I have a court date in late June for three tickets I received. I'm in Texas

I have a court date in late June for three tickets I received. I'm in Texas.

Speeding, disregard of a traffic control device, and driving without insurance. The total for these is over $700.

Coincidentally, I'm also in a bad financial situation at the moment, as I just lost my job. This was the first time I've ever even been pulled over by police, and I have a clean record.

I'd love to pay the tickets, but I have no savings and no income at the moment.

Can you br/o/s give me any advice on this matter?

A family member of a friend told me I should request a trail by jury, saying that I'd likely get deferred because setting up a whole jury costs more than my tickets.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

>no insurance

yea you are getting that ticket m8 because the judge is not gonna let that one go

That's disheartening to hear. Sadly, that ticket is the majority of the fine ($500 IIRC).

It's not really a coincidence you lost your job. You just sound like an idiot.

You can arrange a payment plan.

>I'd love to pay the tickets
That's a lie. Anyone that drives without insurance is not willing to pay for traffic tickets. Anyone that drives without insurance should NEVER be speeding. If you drive without insurance, you drive chill and not arrogantly. You stop fully at stop signs and you use turn signals, and you do not disregard traffic devices. Running a traffic light without insurance is asking for problems not to mention hitting someone.

In my state, people without insurance hit and run. They are not willing to pay for insurance and they are certainly not willing to pay the even larger bill for body shop and car parts repairs much less the medical bills for anyone injured or faking injury.

>That's a lie.

No. I wasn't driving my own car, I was driving a friend's car on which I am not insured.

I drive with insurance and I'm willing to pay for insurance, but on my own car.

>Anyone that drives without insurance should NEVER be speeding.

This much is true. That was my mistake.

>Running a traffic light without insurance is asking for problems not to mention hitting someone.

I never ran any lights. I'm assuming that's what the "disregard of a traffic control device" ticket entails, but that's something I didn't do. I was speeding, and I was driving without insurance, but I didn't run any lights or ignore any signs.

>Can you br/o/s give me any advice on this matter?

Courts go through this all the time with people who drive without insurance and who have no money to pay for tickets or accident repairs. A payment plan will have to be set up. It will have an administrative fee added on. Typically, your wages are garnished. In some states like mine, your paycheck goes to a private lawyer-run bill collection agency which then subtracts the garnishment percentage owed to the claimant, subtracts the administration fee for the service, and the remainder goes to you.

Whether or not that is enough to live on is a different matter. Contact one of the social service advisors your state has. The ones in my state are very helpful about all the services available. Some states try to force certain people to emigrate to other states so they are deliberately less helpful or less funded. You will apply for food stamps to cover the interim. I assume you are already on the underinsured medical coverage plan. If not, be sure you have some sort of signup because it is still currently law that everyone has signed up (even for free medical care) or pays a fine.

>No. I wasn't driving my own car, I was driving a friend's car on which I am not insured.

What kind of terrible policy is that? Hmm, on 2nd thought, maybe that company is a super jew. My state farm policy allows me incidental non-regular driving of other vehicles. So I am able to borrow my grandfather's car to do an errand for him for example. Of course, it allows all the usual rental car coverage like all other insurance companies do (I bet that is because the rental car companies lobbied hard).

While a tough call, you might want to get a traffic lawyer. They are cheap but certainly will cost you. But if the lawyer can convince the judge to allow deferment plus a private payment plan to the state WITHOUT garnishment, that is the much better option.

You want to avoid having "Wage Garnishment" on your record. It also makes it harder to get jobs in the future if background checks show that. You can make sure your lawyer mentions it. Or if you don't get a lawyer, you must mention it. You don't want this to drive you down into the gutter as someone that becomes dependent on social welfare to stay alive. Hopefully the judge sees it that way.

kek

>driving without insurance
If there there is any time to be driving extra careful to the point of paranoia, it is driving without insurance.

I have Pemco insurance. I had my car in for service and it was waiting for parts. I contacted my agent and told her I would borrow a friend's car (license plate, make, model, VIN) for a number of days instead of getting a rental car. She told me my insurance would cover my driving of that car during the repair period at no extra charge. I bet Geico and Progressve are more stiff and literal about things like that.

>You can arrange a payment plan.
If you can defer it, that will give you time to find another job, any job. But if you don't pay, they can arrest you for that.

The alternative to a payment plan is wage garnishment. That totally sucks. I've seen all the employment forms ask if I had ever had wage garnishment. I bet if I answer yes, they would not hire me. It might as well be a loaded question like "Have you ever had wage garnishment, or axe murdered people, or been convicted of child pornography?" If I answer yes to that question, they won't hire me. Avoid the garnish if you can.

>I just lost my job
If you have been employed for 9 months or more at the same job (or 6 months in some states), you may be eligible for state unemployment benefits. They send you a cheque after you contact them each week to inform them of your process in searching for a new job. Better check your benefits.

My public library system helps organize free lawyer referral services. So maybe there are free lawyer referral help available in your area. These free services can handle documentation, provide legal advice, and do some other administrative things on your behalf as long as these laywers don't appear in court.

You're lucky it's only $500. In Canada it's up to $3000 for no insurance/registration. I can see not knowing your insurance didn't renew but if you're voluntarily driving without insurance then you fucking deserve it.

OP here.

Thanks for the advice. I received a letter from a firm claiming they'll represent me in court for a flat rate of $150-- $50 per ticket.

Any thoughts on that?

A cop friend of mine said that's my best bet.

Thanks for the advice again, anons.

You should also have a full copy of your insurance policy for the lawyers to look over. As well as any info about why you were driving that car instead of your own. If your car was in for repairs, then possibly the insurance company would allow that to be the no-cost-to-them substitute for a rental car. Assuming you have the rental car rider on your policy.

No insurance should be $1000+
Also you have known about these tickets and court date for easily 4+ months and have neglected to set aside the money, it's your fault.
Don't weave through cones with no insurance while speeding you dip.

>No. I wasn't driving my own car, I was driving a friend's car on which I am not insured.
You would have be the blacklisted driver for that to happen. And it doesn't matter anyway because you have your own insurance, which would cover damages in an accident exceeding the car owners policy.

Wrong. I was ticketed less than two weeks ago.

>You would have be the blacklisted driver for that to happen.
Not him, but insurance companies differ in their policies. Some like Progressive are strict about which cars you can drive and if it is not specifically listed, then you are not covered. Some like State Farm allow other cars under certain circumstances.

So unless we at Veeky Forums see OP's policy wording, we don't know for sure what kind of limits. But from what he said, it implies he has an insurance policy that does not cover the driver but only that car and only if that car is being driven by him. Now, that is pretty limiting and cynically clever of the insurance company. After all, the company says we insure you the driver BUT not really. Then the insurance company says we insure your car BUT not really. That's the type of policy OP seems to have.

>if you're voluntarily driving without insurance then you fucking deserve it.
that boot licking....

Don't speed next time? Especially if you're unemployed - unless it's a job interview, you don't have to be anywhere on time ever. So take it nice and slow. Only wagecucks need to drive fast.

Good. Fags who drive without insurance deserve to be punished

Shouldn't have fucking sped through a red light without insurance, should you?

what the fuck?
in my country you just put the fine on a $10 a week payment plan, your country is fucked, you actually have to go to court for a traffic offense that didnt involve a police chase?

You don't have to go to court you can just pay the ticket

>you actually have to go to court for a traffic offense that didnt involve a police chase?
If you want to challenge the citations, you have to go to court. If you want a judge to rule on the citations and give you a lower fine, then where else do you find a judge? Various aspects of the law, once a citation is issued, can only be changed by a judge. So that's why people end up in court because that's where the judge and the legal recorder is located.

And then have insurance rates skyrocket.

>You don't have to go to court you can just pay the ticket
No, can't do that. Even if OP pays more for the lawyer and loses, it is important to try to change the charge of "Driving Without Insurance". OP did have insurance PRIOR to the incident and had insurance for a LONG TIME. He or the lawyer will point that out to the judge. Thus, the charge of "Driving Without Insurance" can be thrown out and replaced with driving without paperwork or something like that.

The lawyer will know how to present the situation from that angle.

As others have said, Driving Without Insurance is a charge that makes all the insurance companies want to jack your rates. They don't know the real story that you did have insurance but it wasn't applicable on a technicality that OP didn't realize. Because everyone will misinterpret the charge on OP's record, it is important to get rid of that charge and replace it with one that is more correct such as not having paperwork (proof). That's a lesser charge and at least means OP did purchase insurance.

>Can you br/o/s give me any advice on this matter?
You should get a lawyer to help you explain your case to the judge. Very often, they will be able to obtain a better package deal for you. Sure, you still pay the fines, but you can avoid having your record containing citations that make your insurance rates go up.

Good luck with the case, OP. Get a lawyer. The lawyer will cover all the legal loopholes you don't know about.