ticketed for going 90 on a highway with 65 max speed; says 'not eligible for traffic school'. why?

Many courts have policies precluding automatic traffic school for 20 miles per hour or more over the speed limit. With a court appearance by the defendant or an attorney, the judges often will allow traffic school. In some jurisdictions, the judge usually assigned to traffic trials will allow traffic school up to 100 mile per hour on the freeway. It would be worth your while to consult with a traffic attorney familiar with the judges and practices in the court where you received the ticket to explore your options.

An attorney familiar with the policies and procedures of the court will know the likelihood of negotiating such a resolution given the circumstances of your case.

Check with a lawyer in your locale to discuss more of the details.

Good luck to you.

God bless.

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If this happened in San Mateo County, you must personally show up to the traffic court to calendar the matter. Once you have calendared the matter, you will have to go to the arraignment calendar, which can take quite awhile even though the commissioner is very efficient at moving things along. You will need to say the magic words of: "For consideration for an earlier resolution, would the court entertain reducing the speed enough so I am eligible for traffic school?" (The judge may just make that offer straight away too).

Good Luck.

Scotty J. Storey

i am the person that submitted this question. many thanks for all your responses. here's what actually happened.. so far.

this morning i went to the court and spoke with a clerk to inquire why i had not been offered traffic school with my citation. she said something similar to what a couple of the responses here .. on the order of 'you were going fast enough the judge with decide at arraignment' (specifically, more than 15 miles the clerk stated). i explained that from what i read about the law in relation to 22349 (speeding).. there was NO discretion on the part of the court. this infraction IS eligible and does not carry a negligent operator point count about one. i could have been going 99.999 and i was eligible for traffic school. it is not a discretionary issues (judges don't make rules).. it was a statuatory issue. i insisted on the clerk marking my ticket eligible for traffic school without going to the arraignment. she did.

i am still considering fighting the ticket.. but found out that in San Mateo County the clerk claims you forfeit your right to traffic school by contesting a ticket (requesting a trial by declaration or a court trial). that sounds like another matter to investigate.. but for now.. my suggestion is familiarize yourself with the law. the folks at the courthouse, themselves, seem to be making it up as they go along. sheessh..

I know just how you feel, they got me too. I have never fought a ticket before because I was guilty, but this last one I did. I refuse to pay for an ticket I don't deserve. That Trial By Declaration is a scam, you will loose and pay and forfeit your right to traffic school. I argued with the Long Beach cop, telling him I did not run that stop sign. his final response was, all four tires have to come to a complete stop. I wanted to ask him, "Which two tires didn't stop" but I was afraid the situation would have escalated out of control.