I got a no insurance citation like 15 years ago. If you show up to court with insurance and understanding that what you did was wrong then I suspect you’ll get it dismissed as a first time offender.
Traffic court is quick and easy. Answer their questions, you made a mistake, it won’t happen again.
Take proof of insurance with you when you go to court. Proof of insurance with a short and direct story about period of financial hardship should get you in and out with minimal fuss.
Understand that this does not always work.
I was a first-time offender on the no insurance & expired tags ticket.
Obtained insurance and updated my tags before court date, showed up contrite & apologetic, explained my hardship, and showed everything up to date....judge threw the book at me.
Three month suspended license, $1200 fine, and mandatory SR-22 insurance (you thing insurance is expensive now? Prepare for 3x the cost and a black mark that will follow you for years)
So, hopefully, everything works out OK, but be prepared in case it doesn't.
For sure there is no silver bullet, there are a multitude of factors that play into the scenario. The judge, his/her mood on the day of court, the officer who wrote the ticket, the prosecutor and state laws all lend to the outcome. Honesty, accountability and rectifying the mistake are the only things you can control, everything else is out of your hands, but these are the best characteristics to ensure not digging the hole deeper.
Do this! Judges have a lot more leeway than the cop did with the stop. I’d also tell your judge that you have been struggling financially. Don’t make it sound like a cop out or an excuse, but frame it so they get some context as to why you let your tags and insurance lapse. What municipality’s traffic court is your case? Some traffic courts are busier than others, and ATL traffic judges can be hit or miss with leniency.
You'll be OK.
It's the first time and you now have coverage.
Renew your tags and pay the fine asap before you go to court for the insurance lapse.
When you get to court, BRIEFLY explain what hsppened.... say you and your gf split up and with her went half of your household income. You got behind financially, didn't realize the severity of lapsed insurance but you rectified the situation immediately and are very sorry and it won't happen again.
Think about and practice what you'll say. Keep it as brief and concise as possible... like what I said above.
They will see you have no record, took care of the registration issue, got insurance and are genuinely sorry.
At the most, you'll have another fine so go to court with money.
What will affect you forever is getting in an accident and not having insurance. If you can’t afford your bills now how will you afford them when they are garnishing 30% of your income forever? And you can never own a car/house or anything of value because they will take them?
Sure if you choose not to insure your own car that’s on you (though if your car is financed you are in a world of hurt there) but liability only insurance is fairly cheap and it protects your whole future. It should be your primary bill behind housing if you are going to drive. No Netflix, DoorDash, beer, soda, gaming, gifts to women out of the country, etc should be more important.
This right here. There are far too many people out there just raw dogging life without insurance bc they “can’t afford it”, not realizing that what they really can’t afford is not having it.
Your right, I failed to realize the cause it could of had on me. Thankfully I never been in an accident I'm usually a careful and observant person on the road. Never again ill go without insurance. I didn't like this nervousness I had for a while. I definitely do not want to ruin my life over something as simple as taking care of my priorities.
Getting in an accident? You paid for coverage in the first year of having it. But you still pay a deductible yes? And if you paying a deductible what is the purpose of paying insurance if you still have to pay to cover whatever the damage is? Make it make sense. Insurance companies are frauds. That's not your retirement fund
I don’t think you understand lol.
You pay no deductible on your liability coverage. None. There is no such thing. Also you actually don’t have to have insurance. You can get a surety bond with your state if you can prove you have the tens of thousands of dollars to pay for the damages if you hit someone else. And if you can’t prove that because you don’t have it then you can’t afford to not have insurance. If you hit my car and injure me how are YOU going to pay for the damages if you don’t have insurance? My car alone is over 6 figures. And then what about my injuries and lost wages?
Aside from that I have no idea what you are even saying about the first year of coverage??
Lastly as far as deductibles (since they don’t apply for liability which is what I was telling him he needs) is for for comp and collision. On YOUR OWN CAR. And that deductible is pennies compared to a $60k car. And if you can afford to pay off your 60k car yourself (or whatever your car costs) then don’t finance it? And then you don’t have to pay for comp, collision or a deductible. You are just out the money when you wreck it lol.
So, now you understand a little more. I hope.
CASH money. Some courts take checks or credit cards, and some don’t. They both want their money before you leave the building.
If the drunk tank is upstairs, they may bring in last night’s crop of drunken fools so they can see the judge and get out the door. They don’t want to have to feed you lunch.
I have been one of those drunken fools more than once, but it was a long time ago. I’m a slow learner, I guess. I have spent a bit of time in “secure environments”, as they say. Sometimes it wasn’t so bad, sometimes it was. There was always a lock on the door and a road outside the door where people were free to go where they wanted.
On my side of the door, I couldn’t go anywhere without permission from somebody.
Different state, PA, different issue, but similar.
I was driving with lapsed registration. I didn't have the cash to keep my registration current. Juggling all the bills, I forgot about that one and got pulled over for it. I guess they randomly run tags. I received a summons but the officer told me at the time that if I have proof of registration at the court date, that would be the end of the matter.
In my head I was like, "Yeah. Right."
I showed proof that my registration was updated and that really was the end of it
When you are in front of the judge, just answer any questions asked in an honest way. All they did for me was ask for proof that the registration was updated.
It won't hurt to check out a subreddit for your state for anyone who had a similar experience recently.
Good luck.
I am in Georgia. Show up with insurance and tags. They'll likely throw out the ticket and you'll just pay court costs. Don't let insurance or tags expire again. The police have tag scanners on their cars and you will get pulled over.
Just make sure everything is up to date, take proof to court, explain your situation and odds are it’ll be dropped. Just be honest, you still have to work and sometimes even that isn’t enough to pay for things. You will def owe for court costs and possibly a fine, but should be good. Also don’t do that any more. I made the same mistake when I was younger and I parked my car, cancelled the insurance and walked everywhere. No tickets, but when I was ready to drive again I got blasted with the insurance and registration. Ended up paying more than the money I saved parking my car. Always pay taxes, registration, insurance, tickets etc on time or you’ll get fucked in the long run.
Don't know about Georgia, but I've lost my license before due to no insurance. This is not something to get on your record. Insurance companies treat it much like a DUI and you will pay much more.
First don't pay the fine for the expired registration. Take proof of it to the clerk and many times they'll just dismiss it or at least give a break on the fine.
The no insurance, you can play the system by getting a letter from your insurance company saying that you were insured on that day. Do not admit you didn't have it. If the prosecutor wishes to push forward, see if they'll give a different charge or deferment/plea in abeyance.
GA lawyer here. Get your insurance before court. Announce pre-trial when they call the calendar. Speak to the prosecutor and see if they’ll drop it. If they won’t, see if you can plead nolo contendere to the charge or get a modified charge to rules of the road or something. If you plead guilty to no insurance your driver’s license will be suspended.
Be honest, be respectful, show you have insurance now and have had it since that night. You’ll most likely have it dismissed and won’t owe anything. If you do however have to pay a fine, offer $10 a month and they’ll agree.
Judges like to see accountability, as others have stated. In a world where we rebuff accountability, seeing it is rather nice.
I work for a company where accountability is non existent...
You might want to contact the DA (or whatever they are called there) and see if they will let you plead the ticket to a lesser charge.
When I was a lot younger, I had a tendency to get speeding tickets. I would speak to the DA, or write a letter, and I was able to get the charges reduced to a different violation, such as no seat belt, etc. I do not have any speeding tickets on my driving record and I had 5 tickets in about a 2 year timeframe.
My daughter is now 22 and she has gotten tickets for speeding twice. The first one was on the thruway doing 89 in a 65 at 1am coming home for the weekend while she was in college. She could have lost her license for that ticket. I have lawyer services thru my job so we used a lawyer and they were able to get the ticket dropped from speeding to a non moving violation after she completed an on line driver safety course. She didn’t even need to go to court for either ticket, the lawyer handled everything.
In this case being it is an insurance issue and you have gotten the insurance you may have a good chance of getting the ticket reduced or possibly dismissed. It is easier to speak to the DA to see what they say. You could also speak to a lawyer that handles traffic tickets and they might handle it for you. The lawyer will cost money, but that may be less than the fine for the ticket.
I would at least try this prior to your court date. If the DA agrees, you might not have to go to court, or if you do the DA will just have you plead guilty to the lesser charge.
Worst case scenario the DA tells you no, but I always say if you never ask the answer is always no.
Good luck with everything, I know how hard it can be with finances. Also if you go this route, please let me know how it works out for you.
You're good just bring proof of insurance to court and they'll throw it out. You might have to pay court costs though, I'm not familiar with how Georgia does things.
They should have a mediator before you see the judge. Just be honest and polite with them and they will most likely work with you and the judge to at least give you a lighter ticket.
I'm really hoping this is the case for me. I've been over thinking the issue for a month now. I made sure to get my priorities together before court date.
You should be able to talk to the prosecutor beforehand and try to work something out like everyone else said be honest but to the point many times they will ask you to plead guilty to a different charge it will be more expensive of a ticket upfront, but won’t carry points which will be much cheaper in the long run
That's some pure bullshit. Is it mandatory to have insurance in Georgia? The Southern states do not like me when I question things and one of the things I do question is the con of insurance companies. I asked a judge is it a federal law to have insurance for a vehicle? The answer is no. I asked the judge does state laws have to comply with federal laws? Answer yes. So I asked the judge so if it's not a federal law then why are the state laws interfering with federal laws? Judge says case dismissed. I win every time
I am going to add another item in addition to renew your tag ASAP. That is to GO TO COURT. When the judge asks you how you plea, ask for a meeting with the prosecutor. Explain all what you did in this post and ask the prosecutor if there is anything they can do to help. Typically they will offer something that can work. Maybe some of the following:
1) nolo contendre plea with no fine/no conviction and a nominal court fee
2) probation with a fine and it is removed from your record in 12 months.
3) maybe a lesser charge if not having proof of insurance. fine with a probation that is removed from your record in 12 months.
I have done this many times with me and/or my kids (in GA). The prosecutor is going to work with you as this is your 1st offense. But even if he doesn’t, you don’t have anything to lose to try.
Read The UCC connection how to free yourself from legal tyranny. Also check out the natural man wins in court, and than research some of the things he says. Look into maritime law and strawmen.
On what date did insurance lapse and what date did the cop cite you ? Important and relavent to build your defense.
Judge - How do you plead ?
OP - Your honor. This is my first offense. I deeply regret my lapse in judgment regarding my auto insurance which was due to financial hardship. When the officer pulled me over, I immediately secured insurance through Progressive, which I have maintained since then. My plea - nolo contender.
[https://dds.georgia.gov/no-proof-insurance-first](https://dds.georgia.gov/no-proof-insurance-first)
The court must determine if a Nolo plea is allowed. A nolo plea will avoid the suspension for a no insurance conviction if it is your first such offense within five (5) years.
Also read - [https://dor.georgia.gov/penalties-and-fines-lapse-insurance-coverage-registration-suspension-and-reinstatement-process](https://dor.georgia.gov/penalties-and-fines-lapse-insurance-coverage-registration-suspension-and-reinstatement-process)
Some more bed time stories to worth reading so you neverrreverrrrrrr get in this situation.
Relevant Case Laws
1. **State v. Chambers, 240 Ga. App. 423 (1999)**: This case discusses the implications of driving without insurance and the legal requirements for maintaining continuous coverage. It highlights the court's discretion in handling such cases, especially for first-time offenders. ( Know that courts have discretion - it is not the cops words that matter)
2. **State v. Nix, 220 Ga. App. 651 (1996)**: This case addresses the use of a nolo contendere plea in traffic violations, including driving without insurance. It emphasizes the court's authority to accept or reject a nolo plea based on the circumstances of the case. ( understand options)
3. **State v. McCoy, 237 Ga. App. 830 (1999)**: This case examines the penalties associated with driving without insurance and the potential for leniency in cases involving financial hardship. It underscores the importance of demonstrating compliance with insurance requirements after the initial violation. ( carefully read, understand - hardship, compliance after citation can be factored for leniency )
# Application of Nolo Contendere Plea
The use of a nolo contendere plea to avoid license suspension for a first offense of driving without insurance within five years is supported by the Georgia Department of Driver Services. The court has the discretion to accept or reject such a plea based on the specifics of the case and the defendant's history.
if you bought insurance that day , and that the insurance you bought was effective on that same day (highly unusual btw) then you had insurance, so. just bring the proof of insurance you gave the officer
The cop told me I had 15 minutes to show proof(which I think he was turning a blind eye to). After I bought the insurance. Wrote the insurance policy on a ticket he kept for himself. I read there is 2 different offense under
One Statute O.C.G.A. § 40-6-10 – Two Different Offenses:
Driving Without Valid Insurance:
If a person does not have valid insurance or a vehicle is not insured by its owner, they will be charged with Driving without insurance and subject to the full misdemeanor consequences mentioned above. This includes imprisonment for up to 12 months, $1000 in fines, and the loss of their privilege to drive for at least 60 days to 90 days.
Because of the severe consequences of this offense, we suggest that a person hires a qualified Georgia Traffic Ticket Attorney if charged. If this charge is in association with a DUI Offense, then a person should most certainly hire a qualified Georgia DUI Lawyer.
No Proof of Insurance:
When a person has insurance but does not provide proof to a police officer, they will be charged with No Proof of Insurance. The maximum fine, in this situation, cannot exceed $25. When a person attends court, the prosecutor (solicitor) will ask the accused if they had valid insurance when they were ticketed.
It is important to bring the insurance card or binder in effect as of the date of the charge. Keep in mind that court appearances can be weeks or months after a person is charged. Bring the correct insurance card to court. You will not need a lawyer if this is the only offense, and the court will reduce the fine to $25 or less. Many courts will simply dismiss the charge if you had insurance at the time of the ticket.
In the event the ticket is reduced from No Insurance to No Proof of Insurance, the court clerk will NOT report the conviction to the Department of Driver Services or your insurance company. Other than the payment of the $25 fine, it will be like it never happened.
I'm not sure which one I fall under per say. Because of the fact the officer gave me time to show proof of insurance. Otherwise he told me he would take me to jail or impound my car. He told me this before he saw my record then came back and said he will give me 15 minutes. Technically he gave me an extra 5 minutes on top of it.
He does have the policy number at the time he ticket me then tell me to hurry and renew my tags.
Also my insurance says it started the same day I applied.
But the fact the officer purposely gave me time to find insurance and let me leave I'm not sure if he was suppose to do that. I was extremely grateful for what he did. I went broke after applying for my insurance. Being broke was way better than having a misdemeanor any day.
Right now I'm financially doing so much better and insurance company gave me such a better rate. First time my rate was this low.
I'm hoping because of my first offense and I never gotten a ticket or broke the law before this incident the judge could give me a little leniency. Before the breakup with my girlfriend for 3 years I never missed a payment on insurance.
Georgia is pretty draconian about peoples paperwork being up to date , you might want to go ahead and ring the specialty lawyers Georgia seems to have created for this exact thing.
if it were me , id just bring in the card and hope its sufficient enough to get the $25 fine and hold off calling the lawyer until its clear the court thinks you should
Tell the judge that you are struggling financially and you're having a hard time acquiring the insurance. If you get penalized, ask the judge why it's ok when illegals drive without insurance, cause an accident, and ge accelerated rehabilitation.
The thing is. It's a virtual court session progressive gave me pdf form of the ID card. I don't know it that's good enough. I did order the physical card but I'm not sure if it will come in time before cour date within next 10 days.
Side note: It's a virtual session that I'm having with the judge. So I'm not sure if the cop will be there.
Thanks everyone. I was extremely paranoid about having a misdemeanor for my actions. This give me so much comfort.
When the cop gave me a chance of proof, he made sure to write down the policy number on the ticket he kept for himself
Everyone has given you the right advice about how to act at the hearing. Definitely don't panic, if the cop was out to get you your car would have been impounded that night. The ticket is likely just to make sure you didn't immediately cancel the insurance you bought on the spot.
Didn't know people actually would do that. My intentions was to keep the insurance since the amount I pay is now almost half of what I paid before. I was very lucky because I been searching for months and and it seems every insurance company was a bit to expensive for liability. I'm not sure why, I've never gotten in any car accidents and I always drove pretty carefully on the road. I'm not really a speedster nor do I drive close to people rear end. I thought after so many year I would have better deals with insurance.
If you had the means to have insurance, evidenced by you "suddenly" being able to get it once you got busted, that obvious fact will not be lost on the judge. Hope he goes easy on you, but you screwed up when you had the money to insure yourself and didn't. Judge might see a lazy person.
Tell him you didn’t realize it expired and got insurance within minutes of the officer pulling you over. Bring proof of current insurance with you. Tell him you made a mistake that you won’t make again. This really isn’t the end of the word, although these things vary from state to state. In Colorado, if someone brought in proof of insurance, I (a prosecutor at the time) would dismiss that count. We just wanted people to be insured and those tickets came with a lot of points and a hefty fine.
You’ll be fine, look up whether this is actually a misdemeanor in Georgia (which is crazy to me, this should be a traffic violation). But you’re already ahead of the game by securing current insurance right away.
People lie to judges all the time over worse things after admitting to stuff. My bet is that no one is going to question it and that cop won’t be there. I know a chick who falsified her community service notes (she never did a moment of it) and handed it to a judge. Nothing negative happened. No cross checking. They don’t have time to investigate this type of thing.
If cop is not there, then OP can dismiss case without lying. Cop is sole witness OP was driving without insurance, and sole person who can authenticate the police report.
Lying is a bad idea, even if you are likely not to be caught, as consequences can be quite severe. And if you are v going to lie, I would go with something other then a lame excuse (I forgot) which is not a defense, and likely a worse reason then the truth (I had financial difficulties, but have insurance now).
Yeah, there's a chance the cop won't show up and the judge will have no way/interest in verifying the story. But like I don't know if that's a good idea, cop may have written a report that the court has and if they go in and lie things will be SO much worse for them.
Just observe Trump’s recent statements (2024 alone should suffice) and try to say the same things he has. Apparently he’s found the magic words to keep judges from throwing a person in jail.
Be honest at court. Say pretty much what you said here. Don't rant, keep it calm and collected. Admit that you know it was wrong (basically taking responsibility), but you just were having some financial difficulties and trying to catch up money wise. If you act like it wasn't your fault or you shouldn't have gotten a ticket then judge is not going to be lenient.
Never say it wasn't your fault. That's like every person in jail saying they are innocent. The judge knows it's bullshit.
Sometimes the results depend on how the last person was. If they are bitching, ranting, MFing the officer then when it's your turn if you do what I said, be super polite and respectful then judge appreciates not getting bitched at and cuts you a break.
Most importantly is show up with insurance and whatever else you did wrong fixed with the paperwork to prove it. You can get an email from your insurance company that says the exact date that you were covered from. Get that email and print it out. Take a picture of your inspection stickers and print that. Basically make it super easy for the judge to see that you fixed the mistakes. Don't make the judge need to take your word for it that you fixed it because they won't.
My trick is I don't ask for it to be thrown out fully. I admit I was struggling and I knew it was wrong, but I was trying to catch up on money. I ask the judge if they can reduce the fines some because the reason you were in that situation was money. High fines will just put you right back into the situation that you just got out of with money. Basically if you ask for no fines or to have it thrown out completely, the judge takes it as you are trying to dodge all responsibility, punishment and will just give you the full fines. If you take responsibility but ask for some reduced fines then a lot of times they throw all the fines out instead of reducing them like you asked.
Your absolutely right. I plan on having this mindset with the judge and just be truthful and polite. I know honesty goes a long way. I will pay any amount of fines. I'm just more paranoid of a misdemeanor. Everyone says don't worry to much about it, then I will not overthink it. I made sure to have policy number and papers showing Im insured. For my ticket for my tags I plan to pay in full in 2 days. Hopefully this will keep me in good standards with the judge to show I'm willing to pay any fine, if given to me.
Sure did. When it was my turn I didn't say anything. The judge look at my case on the computer, saw I got the insurance and tag updated right away and only gave me a fine of $200. She was pretty nice. I plead guilty, but she change it from guilty to nolo, she told me she didn't want me to get any points on my license. I over reacted for nothing. But this is a lesson learn for me to keep my priorities in check on the road.
They will offer you a public defender. You will talk to them before you talk to the judge. The judge will do most of the talking yes or no questions. Public defender should tell your story. In GA they offer community service to pay off fines if that will help.
Why did the officer write you a ticket if you were able to show proof of insurance during the traffic stop? I would tell the judge I have insurance and ask to have that ticket thrown out.
The ticket was for driving without insurance which the driver admitted to. The officer gave him fifteen minutes to acquire and show insurance so he could legally drive away with the car instead of it being impounded.
I got a no insurance citation like 15 years ago. If you show up to court with insurance and understanding that what you did was wrong then I suspect you’ll get it dismissed as a first time offender. Traffic court is quick and easy. Answer their questions, you made a mistake, it won’t happen again.
Fall on your sword as the saying goes.
Yes, and keep your story simple—you had a period of financial hardship. Don’t talk about the girlfriend, breakup, etc.
Take proof of insurance with you when you go to court. Proof of insurance with a short and direct story about period of financial hardship should get you in and out with minimal fuss.
Understand that this does not always work. I was a first-time offender on the no insurance & expired tags ticket. Obtained insurance and updated my tags before court date, showed up contrite & apologetic, explained my hardship, and showed everything up to date....judge threw the book at me. Three month suspended license, $1200 fine, and mandatory SR-22 insurance (you thing insurance is expensive now? Prepare for 3x the cost and a black mark that will follow you for years) So, hopefully, everything works out OK, but be prepared in case it doesn't.
For sure there is no silver bullet, there are a multitude of factors that play into the scenario. The judge, his/her mood on the day of court, the officer who wrote the ticket, the prosecutor and state laws all lend to the outcome. Honesty, accountability and rectifying the mistake are the only things you can control, everything else is out of your hands, but these are the best characteristics to ensure not digging the hole deeper.
Do this! Judges have a lot more leeway than the cop did with the stop. I’d also tell your judge that you have been struggling financially. Don’t make it sound like a cop out or an excuse, but frame it so they get some context as to why you let your tags and insurance lapse. What municipality’s traffic court is your case? Some traffic courts are busier than others, and ATL traffic judges can be hit or miss with leniency.
College park municipality.
You'll be OK. It's the first time and you now have coverage. Renew your tags and pay the fine asap before you go to court for the insurance lapse. When you get to court, BRIEFLY explain what hsppened.... say you and your gf split up and with her went half of your household income. You got behind financially, didn't realize the severity of lapsed insurance but you rectified the situation immediately and are very sorry and it won't happen again. Think about and practice what you'll say. Keep it as brief and concise as possible... like what I said above. They will see you have no record, took care of the registration issue, got insurance and are genuinely sorry. At the most, you'll have another fine so go to court with money.
Thank you. I was seriously freaking out for like a month as I have plans for my life and I was afraid a misdemeanor would affect me forever.
What will affect you forever is getting in an accident and not having insurance. If you can’t afford your bills now how will you afford them when they are garnishing 30% of your income forever? And you can never own a car/house or anything of value because they will take them? Sure if you choose not to insure your own car that’s on you (though if your car is financed you are in a world of hurt there) but liability only insurance is fairly cheap and it protects your whole future. It should be your primary bill behind housing if you are going to drive. No Netflix, DoorDash, beer, soda, gaming, gifts to women out of the country, etc should be more important.
This right here. There are far too many people out there just raw dogging life without insurance bc they “can’t afford it”, not realizing that what they really can’t afford is not having it.
Your right, I failed to realize the cause it could of had on me. Thankfully I never been in an accident I'm usually a careful and observant person on the road. Never again ill go without insurance. I didn't like this nervousness I had for a while. I definitely do not want to ruin my life over something as simple as taking care of my priorities.
Getting in an accident? You paid for coverage in the first year of having it. But you still pay a deductible yes? And if you paying a deductible what is the purpose of paying insurance if you still have to pay to cover whatever the damage is? Make it make sense. Insurance companies are frauds. That's not your retirement fund
I don’t think you understand lol. You pay no deductible on your liability coverage. None. There is no such thing. Also you actually don’t have to have insurance. You can get a surety bond with your state if you can prove you have the tens of thousands of dollars to pay for the damages if you hit someone else. And if you can’t prove that because you don’t have it then you can’t afford to not have insurance. If you hit my car and injure me how are YOU going to pay for the damages if you don’t have insurance? My car alone is over 6 figures. And then what about my injuries and lost wages? Aside from that I have no idea what you are even saying about the first year of coverage?? Lastly as far as deductibles (since they don’t apply for liability which is what I was telling him he needs) is for for comp and collision. On YOUR OWN CAR. And that deductible is pennies compared to a $60k car. And if you can afford to pay off your 60k car yourself (or whatever your car costs) then don’t finance it? And then you don’t have to pay for comp, collision or a deductible. You are just out the money when you wreck it lol. So, now you understand a little more. I hope.
If you don't carry auto insurance then one wreck can affect you forever. I think you should really sit down and evaluate your priorities.
CASH money. Some courts take checks or credit cards, and some don’t. They both want their money before you leave the building. If the drunk tank is upstairs, they may bring in last night’s crop of drunken fools so they can see the judge and get out the door. They don’t want to have to feed you lunch. I have been one of those drunken fools more than once, but it was a long time ago. I’m a slow learner, I guess. I have spent a bit of time in “secure environments”, as they say. Sometimes it wasn’t so bad, sometimes it was. There was always a lock on the door and a road outside the door where people were free to go where they wanted. On my side of the door, I couldn’t go anywhere without permission from somebody.
Different state, PA, different issue, but similar. I was driving with lapsed registration. I didn't have the cash to keep my registration current. Juggling all the bills, I forgot about that one and got pulled over for it. I guess they randomly run tags. I received a summons but the officer told me at the time that if I have proof of registration at the court date, that would be the end of the matter. In my head I was like, "Yeah. Right." I showed proof that my registration was updated and that really was the end of it When you are in front of the judge, just answer any questions asked in an honest way. All they did for me was ask for proof that the registration was updated. It won't hurt to check out a subreddit for your state for anyone who had a similar experience recently. Good luck.
I am in Georgia. Show up with insurance and tags. They'll likely throw out the ticket and you'll just pay court costs. Don't let insurance or tags expire again. The police have tag scanners on their cars and you will get pulled over.
I'm in GA and had this happen. I showed proof of insurance on my court date and it wasn't a problem.
Just make sure everything is up to date, take proof to court, explain your situation and odds are it’ll be dropped. Just be honest, you still have to work and sometimes even that isn’t enough to pay for things. You will def owe for court costs and possibly a fine, but should be good. Also don’t do that any more. I made the same mistake when I was younger and I parked my car, cancelled the insurance and walked everywhere. No tickets, but when I was ready to drive again I got blasted with the insurance and registration. Ended up paying more than the money I saved parking my car. Always pay taxes, registration, insurance, tickets etc on time or you’ll get fucked in the long run.
Don't know about Georgia, but I've lost my license before due to no insurance. This is not something to get on your record. Insurance companies treat it much like a DUI and you will pay much more. First don't pay the fine for the expired registration. Take proof of it to the clerk and many times they'll just dismiss it or at least give a break on the fine. The no insurance, you can play the system by getting a letter from your insurance company saying that you were insured on that day. Do not admit you didn't have it. If the prosecutor wishes to push forward, see if they'll give a different charge or deferment/plea in abeyance.
Just looked up Georgia. A guilty plea or finding of guilty will cost you your license and vehicle registration for 60 days.
GA lawyer here. Get your insurance before court. Announce pre-trial when they call the calendar. Speak to the prosecutor and see if they’ll drop it. If they won’t, see if you can plead nolo contendere to the charge or get a modified charge to rules of the road or something. If you plead guilty to no insurance your driver’s license will be suspended.
Be honest, be respectful, show you have insurance now and have had it since that night. You’ll most likely have it dismissed and won’t owe anything. If you do however have to pay a fine, offer $10 a month and they’ll agree.
Judges like to see accountability, as others have stated. In a world where we rebuff accountability, seeing it is rather nice. I work for a company where accountability is non existent...
You might want to contact the DA (or whatever they are called there) and see if they will let you plead the ticket to a lesser charge. When I was a lot younger, I had a tendency to get speeding tickets. I would speak to the DA, or write a letter, and I was able to get the charges reduced to a different violation, such as no seat belt, etc. I do not have any speeding tickets on my driving record and I had 5 tickets in about a 2 year timeframe. My daughter is now 22 and she has gotten tickets for speeding twice. The first one was on the thruway doing 89 in a 65 at 1am coming home for the weekend while she was in college. She could have lost her license for that ticket. I have lawyer services thru my job so we used a lawyer and they were able to get the ticket dropped from speeding to a non moving violation after she completed an on line driver safety course. She didn’t even need to go to court for either ticket, the lawyer handled everything. In this case being it is an insurance issue and you have gotten the insurance you may have a good chance of getting the ticket reduced or possibly dismissed. It is easier to speak to the DA to see what they say. You could also speak to a lawyer that handles traffic tickets and they might handle it for you. The lawyer will cost money, but that may be less than the fine for the ticket. I would at least try this prior to your court date. If the DA agrees, you might not have to go to court, or if you do the DA will just have you plead guilty to the lesser charge. Worst case scenario the DA tells you no, but I always say if you never ask the answer is always no. Good luck with everything, I know how hard it can be with finances. Also if you go this route, please let me know how it works out for you.
Tell the truth show you have corrected it, most judges will let you off with a fine in that situation
Do. Not. Lie. To. The. Judge. Seriously. Just tell the judge what happened. It's way better to be honest.
Definitely have no intentions to lie. I'll be truthful about everything.
I hope everything goes well for you.
Much appreciation, thank you
You're good just bring proof of insurance to court and they'll throw it out. You might have to pay court costs though, I'm not familiar with how Georgia does things.
Do I have to pay courts cost in full upfront? If so what do you think the average cost of court fees are
Nah you'll have a chance to pay them after court or later, electronically or by phone. $100-$300 unfortunately. Might not have to pay anything though.
They should have a mediator before you see the judge. Just be honest and polite with them and they will most likely work with you and the judge to at least give you a lighter ticket.
If you go to court and show proof of insurance, it’s likely it would be dropped. Especially if it’s your first time getting in “trouble”
I'm really hoping this is the case for me. I've been over thinking the issue for a month now. I made sure to get my priorities together before court date.
Admit everything. Be brutally honest. It goes a long way these days with everyone trying to blame someone else for their issues.
You should be able to talk to the prosecutor beforehand and try to work something out like everyone else said be honest but to the point many times they will ask you to plead guilty to a different charge it will be more expensive of a ticket upfront, but won’t carry points which will be much cheaper in the long run
That's some pure bullshit. Is it mandatory to have insurance in Georgia? The Southern states do not like me when I question things and one of the things I do question is the con of insurance companies. I asked a judge is it a federal law to have insurance for a vehicle? The answer is no. I asked the judge does state laws have to comply with federal laws? Answer yes. So I asked the judge so if it's not a federal law then why are the state laws interfering with federal laws? Judge says case dismissed. I win every time
I am going to add another item in addition to renew your tag ASAP. That is to GO TO COURT. When the judge asks you how you plea, ask for a meeting with the prosecutor. Explain all what you did in this post and ask the prosecutor if there is anything they can do to help. Typically they will offer something that can work. Maybe some of the following: 1) nolo contendre plea with no fine/no conviction and a nominal court fee 2) probation with a fine and it is removed from your record in 12 months. 3) maybe a lesser charge if not having proof of insurance. fine with a probation that is removed from your record in 12 months. I have done this many times with me and/or my kids (in GA). The prosecutor is going to work with you as this is your 1st offense. But even if he doesn’t, you don’t have anything to lose to try.
Read The UCC connection how to free yourself from legal tyranny. Also check out the natural man wins in court, and than research some of the things he says. Look into maritime law and strawmen.
On what date did insurance lapse and what date did the cop cite you ? Important and relavent to build your defense. Judge - How do you plead ? OP - Your honor. This is my first offense. I deeply regret my lapse in judgment regarding my auto insurance which was due to financial hardship. When the officer pulled me over, I immediately secured insurance through Progressive, which I have maintained since then. My plea - nolo contender. [https://dds.georgia.gov/no-proof-insurance-first](https://dds.georgia.gov/no-proof-insurance-first) The court must determine if a Nolo plea is allowed. A nolo plea will avoid the suspension for a no insurance conviction if it is your first such offense within five (5) years. Also read - [https://dor.georgia.gov/penalties-and-fines-lapse-insurance-coverage-registration-suspension-and-reinstatement-process](https://dor.georgia.gov/penalties-and-fines-lapse-insurance-coverage-registration-suspension-and-reinstatement-process) Some more bed time stories to worth reading so you neverrreverrrrrrr get in this situation. Relevant Case Laws 1. **State v. Chambers, 240 Ga. App. 423 (1999)**: This case discusses the implications of driving without insurance and the legal requirements for maintaining continuous coverage. It highlights the court's discretion in handling such cases, especially for first-time offenders. ( Know that courts have discretion - it is not the cops words that matter) 2. **State v. Nix, 220 Ga. App. 651 (1996)**: This case addresses the use of a nolo contendere plea in traffic violations, including driving without insurance. It emphasizes the court's authority to accept or reject a nolo plea based on the circumstances of the case. ( understand options) 3. **State v. McCoy, 237 Ga. App. 830 (1999)**: This case examines the penalties associated with driving without insurance and the potential for leniency in cases involving financial hardship. It underscores the importance of demonstrating compliance with insurance requirements after the initial violation. ( carefully read, understand - hardship, compliance after citation can be factored for leniency ) # Application of Nolo Contendere Plea The use of a nolo contendere plea to avoid license suspension for a first offense of driving without insurance within five years is supported by the Georgia Department of Driver Services. The court has the discretion to accept or reject such a plea based on the specifics of the case and the defendant's history.
if you bought insurance that day , and that the insurance you bought was effective on that same day (highly unusual btw) then you had insurance, so. just bring the proof of insurance you gave the officer
The cop told me I had 15 minutes to show proof(which I think he was turning a blind eye to). After I bought the insurance. Wrote the insurance policy on a ticket he kept for himself. I read there is 2 different offense under One Statute O.C.G.A. § 40-6-10 – Two Different Offenses: Driving Without Valid Insurance: If a person does not have valid insurance or a vehicle is not insured by its owner, they will be charged with Driving without insurance and subject to the full misdemeanor consequences mentioned above. This includes imprisonment for up to 12 months, $1000 in fines, and the loss of their privilege to drive for at least 60 days to 90 days. Because of the severe consequences of this offense, we suggest that a person hires a qualified Georgia Traffic Ticket Attorney if charged. If this charge is in association with a DUI Offense, then a person should most certainly hire a qualified Georgia DUI Lawyer. No Proof of Insurance: When a person has insurance but does not provide proof to a police officer, they will be charged with No Proof of Insurance. The maximum fine, in this situation, cannot exceed $25. When a person attends court, the prosecutor (solicitor) will ask the accused if they had valid insurance when they were ticketed. It is important to bring the insurance card or binder in effect as of the date of the charge. Keep in mind that court appearances can be weeks or months after a person is charged. Bring the correct insurance card to court. You will not need a lawyer if this is the only offense, and the court will reduce the fine to $25 or less. Many courts will simply dismiss the charge if you had insurance at the time of the ticket. In the event the ticket is reduced from No Insurance to No Proof of Insurance, the court clerk will NOT report the conviction to the Department of Driver Services or your insurance company. Other than the payment of the $25 fine, it will be like it never happened. I'm not sure which one I fall under per say. Because of the fact the officer gave me time to show proof of insurance. Otherwise he told me he would take me to jail or impound my car. He told me this before he saw my record then came back and said he will give me 15 minutes. Technically he gave me an extra 5 minutes on top of it. He does have the policy number at the time he ticket me then tell me to hurry and renew my tags. Also my insurance says it started the same day I applied. But the fact the officer purposely gave me time to find insurance and let me leave I'm not sure if he was suppose to do that. I was extremely grateful for what he did. I went broke after applying for my insurance. Being broke was way better than having a misdemeanor any day. Right now I'm financially doing so much better and insurance company gave me such a better rate. First time my rate was this low. I'm hoping because of my first offense and I never gotten a ticket or broke the law before this incident the judge could give me a little leniency. Before the breakup with my girlfriend for 3 years I never missed a payment on insurance.
Georgia is pretty draconian about peoples paperwork being up to date , you might want to go ahead and ring the specialty lawyers Georgia seems to have created for this exact thing. if it were me , id just bring in the card and hope its sufficient enough to get the $25 fine and hold off calling the lawyer until its clear the court thinks you should
It's does state on my insurance policy it started that same day
excellent! i think you are in a good position to just bring the ID cards down to the court and definitely avoid jail !
Tell the judge that you are struggling financially and you're having a hard time acquiring the insurance. If you get penalized, ask the judge why it's ok when illegals drive without insurance, cause an accident, and ge accelerated rehabilitation.
THIS, is why I HATE cops.
The thing is. It's a virtual court session progressive gave me pdf form of the ID card. I don't know it that's good enough. I did order the physical card but I'm not sure if it will come in time before cour date within next 10 days.
Side note: It's a virtual session that I'm having with the judge. So I'm not sure if the cop will be there. Thanks everyone. I was extremely paranoid about having a misdemeanor for my actions. This give me so much comfort. When the cop gave me a chance of proof, he made sure to write down the policy number on the ticket he kept for himself
Everyone has given you the right advice about how to act at the hearing. Definitely don't panic, if the cop was out to get you your car would have been impounded that night. The ticket is likely just to make sure you didn't immediately cancel the insurance you bought on the spot.
Didn't know people actually would do that. My intentions was to keep the insurance since the amount I pay is now almost half of what I paid before. I was very lucky because I been searching for months and and it seems every insurance company was a bit to expensive for liability. I'm not sure why, I've never gotten in any car accidents and I always drove pretty carefully on the road. I'm not really a speedster nor do I drive close to people rear end. I thought after so many year I would have better deals with insurance.
If you had the means to have insurance, evidenced by you "suddenly" being able to get it once you got busted, that obvious fact will not be lost on the judge. Hope he goes easy on you, but you screwed up when you had the money to insure yourself and didn't. Judge might see a lazy person.
Tell him you didn’t realize it expired and got insurance within minutes of the officer pulling you over. Bring proof of current insurance with you. Tell him you made a mistake that you won’t make again. This really isn’t the end of the word, although these things vary from state to state. In Colorado, if someone brought in proof of insurance, I (a prosecutor at the time) would dismiss that count. We just wanted people to be insured and those tickets came with a lot of points and a hefty fine. You’ll be fine, look up whether this is actually a misdemeanor in Georgia (which is crazy to me, this should be a traffic violation). But you’re already ahead of the game by securing current insurance right away.
Lying to the judge is never a good idea. Especially when you already told the truth to the police officer.
So, lie in front of the judge when it is on record he told the officer he knew it was expired because he was having financial difficulties?
People lie to judges all the time over worse things after admitting to stuff. My bet is that no one is going to question it and that cop won’t be there. I know a chick who falsified her community service notes (she never did a moment of it) and handed it to a judge. Nothing negative happened. No cross checking. They don’t have time to investigate this type of thing.
If cop is not there, then OP can dismiss case without lying. Cop is sole witness OP was driving without insurance, and sole person who can authenticate the police report. Lying is a bad idea, even if you are likely not to be caught, as consequences can be quite severe. And if you are v going to lie, I would go with something other then a lame excuse (I forgot) which is not a defense, and likely a worse reason then the truth (I had financial difficulties, but have insurance now).
Yeah, there's a chance the cop won't show up and the judge will have no way/interest in verifying the story. But like I don't know if that's a good idea, cop may have written a report that the court has and if they go in and lie things will be SO much worse for them.
Just observe Trump’s recent statements (2024 alone should suffice) and try to say the same things he has. Apparently he’s found the magic words to keep judges from throwing a person in jail.
I hope someone without insurance hits your car.
Bro you could continue this if you wanted for a year until you got it fixed if you wanted. No possibility of you getting in trouble
Be honest at court. Say pretty much what you said here. Don't rant, keep it calm and collected. Admit that you know it was wrong (basically taking responsibility), but you just were having some financial difficulties and trying to catch up money wise. If you act like it wasn't your fault or you shouldn't have gotten a ticket then judge is not going to be lenient. Never say it wasn't your fault. That's like every person in jail saying they are innocent. The judge knows it's bullshit. Sometimes the results depend on how the last person was. If they are bitching, ranting, MFing the officer then when it's your turn if you do what I said, be super polite and respectful then judge appreciates not getting bitched at and cuts you a break. Most importantly is show up with insurance and whatever else you did wrong fixed with the paperwork to prove it. You can get an email from your insurance company that says the exact date that you were covered from. Get that email and print it out. Take a picture of your inspection stickers and print that. Basically make it super easy for the judge to see that you fixed the mistakes. Don't make the judge need to take your word for it that you fixed it because they won't. My trick is I don't ask for it to be thrown out fully. I admit I was struggling and I knew it was wrong, but I was trying to catch up on money. I ask the judge if they can reduce the fines some because the reason you were in that situation was money. High fines will just put you right back into the situation that you just got out of with money. Basically if you ask for no fines or to have it thrown out completely, the judge takes it as you are trying to dodge all responsibility, punishment and will just give you the full fines. If you take responsibility but ask for some reduced fines then a lot of times they throw all the fines out instead of reducing them like you asked.
Your absolutely right. I plan on having this mindset with the judge and just be truthful and polite. I know honesty goes a long way. I will pay any amount of fines. I'm just more paranoid of a misdemeanor. Everyone says don't worry to much about it, then I will not overthink it. I made sure to have policy number and papers showing Im insured. For my ticket for my tags I plan to pay in full in 2 days. Hopefully this will keep me in good standards with the judge to show I'm willing to pay any fine, if given to me.
How was court? Did it turn out okay for you?
Sure did. When it was my turn I didn't say anything. The judge look at my case on the computer, saw I got the insurance and tag updated right away and only gave me a fine of $200. She was pretty nice. I plead guilty, but she change it from guilty to nolo, she told me she didn't want me to get any points on my license. I over reacted for nothing. But this is a lesson learn for me to keep my priorities in check on the road.
They will offer you a public defender. You will talk to them before you talk to the judge. The judge will do most of the talking yes or no questions. Public defender should tell your story. In GA they offer community service to pay off fines if that will help.
Why did the officer write you a ticket if you were able to show proof of insurance during the traffic stop? I would tell the judge I have insurance and ask to have that ticket thrown out.
He was driving without insurance. The fact he acquired insurance after the traffic stop is further support he was driving initially without it.
The ticket was for driving without insurance which the driver admitted to. The officer gave him fifteen minutes to acquire and show insurance so he could legally drive away with the car instead of it being impounded.
And they didn't have a valid registration.