A Texas man paid his speeding ticket with two five-gallon buckets full
of loose change, but if he moves to California, it may take a lot more
pennies than that to pay for higher auto insurance rates and other secondary costs.
Brett Sanders insisted that he “didn’t hurt anybody [and] didn’t endanger anybody’s life” when he was ticketed for travelling 9mph over the limit in the Dallas suburb of Frisco. Mr. Sanders lost his case at trial (and if his primary defense was “I didn’t hurt anybody” it’s not hard to see why) and to pay the fine, he filled buckets with about 220,000 pennies and dumped them on the counter. “It felt great,” he recalled.
Clerks spent about three hours counting the pennies and determined that Mr. Sanders overpaid by $7.81.
Getting Along at the Courthouse
In this space, we’ve talked about respecting police officers during stops. The same thing goes for clerks at the courthouse. We legitimately get upset over traffic laws, penalty assessments, and so on. But there is no reason to take our frustrations out on the clerks, because they have no control over these matters and are simply trying to get through the day.
Clerks also have very long memories and share negative information freely among themselves, and trust me when I say that you do not want to get on the Tulare County naughty list, because it will make life much more difficult.
Out-of-state Traffic Tickets
The real reason we’re discussing a story from Texas is to highlight the interstate Drivers’ License Compact. The DLC includes forty-five states (California is among them) and several Canadian provinces. DLC jurisdictions share information about almost all traffic violations.
Some people think that a speeding ticket in Arizona or Nevada does not affect them. But that is not true, because these states report the violations to the California DMV and also Kings County law enforcement agencies. An attorney can keep points off your license and help keep tickets from becoming major headaches.
Getting Legal Help
The aggressive attorneys at Bigger & Harman, APC, are committed to giving individuals a voice when dealing with speeding and traffic tickets. Call today at 661-349-9300 or email attorney@markbigger.com to receive the personal professional attention you deserve. En español, llame al 661-349-9755.