I have contested a speeding & unsafe lane change violation (same ticket) and a surcharge notice on a minor fender bender and "won" both times. The key, in my case, was to be completely and totally honest. In the first one, I was merely trying to contest the unsafe lane change, so admitted that I was speeding. The judge said I was the first one that she'd seen all day that didn't start defending themselves and lying the moment they opened their mouth. The fender bender was a beat-up old car that didn't have its fender bolted on, and I had pictures to show it. The assessment was about $100 over the surcharge $ limit and was mostly labor. It just seemed pretty fishy for a <5 mph accident and I told her that. She said she sees this kind of thing all the time.

Honesty and an apologetic and respectful tone go a long way....

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips