Insurance and NJ No-Point Ticket option

niceg6

Hello,

I am alittle confused about this no points plea deal. Do i have the option to EITHER talk to the prosecutor on my assigned cout date for a careless driving citation and get it down to zero points and just pay the court fees and my usual fine. OR is this no point plea a second option i can take where the courts raise the fines to 400-500 dollars?

Sincerly,
Confused in Freehold :confuse:

qbrozen

yes, no, and yes.

you have to talk to the prosecutor, but if you take a no-point option, you will be paying more than the usual fine.

fezo

Absolutely. There's a reason they let folks off beyond their good nature.....

In the long run it's still way cheaper to plea because of what will happen to your insurance if convicted with points.

And apoligies to qbrozen who I have been calling gbrozen for as long as I can remember....

niceg6

ok thanks for the help. I just have one more question. if i plea not guilty do i automatically go into the no point ticket option or is that still discussed between the prosecutor and I.

Thanks again for the help

fezo

You want to talk to the prosecutor BEFORE court. You want to know you've got the deal before you plead. In my good one in this system the judges said, "Mr. fezo, you were charged with going 69 in a 55 and are pleading guilty to obstructing traffic. Were you coerced into this plea in any way?" "No, your honor. I'm guilty as hell." "Give your wallet to the cashier sir. You saved two points. Next."

jlady

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. I did check with Allstate and there will be no insurance surcharge because of the program I have with them. (This also applies to surcharges you may get from an accident.) My daughter will still have points with the state for three years. if we can't get them to 0.

rav2

Hi -
Was going 43 in a 25 residential zone, in Parsippany-TroyHills area (North NJ). I already have 2 points on my record from Sep 3rd of last year. Couple of questions -

1. This offense carries 4 points, which would increase my point total to 6, which, as I understand, would cost me a insurance surcharge from NJ state govt, right? But, if I were to go 1 year without any more tickets, 2 points would be deducted. My court date here for this ticket is Aug 14. If I were to defer this court date to sometime after Sep3, would the points (2) I had be waived (thanks to the no-incident for 1 year from your last ticket clause), and then this would just result in a total of 4 points on my record after this conviction ? Or would this ticket notice be sent to the DMV now anyway, regardless of whether I plead guilty or not ?

2. Anyone been to the Parsippany court? Any info abt prosecutor and the like would be appreciated. Would also like to know if it's worth going.

3. The other option I have, if Parsippany court is a crazy place, would be to somehow reduce the 2 points that i have currently to 0, by taking a defensive driving course. Any one taken it here before? can i do it online?

4. If I do go to court and speak to the prosecutor, but am not able to work out a deal, can I then just pay the ticket and get the 4 points? Would there be any penalties for paying late since if you did that, you should do it before you go to court?

thanks a ton.

qbrozen

I mispoke before. I stated you'd have the surcharge for 3 years, but that is not true. After 1 year of safe driving, 3 points would come off, so no more surcharge.

qbrozen

don't sweat it. About 99% of posters call me gbrozen, so it doesn't bother me.

qbrozen

interesting question about waiting till after september 3rd. I actually have no idea. It may slip past them, it may not.

fezo

I did figure if you minded you might have said something by now.....

fezo

Uh oh. We've been stumped. I don't know either.

I like the concept; I just don't know the answer.

I USED to know the prosecutor in Parsippany very well but he's not there anymore. He's prosecuting elsewhere.

hcp

Hi fezo

I was out of the country from june 29 and I just got back this morning. This is what I did after speaking to some friends and colleagues. I don't know if I did the right thing though...

I called NJM and asked them what would happen if I get 2 point on my license. The rep. said it would not affect me. I called back the next day and another rep. said that probably my insurance won't get affected, but there is a chance of switching me to NJ re-insurance which is another division of njm but it's slightly more expensive and I won't get back the yearly discounts which is about $100. She also told me that even if I go to court and get the the unsafe driving plea, they would would still consider it against me because they are aware of such deal. In other words, she said, just pay the $85 fine.

I asked a friend who lives in wayne and told me that going to court there and getting no points was going to cost me almost $500.

I drive a lot in the summer time only because I live in brooklyn and use public transportation from september to may. I'm a full time student in NY. I was also told to consider getting a NY driver's license because you don't get points transfered from other states. If I get a substantial increase in my insurance I could ask my dad to insure my car too or use my NY address to get insurance in NY.

Those are the reasons why I decided to just pay the $85 fine. I hope I made the correct decision.

qbrozen

No, you will NOT get bumped to NJ-reinsurance for 2 points. Don't know why the rep would say such a thing, unless you have other points within the past 3 years.(?)

As long as your record was clean up until now and you stay clean for the next 3 years, you will be fine with NJM. It is 4 points total where they will re-evaluate your file come renewal time and may bump you to reinsurance. I warn you, reinsurance is not just a bit more expensive, it is TWICE the cost!

fezo

It's true. Nothing is just a little more than regular NJM. If you want a real eye opener go plug your NJM rates into geico.com. Staying with NJM is so easy a caveman could do it.

I had one of those wrong information given to me episodes with NJM but it worked much to my advantage. My daughter was getting a car and while I was footing the bill she insisted she would take over and wanted it in her name. I called NJM to see if she would be covered and the answer was yes as long as she lived in our house. I liked the answer but it turned out to be wrong. As soon as I tried to insure the car they said no.

Naturally I said but I called and your person said.... They checked the call which had indeed been taped. I was right so they honored it for 18 months and next April will treat her as an existing customer. Good deal.

When in doubt on the phone ask for a supervisor.

qbrozen

Oddly enough, I got my new bill recently and decided to plug my info into Geico for fun. It actually did come back less, but not enough to make me want to switch. What makes me suspicious is that they ask what you are currently paying before giving you a quote. I'm tempted to try it again and put in a higher number and see if their quote goes up correspondingly. But I just don't have the time to waste.

hcp

qbrozen, thanks a lot for your valuable information. I will now be more careful, obey the rules, and try to stay clean for the next 3 years... Thanks again!!!

hcp

fezo, thanks for your valuable information too. I feel better now that I came to this forum and found helpful answers. Thanks again!

fezo

Your welcome!

qbrozen - When I tried it I didn't list who I was already with. They must take that 15% part seriously...

My thought goes that my wife is no longer with the employer that got us into the NJM pool. all I would need would be to switch and then decide it wasn't such a hot idea...

I'm very happy with them. My homeowner's insurance is with them and my mortgage is with NJM Bank.

qbrozen

yeah, i fear they wouldn't let me back either, LOL. But, actually, my sister strayed away for many years after moving out on her own from under my parents' policy. Just last year, she called them to see if they would take her back, with her husband in tow. They did!

The toughest part is leaving the good service behind. That's why I won't do it for a lousy few bucks. And, yeah, I also have home insurance through them, so that's an extra discount. And let's not forget the dividend check each year.

So, really, they are quite a bit cheaper than even stated on your yearly policy.

fezo

Oh yeah on both counts. The service is terrific. We missed getting my daughter's in-class driver ed, behind the wheel training and good student information to them. I kept thinking my wife got to it and it was a year down the road by the time we called to correct it. Without our asking they went back and post dated the information to the tune of $350 back to us. They even called to say it was taking extra time because we'd come up for renewal in tech interim and apologized for the delay! They're keepers.

I use that dividend check as part of my Christmas money. I always know it'll be there.

orswam

Hi,

Recently, I received a ticket for careless driving and got 2 points. I missed a hearing date as I did not receive a letter from court. To add to it I had not received a ticket at the time of accident. The accident was my fault....I was in the right only lane, missed the sign for right only and went straight. An SUV hit me and both cars were badly damaged. It was just outside the paking lot. I was driving at 5-10mph and the SUV may b at 60-70 mph outside the parking lot. Both the cars were visible to each other.

I went to the court to meet the prosecutor and pay fine to get no points on my licensce. However the lady said I had to plead not guilty in order to find how much I need to pay. I asked her can I take a defensive driving course and reduce my points, for which she replied the judge will decide and I need to plead not guilty.

I pleaded not guilty. Do I need to hire a lawyer or do I have to change guilty and ask the prosecutor how much to pay?

qbrozen

you plead not guilty in court SO you can cut a deal with the prosecutor.

as for a course, you can accept the ticket and do a course to take the points off your license, but that does not mean they come off your insurance.

joedp08

i got a ticket for running a red light. the ticket is two point but i want to do a no point violation. dose anyone know the cost?
also since it a 2 point ticket do i get 2 point on my auto insurence?
thanks

fezo

I'm not really sure if there is a set cost on that ticket. Once you throw in court costs it really gets muddy.

Basic rule of thumb is that a no point will cost you more in the short run and less in the long run.

They pretty much wrote the failure to observe signal for exactly what you've got. I had a failure to observe sign once. The sign said "STOP." To this day I maintain that I did stop but the cop, who was there specifically to nail people for rolling stops thought otherwise. He at least wrote me for failure to observe sign on the spot saving me a trip to court and the related costs.

psj1619

I got pulled over on the turnpike near exit 9 for going 91 on a 65 mph zone. Since this was my first time getting pulled over i got a little lucky and the officer gave me a 'disregard for turnpike sign' (19:9-1.3(c)) ticket which carries an $85 fine/2 points, instead of the 'exceeding the speed limit by 25-29 mph' which carries up to a $200 fine/4 points.

I will do anything I can not to get those 2 points. Just wanted to know if you guys can help me out with a few things:

1) On the ticket there is no note of speeding, it just says 'disregard of turnpike signs'. If i plead not guilty at court will they know that I was originally speeding and the officer just gave me another ticket?

2) Can someone please clarify the nj no-point option? Is it real?

3) If i plead guilty and receive the 2 points will my insurance skyrocket??? im 19 years old.

4) What should i do?

Thankss

qbrozen

ask your insurance company how the points will affect you.

tidester

I will do anything I can not to get those 2 points.

Just hope that the police officer doesn't show up in court. If he does and you contest it, then the court will certainly learn which turnpike sign you disregarded, i.e. the speed limit sign. Once the judge learns you were doing 91 mph and "got a little lucky," he will not be very sympathetic. You may want to consider quitting while you're still ahead - or at least not so far behind.

tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

fezo

Now. Now. The officer and judge both probably have a general idea of what went down and don't care. They care that the case gets settled and that everyone is reasonably happy at the end. In that respect it is not all that different from buying a car.

qbrozen is, as usual correct with the suggestion of calling the insurance company. If the points won't up your premiums and you are pretty confident you can behave yourself behind the wheel for a year while the points go away you might want to just sign off as guilty and be done with it.

If the company will raise the premium it's not that big a risk to go to court and try to bargain down. I've seen it more than once where the cop cuts someone a break when writing the ticket and then cuts them another one in court. Happened to me once.....

As has been noted here numerous times if you do plead guilty to a no point in exchange for dropping the points they will raise the price of the fine. You pays your money and takes your choice. (There's one for the grammar topic.)

joel0622

Sounds like NJ has quite the racket going with this no points plea thing.

It is almost like black mail to me. if you don't pay us a ton of money we will tell your insurance company and they will raise your rates, but give me $500 and we will make it go away. :confuse:

fezo

No. No. Not $500. Not that greedy. You do probably have the rest of it right, though.

Now I am not entirely clear on how much is the insurance company getting you and how much is the state (I'm sure qbrozen has a better handle on it, but I won't see the answer for a week and a half as we're off on vacation tomorrow), but I can't imagine that there isn't some similar deal in other states.

joel0622

but I won't see the answer for a week and a half as we're off on vacation tomorrow

I am not mad, just jealous

desilpj

I received a citation from Winslow township, NJ. The officer had stated I did not signal my lane change, on the ticket it is written unsafe lane change. He initially stated my speed was excessive. I believe I did signal. He did not ticket me for speeding. Should I just pay the $85 fine and 2 points? State Farm states they only forgive a 2 point speeding ticket. 2 points stays on for 3 years, at a cost of $100 increase in annual premium. If I go to court and probably loose, I understand I need to pay court costs in addition to a higher fee for no points. This is my first ticket since I have been driving 40 years.

chadiman

I am in a similar situation. I received a speeding ticket 74 in 55 in NJ. I am a NYS driver...does anyone have suggestions as to whether I should plead guilty and pay the $105 fine. NYS will not add the points, but I am afraid if Geico will increase my premiums.

Any help??
Thanks!

kaushal

I got caught doing 89 in a 65 zone on the NY state thruway (I-90)...Since this is my first ticket and I am a Maine resident, I am quite unsure of what to do next. The ticket says I need to go to a town court in LeRoy, NY, but I would not be able to attend in person...

My question is, should I plead guilty and get 6 points plus pay whatever fine comes along, or should I hire a lawyer and fight it...Also, I am insured with Geico, and would like to know how much will it increase my annual premium...???

qbrozen

if NYS doesn't register the points, I don't see how Geico would. They get your record from your state DMV.

qbrozen

call geico and ask.

kaushal

In that case, how much would the fine be, if I plead Guilty?

qbrozen

well... you may get someone from NY to answer, but this is a board with NJ in the title. Sorry.

nj2pa2nc

when we lived in Pa my husband received a speeding ticket in NYS. He called the town where the court was and was given a price to pay. He did not have to go to court just plead quilty on the ticket, returned it along with a cashier's check and never got any points so no insurance increase.

fezo

Hello. I'm back. I don't actually have anything to add to teh current questions.

In NJ, if the other state reports a point violation to NJ you get two points no matter how many the violation would normally get you (so reckless driving and going 26 in a 25 are the same points). There are probably as many variations on this as there are states. I found out the hard way that Florida reports points - or they did ten years ago.

jlady

Hi everyone,

I am just following up on an earlier posting - my 18 year old daughter got two tickets one night in sea bright one for going 51 in a 35mph zone and one for not yielding to the officer at 1:30am because she didn't notice him behind her and then was afraid to stop. We went to court and all went very well. We spoke to prosecutor and he dismissed the no yielding ticket (2 points) and reduced speeding from 4 points to 2. The judge said that if you have over 3 points for speeding you can't get the no point option (which also holds an additional $250 surcharge). So my daughter ended up with 2 points and $222 in charges. I think she learned her lesson too. She also got a taste of court and the fines imposed on other people for drinking and driving, driving without a license, etc. So it is definitely worth going to court! otherwise she would of had 6 points. And she didn't pay much more than the original tickets.

fezo

Way to go! Sounds like a good outcome all around.

njdrivintix

Hi everybody

I was recently pulled over in New Brunswick, NJ and issued 3 tickets. What happened, was that a bus had it's hazards on and was in front of a bus stop. It was a double yellow line and i passed the bus on the left. Cop was coming from the other direction and saw me. Pulled me over and issued me, careless driving, improper passing, and failure to adhere to traffic lanes. 8 Points!
My driving recrod is ehhhhh. I had two careless drivings bumped down to unsafe, one was 6 years ago, another 4 years ago. About a year and 8 months ago i was issued a written warning by a statie on the turnpike for going 100mph.

My questions are:
-Do you think i'll be able to get out of this without any points?
-I am under my father's insurance plan with NJM. If i do not get any points will the insurance company know about these tickets?

Thanks in advance

qbrozen

8 point to zero? unlikely.

so was the bus broken down or just picking people up? If the former, what did the cop expect you to do? sit there and wait for a tow truck to remove the bus? If the latter, why was the bus not over on the shoulder of the road? Sounds like a very very odd situation, or I'm not reading it correctly.

Now, it sounds like you got a real hard [non-permissible content removed]. I mean, 3 violations all for the same thing. Its a crapshoot here. It depends on the mood of the prosecutor. good luck!

as far as points, if you don't get any, then of course the insurance company won't know. They only know what is reported as the final verdict. If you DO get all those points, you can kiss that insurance goodbye. NJM has a very low tolerance policy. Your father will have to kick you off and make you get your own. It will really be the cheapest option.

fezo

I'm with qbrozen here. Either that is one pain in the neck cop or there's something we aren't catching here.

You never know with the prosecutor. They do have to get the cop to sign off on a plea down which doesn't bode well. Maybe you'll get lucky and it'll turn out the cop was having a bad day and will be in a better mood come court time.

njdrivintix

Hey thanks guys......turns out I was a little confused with the ticket. The cop had checked off "improper passing" but added in the "traffic lanes" in the other ticket info box. So, now i am only facing two 2 point tickets. I have a new concern though. I had called a week in advance to tell them i was going to plead not guilty. the woman on the phone told me the tix werent in the system yet and to call back Next friday. I checked the system everyday to see if they were in there, and they just popped up today. The date on my ticekt is this tuesday (the 18th). I'm afraid i may have missed my chance to plead not guilty/schedule a court date? Am I SOL or will i be able to get a date?

Thanks again

qbrozen

well, i don't think you missed the chance. I mean, they weren't in the system. What were you supposed to do about it? What did they say when you called?

The two 2-pt tickets is good news for you. Maybe you'll get out of there with zero. Even if you get out with 2, that's a much better situation for you.

njdrivintix

I called today and it was no problem scheduling. They actually told me there is a three month lag tim with scheduling court dates right now. So I can at least put this off for a while.

Thanks again

fezo

Good deal. Sounding better all the time.