Whether you were going 5 or 15 miles per hour (mph) over the posted speed limit, if you got caught by the police, you likely felt resigned to the fact that you would receive a citation for violating the law. People speed because they want to follow the flow traffic, because they didn’t leave early enough to get to their destination on time or simply because they want to minimize their commute time – especially on their way home.
Speeding tickets can cost hundreds of dollars
How much a speeding ticket costs depends on how you were caught and how much over the speed limit you drove. Most serious speeding tickets involve exceeding the posted speed limit by 10 mph or more. The standard fine for that offense in Phoenix is $250. You can expect the cost to go up for another $50 for each additional 5 mph over the speed limit and by as much as $200 if the officer alleges your speed was 20 mph over the limit.
When the citation results from a traffic camera, no law enforcement officer plays a role in the citation. Instead, the driver will simply receive a citation in the mail, typically for $165 plus surcharges and fees. As if those expenses weren’t bad enough, speeding usually results in at least three points on your license, which can increase your risk for fees from the state while also increasing your insurance costs.
Police officers in Arizona issue thousands of traffic citations on any given day. Most people simply pay their speeding tickets with little thought to how it could impact them in the future. For many people, however, pushing back against the speeding ticket might be the best option.