How to Beat a Speeding Ticket in Illinois
As an Illinois lawyer who started out handling traffic tickets in Chicago's Daley Center traffic courts, I know that there are several ways you can tell whether you can beat your speeding ticket just by looking at it. Check your Illinois speeding ticket for these fatal flaws and strategies to beat a speeding ticket in Illinois:
First, look at your ticket. Check the date the police scheduled your first court appearance. Is your first court date scheduled for a day before 14 days or after 60 days from the date you were issued the ticket? If so, Illinois Supreme Court Rule 504 requires that your ticket be dismissed.
Next, check the "method" portion of your speeding ticket. While all tickets are formatted differently depending on whether you are in Cook County, Will County, or DuPage County, most tickets will record the "method" by which your speed was detected. Most Illinois speeding tickets will have the "Radar" box checked. But many times, another box may be checked. "Pacing", for example, means that the officer estimated your speed by following you and referring to his speedometer. This is an unreliable method to measure someone's speed and "pacing" speeding tickets should be fought.
After you've checked to see whether these defenses are available, go to court. Show up on time and dress conservatively. Walk into court and check in with the clerk. Be friendly with court personnel and respectful to the judge. Address him or her as "Your Honor". If you have one of the pretrial defenses I mentioned above, tell the judge that upfront.
If you don't have one of these pretrial defenses available, don't despair. Sometimes showing up is all that is needed to beat an Illinois speeding ticket. If the cop that wrote your ticket does not come to court, you may win be default. This is more likely to occur if you were courteous and respectful to the police officer when he issued you the ticket. While the judge is not required to dismiss your case just because the cop doesn't show, he does have authority to do so.
If the cop does show up and you don't have a good defense at trial, consider some type of arrangement with the prosecutor for "supervision." If you qualify, "supervision" in Illinois means that the ticket will not be entered as a conviction on your record.
Finally, if bargaining is not an option and you feel that the police have wrongly issued you a ticket, plead your case to the judge. Give the judge the facts as to why you have done nothing wrong, highlight your clean driving record if you can, and show why the Court should find in your favor. You have the right during this trial to call the officer as a witness and this is an opportunity to ask him questions about the incident.
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