What should I expect for not showing up for a speeding violation?

There may be a warrant. Call a bail bondsman to find out. If you have a warrant, working with a bail bondsman will “inactivate” the warrant, and the bondsman will reschedule the court date for you.

Thumb screws? The Iron Maiden? The Procrustean Bed?

Listen to Kevbo. He sounds as though he has had some experience.

The court may accept late payment, may impose a fine, may issue a warrant. It’s the judge’s discretion.

Vicarious only, thankfully.

Bailiff, whack his pee pee!

Lurve to anyone who knows the orgin of that.

Bench warrant, more than likely. Then, if you get pulled over and it’s still active, you’re going to go for a ride with the police officer.

Of course, I am saying bench warrant because that is most likely what would happen in the area I live in, they mean business!

That happen to me before and I ended up having to pay the fine. I think I mailed it in a day (or two) late. If you read the fine print on the back I think it mentioned something like a “grace” period. Either way my payment was received late and nobody came after me. I think you should be ok.

Jail time. Just joshin’, more than likely if it arrives within 72 hours of the due date you’ll be fine.

@soapchef: Cheech & Chong. :)

asmonet, you are lurved. Aren’t you a little young to know such things?

Youth has nothing to do with it, maybe innocence. ;)

If they do arrest you…we will put our heads together and come bail you out.

cak and kevbo may both be right. Even if you pay the fine, they might not clear the bench warrant if one was issued; you may have to make other amends to the court for not being on time. They may contact you by mail if that’s necessary, or they may not.

I’ve had a couple of acquaintances cuffed and hauled in for blowing off tickets and court dates, although that was back in Colorado. They won’t pull you over just for having a bench warrant out, but if you get stopped for something else and run your info, they have to pick you up. My acquaintances were booked and released, but living Cops first hand wasn’t fun according to their stories.

The only thing I know about bail bondsmen I learned from Jackie Brown, so I can’t advice for or against that route.

If you kept a copy of the ticket, there should be a phone number on there you can call for more information, otherwise look for a number for traffic court (in a big jurisdiction) or criminal court on the web site for the area where you were cited. Give them time to process your payment, though. And try not to get pulled over in the meantime.

LISTEN!!!

I got a speeding ticket in Texas when I drove cross country to move to Cali. I lost the ticket and address of where to send the money. Then I didn’t really care because it was on my old license. I finally got something mailed to my Cali address so I figured I HAD to pay it now. It increased from $141 to $241. I paid it. Then a few weeks later I got ANOTHER ticket in the mail for $345 for FAILURE TO APPEAR. I tried to call and explain but they’re didn’t wanna here it. So anyway. PAY IT.

Update: I called the JP today and spoke with two separate clerks at two separate times to verify the information. I have sent payment for the ticket and enclosed my contact information if there were additional fees. They both said that they noted that I contacted them and would look for the letter in the mail. If it was not received by the end of the week (wow, some grace period), then there would be a problem.

Fortunately, it is in a county about 50 miles from where I live. I will check back with them Wednesday to be sure.

Ahhhh! Small town justice!

mrj I am glad you don’t have to have your pee pee whacked.

Call the court house and ask them!

Every jurisdiction is different. generally, when a person does appear in court or has not paid the fine, the citation goes into a warrant. a traffic warrant, not a criminal warrant. you may or may not be arrested. in my jurisdiction, we do not have enough traffic warrant officers to go out to someones home to make an arrest. most traffic warrants are served on an unrelated traffic stop, when the officer runs a warrant check on the driver and/or occupants of the vehicle. for an accurate answer to your question, contact your traffic court and ask this question.

In addition to getting arrested, if you ignore fines and do not pay them, the court can “freeze” access to your accounts at the bank, like collections and such, and you will find yourself in deeper sh*t than you can imagine. No money, no where to go but to jail. Lol.