.

Alternatively, if you get slapped with a 22349 b violation fine you pay $266.

• In both instances, the driver, if proven guilty, gets penalized one DMV point.
• The higher the speeds above the road limits, the bigger the bail amount.
• There’s also the 22350 vc basic speeding fine imposed on speeding drivers plying the roads in Santa Monica.
• The penalty for commuters going with speeds ranging from 1 to 15 mph above the set limit costs $234 plus other local fees.

Avoiding Traffic Hot-Spots

It’s best to avoid getting caught on the wrong side of the law. Going to courts to contest a ticket is often a time-consuming and an expensive affair. Well, for starters, they could avoid using the roads which are known to be hot-zones with radar guns and traffic cops. Here are some of the locations where a majority of tickets have gotten issued at in Santa Monica:

• Santa Monica Boulevard
• The Pacific Coast Highway
• Santa Monica Pier areas all the way to Colorado Avenue
• Lincoln Street
• Wilshire Boulevard
• Olympic Boulevard

It’s prudent to hire a reliable traffic defense attorney to help clear the charges leveled. The Santa Monica Courthouse grounds are actually an excellent place to start asking about available traffic offense lawyers. The court is located at the intersection of Main Street and Olympic Blvd. The facilities stay open from 8 am to 5 pm on business days, except on designated court holidays.

The courthouse map is listed under Sources.

Image: David Lofink on Flickr, CC BY 2.0.