How to Fight a Speeding Ticket in Washington

We have all had one of those days . . . you know, the day where you are late for work or a doctor’s appointment. Maybe the school called to tell you that your kid fell off the monkey bars and might have broken their arm. Every driver has needed to get from where we were to another place as soon as possible speed limit be damned.

We also all have routes we have taken millions of times before, following the flow of traffic. Oblivious to or, sometimes, completely unaware of the posted speed limit.

Similarly, those traveling in Washington for work or for pleasure or those just passing through may run late, feel the pressure to get somewhere as soon as they can or just keep up with the flow of traffic, regardless of the speed limit. Even those on vacation may want to make good time.

But the police don’t care whether you’re just passing through, in Washington for business, visiting Washington on vacation, or if you live here. Speeding for any reason could result in a big, fat speeding ticket. And once you’ve gotten a ticket, the most common concern is how to fight speeding tickets in Washington. We do plan to answer that question, but it’s important to note one thing. Some of the processes and procedures we mention throughout this article may vary depending on where in Washington your speeding ticket was issued. For example, if you are interested in applying for a deferral or for a mitigation hearing, some municipal courts allow you to apply online and other municipal courts do not have an online application process. You will have to apply either in person at the court or during your court date. If you are interested in fighting your speeding ticket, part of the process will involve educating yourself on knowing where to find this information. The good news is that the internet makes it easy to access the entire list of Washington municipal courts. Find the court listed on your speeding ticket. Click the link and go to the court’s website. You can find the information you need from there. Having the proper information from the court’s website may also play a role in whether you decide to fight your speeding ticket.

Are Speeding Tickets Really That Big of a Deal?

Only you can decide if a Washington speeding ticket is a big enough deal to consider fighting it. But there are some facts about getting a speeding ticket that you should know regardless of where in Washington you get the ticket.

An increase in your insurance premium. You must have car insurance to drive a car in Washington. Insurance companies can pull your driving record to determine what sort of driver you are. The more of a risk they think you are on the road, the more they will charge you for insurance. Every so often, they pull the driving record of the drivers they already insure. If you live in Washington, the insurance company can only access violations, convictions, accidents, and failures to appear for the last three years. The insurance company may pull your driving record at the end of your current policy. Of course, you can shop around, but there is no way to know if you will find a cheaper policy. If you were driving in Washington for business or here on vacation when you got your speeding ticket, the ticket will still show up on your driving record. It can still cause your insurance premium to go up. So, you are not just paying the amount of the ticket (if you choose to pay and not fight the ticket). You could also essentially keep paying for the ticket for the next three years of your life.

Your driver’s license will be suspended if you have too many speeding tickets or other moving violations. If you have a Washington driver’s license and get six moving violations (a speeding ticket is considered a moving violation) in 12-months or seven moving violations in 24-months, the Department of Licensing will suspend your driver’s license for two months. Then, you will be placed on probation for a year. If you get another speeding ticket or other moving violation while you’re on probation, your driver’s license will be suspended for another month. Your one year of probation will start over at the end of that suspension.

Your job involves driving. This is not about your commute to your work and back home. This is about driving on the job. It could be that you drive for the transit authority. It could be that you are a school bus driver. It could be that you are a delivery driver. Maybe you drive a company vehicle during your shift. You do not need a commercial driver’s license to have a Washington speeding ticket affect your job. If you have a Washington driver’s license, employers and their named agents can pull a special version of your driving record if part of your job description is driving. If your employer’s insurance rates go up because of your speeding ticket, they may fire you or give you a different job. If you were traveling through Washington when you received a speeding ticket, you will need to learn about how driving records affect employment in your state.

You are interested in working for or volunteering for an organization that needs drivers. Just as with jobs that involve driving, if you are interested in a job that is hiring for drivers or volunteering for an organization that needs drivers, your driving record can determine whether you are a candidate for the opening. If you received the speeding ticket when traveling in Washington, but you live in another state, you will need to learn about how driving records affect employment in your state.

What about Deferring a Speeding Ticket?

If you are interested in deferring a speeding ticket as a means to fight it, you should understand one thing: deferring a speeding ticket is not a means of fighting it. Deferral is you saying to yourself that you are absolutely sure that you know that you will not get any other ticket for the time that you the speeding ticket is deferred. Deferral for a speeding ticket varies from county to county. You need to check the municipal court for the county where the speeding ticket was issued to learn how to apply and what the requirements are. Generally, the requirements are as follows:

How to Fight a Speeding Ticket the Minute You Get Pulled Over

Self-care is a popular term meant to explain that we should take care of ourselves just as we take care of others. In short, you should be your own best friend. There is nowhere else on the planet where this is truer than when you get pulled over by a police officer. And yet what happens? It is really easy to dig a hole. It does not have to be that way. You can fight a speeding ticket the minute you get pulled over.

Be nice, but do not admit to speeding. There is no reason to argue with the officer. Provide them with your driver’s license, your insurance, and your registration. Be cordial. Do not admit to speeding. If they ask if you knew you were speeding, do not say yes. If they ask if you knew how fast you were going, do not tell them you knew you were going over the speed limit. If they ask anything that implies whether you knew you were going over the speed limit, do not admit to speeding. They are looking for an admission. The officer can be subpoenaed to come to the court hearing for your speeding ticket. If you admit to speeding in any way, that can be used against you in court. It will be in their notes or police report. Even if they give you a speeding ticket, do not argue and do not give an admission. And, no, signing the ticket is not an admission to speeding or an admission of guilt. It is an indication that you received a copy of the ticket.

Understand that you likely cannot talk your way out of a ticket. Yes, police officers get a lot of discretion. But that does not mean that you can talk your way out of a ticket. Any “reason” you give to a police officer about why you were speeding is nothing they haven’t heard before. And by “heard before,” we mean something that they haven’t heard at least 65 times before. Besides, the State of Washington makes a lot of money from speeding tickets.

Do not make it a point to attempt to intimidate the officer. Yelling at the officer, asking whether they have any real crimes to solve, threatening to call your lawyer, or asking the officer if they know who pays their salary doesn’t do you any favors. In fact, instead of fighting a speeding ticket, you will likely talk yourself into getting one instead of a warning. No one likes getting pulled over, but you do not need to go out of your way to make it harder on yourself.

What about Speeding Tickets from School Zones?

Throughout Washington, school zones rely on both police officers and cameras to ensure that drivers obey the speed limits. In some school zones, the speed limit drops down when children are present. In other school zones, the speed limit drops down during school hours. And then there are other school zones when the speed limit drops down when either children are present and during school hours.

While we can appreciate the purpose of school zone cameras, they are problematic. You are notified that you were speeding through a school zone because you get a ticket in the mail. Let’s compare that speeding ticket to a speeding ticket issued by a police officer. If you contest a speeding ticket issued by a police officer, you can subpoena the officer to appear. But how do you subpoena a camera? You can’t.

The good news is that you can contest a speeding ticket from a school zone camera. While the cameras are legal, they cannot be used to identify the driver. If you were not driving your vehicle when the ticket was issued, you can complete a sworn statement and have the ticket dismissed. Keep in mind, though, that you will be swearing under oath, and it is a bad idea to lie to the court.

The Best Strategies You Can Use to Fight a Speeding Ticket in Washington

You can choose to fight your Washington speeding ticket on your own, but it does take some work. First, you need to decide whether you want to contest your ticket or ask for a mitigation hearing. A mitigation hearing is not the same thing as fighting a ticket. With a mitigation hearing, you are giving the court a reason why you were speeding. You will plead guilty and the court may give you a lesser fine, a payment plan, or some other punishment like community service. There is no appealing the judge’s decision.

If you decide to fight the ticket, you will first check the box that states you want to contest the ticket. Make at least two copies of the ticket. Keep one copy for yourself. Save the other copy. You will want to provide it to a lawyer if you decide to hire one to help you. Mail the original ticket to the municipal court listed on the ticket. They will assign a court date to you.

Within 14 days of your court date, you must send a written request to the prosecutor for copies of all the evidence they plan to use against you. This is important if the speeding ticket was issued because of a radar. You will want to ask for a copy of the police report, the notes of the officer, certification records of the radar equipment, and maintenance records of the radar gun. They must provide you with their evidence within seven days. If they don’t, they cannot use it at trial. Of course, if you get a box sent to you, you will need to review everything that is in it for court.

If you plan to subpoena the officer who issued the speeding ticket, you must do so within seven days of your trial. You must be able to provide proof of legal service to the court. If you can prove proper service on the officer and the officer doesn’t show, the court may dismiss the ticket.

It can take a lot of work to get ready to go to court on your own even for just a speeding ticket. Our best strategy for fighting a speeding ticket in Washington is to hire a lawyer. Would you really know what to look for if the prosecution mailed you a folder or box of records? Would you really know what to ask the officer who issued the ticket? Would you feel comfortable dealing with a speeding ticket issued by a camera?

Without the help of a lawyer, fighting a speeding ticket can be hard and cost you for years to come. Off The Record makes fighting speeding tickets easy! Just take a picture of your speeding ticket with your smartphone and go through our free speeding ticket review process. If we can help, we’ll match you with an experienced Washington speeding ticket lawyer. We have a 97% success rate. If we don’t win, you get your money back. Get started now!