Burn it, get a new passport and never look back.
M

OK, EVERYONE:

Pull out your most recent auto rental contract and read the fine print. Translated from legalize to street english, it says:

"You get a ticket in our car, you pay for it. You don't pay for it, we charge you for it. You've approved this. Have a nice rental day."

CASE CLOSED.

everyone, case closed?
nonsense!
M

When one is being charged for speeding, one can do several things:

- Pay the designated fine.

- Go to court, and:
-- pleade for a lower fine
-- ask for mercy
-- request a trial
-- etc...

- If the local law allowed, attend a defensive driving course.

- Ignore it and be on record.

and probably a few other ways.

One is innocent until proven guilty.

How can a rental agent decides that you're guilty, pay your fine and then charge your credit card?

"As for the cops asking for license and registration, that's just to verify that the vehicle hasn't been reported stolen and that there's a valid registration."

That is not true at least in California and Nevada. It is a separate violation not to have, on your person or in your vehicle, your driver's license, registration (and in the case of a rental car, your rental contract), and written proof of insurance. If you do not have any or all of them, you can be cited for that as well as for the original violation for which you were stopped.

Being from Europe, there is probably no practical consequences of failing to pay with two exceptions: 1. Nevada and the other states are members of what is called the "Driver's License Compact" in which information about driving offenses and outstanding arrest warrants are shared among the states. If the driver ever moves to the US and tries to get a driver's license or register a vehicle, the outstanding violation may prevent that. 2. A warrant for the driver's arrest will automatically issue when he/she fails to appear in court on the stated day or to post the required bail. That warrant will be in the system and may present border clearance problems for future trips to this country. It will almost certainly result in the driver's arrest if he/she is ever stopped again in Nevada.

j_999_9, I'm curious to know what your rental agency friend says. Seems there are two thoughts above here--one that says moving violations attach only to the driver, and parking tickets are attached only to the vehicle and its owner.

If Clark55 is even reading this at this point, my suggestion would be to hire a local driving infraction lawyer (cost is about $80), and let them go to court for it, and the ticket should be brought down to about $80. I have personal experience with this as my spouse had a ticket in the same dollar amount here. I do think you had an a*hole police officer though, that is ridiculoous for going 10 miles over the spped limit, if that was the case. If you are interrested in a specific lawyer's name you can contact me through my email.

Sent an email to my rental-agency friend. Waiting for him to respond (though maybe he ignores all emails from me).

And, dwooddon, your post confused me. I said the cops look at your registration to see if you have a valid one. You said that's wrong -- that they ask because it's a violation to not have a valid registration.

There's a difference between what I said and what you said?

Can't help but jump in here. We were just stopped in NH and given a $300 ticket for doing 76 in a 55 mile zone. Truth is we were not doing over 55! Hubby never drives much over 60 and he had noticeably slowed down when he saw signs reading Construction Area 55...I glanced up to see why he had slowed...a mile up the road two staties said they clocked him doing 76...it is impossible! I told him to fight it and I would swear on a stack of bibles they are wrong! He wonders if it is worth a day off and another ride to NH...any suggestions on this...If it were me, I would fight it tooth and nail! And how does the radar gun work anyway, because it didn't work in this case...I KNOW!

NannyJan

I don't know if it's different in Nevada, but police officers cannot arbitrarily assign fines for speeding. Fines are set by the state and the fees are based on how fast you are going. Calling the police officer an a**hole is ridiculous. There are always two sides to every story and we are all taking Clark's word for it that they were fined $300 for going 11 mph over the speed limit. I don't know what Nevada's fines are set at but believe me, the officer cannot just arbitrarily pick a fine. The speed must be written on the ticket and then the fine will be set based on that.

NannyJan - Find a lawyer and go to court. If your husband didn't do it, then he should fight the ticket - on priciple alone.

Nannyjan, radar guns must be calibrated regularly and the officer must prove in court that his calibration was up-to-date at the time of the ticket. Definitely go to court if you think the ticket was in error. That's why they give you the option of going to court - nothing is perfect and mistakes do happen.

stjohnbound you need to reread my post, I said IF what he said was true then yes, I think the cop may have been an a*hole. As with any profession there are people that are good and not so good what they do. My spouse was given a ticket in Las Vegas (where we reside) when he did not break the law and it was only he and the officer with no witnesses for $375...I think the fine had a lot more to do with the type of car my husband was driving. I was also hit on a cop once when pulled over for speeding, he told me "I should be married to a police officer" (I did not get a ticket when I was going 10 miles over the speed limit) and btw one of my spouses's closest friends is a swat team police officer in San Diego. So please don't try to call me a cop hater next, because I believe that's where you are going with your reply towards me.

But back to the original topic as I posted, in this case I believe the op's friend should hire a traffic ticket lawyer for a nominal fee and get the price of the ticket brought down. Again, if the op would like to contact me through my email I can supply the name of the driving ticket attorney. I would not risk it in case your friend does drive in another state or even Nevada again.

travelinwifey, you need to get a grip. When I wrote, "Calling the police officer an a*hole is ridiculous", I was not implying that you are a cop hater. I was merely pointing out that there are always two sides to every story and we only know one side here. Try not to take this all so personally. It's just a forum!

Whatever, it doesn't matter, have a good weekend

BTW, telling me to "get a grip" was not the nicest thing to say, but I'll ignore it because I'm sure you didn't really mean it.

travelinwifey, I find it odd that your general attitude toward speeding tickets seems to be that you were going "only" x miles over the limit, or the cop was hot for you, or you got stopped b/c of your fancy car...in other words, it's never your fault. So it doesn't surprise me that you stoop to use a word like a**hole in this forum, and then get defensive when called on it. Are simple good manners too much to ask for?

BTW, $300 doesn't seem crazy high to me. Over 10 years ago, I got a fine for going 12 miles over the limit in NoVa. It was something like $15 for every mile over, plus an extra penalty for going more than 10 miles over the limit. So my fine was around $280, all those years ago. It's that extra penalty that kills you. And I'm sure cops can't lower the fine; they can choose to let you off with a warning, or write the ticket, and that's it.

Oy. You sure are quick to judge me from the few sentences I've written though, aren't you? My manners are extemely good, and I find it quite funny that you are now jumping in to judge me when you know nothing about me. I said "IF" for the last time, please stop putting words in my mouth and drawing assumptions I did not say. I am a total stranger to you and I would sincerely appreciate it if you did not judge me because of a few words that struck you wrong. I realize some people live to fight with others but I am not one of them, please go pick a fight with someone else and misconstrue what they say also. Thanks.

BTW E, I also think you sould go back and reread what I wrote, as you did not understand what I was writing in the first place, my SPOUSE had the $300+ ticket, not me, and there was an occasion I received no ticket at all when speeding, 2 separate occasions Now judge, judge away