Traffic ticket Massachusetts

December 18, 2014 2:13 PM

While driving in very remote small town I was cited for Failure to Stop. There are problems with the case, details here are not pertinent, I meant to contest in a hearing but forgot to send in the papers. Now MA wants to suspend permission to drive in the state unless I pay $380 to avoid the suspension. I barely have half that and rely on monthly social security. What can I do to find a solution to this problem? Before Dec. 31.
posted by NorthCoastCafe to Law & Government (4 answers total)

Call the court and ask them. The folks are usually really helpful. They can help you get a hearing, or get on a payment plan or some other arrangement. But you have to communicate with the court to get the ball rolling.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 2:26 PM on December 18, 2014 [4 favorites]

Ruthless Bunny is spot on. Call the court and ask them for whatever it is you want/need. They will likely be helpful to the extent they can.
posted by 724A at 2:32 PM on December 18, 2014

As said above call the court. Something similar happened to me. I missed the hearing date and then got a notice in the mail saying I owe the original fine + late fees etc... I called and was able to get another hearing date scheduled which I went to and won by default because the officer did not show up to testify.
posted by eatcake at 6:13 PM on December 18, 2014 [1 favorite]

Anecdotally, I've had the same experience as eatcake, which is that if you request a rescheduled hearing, it's less likely that the officer will show up to testify, and you can simply plead not guilty and win by default. (The one time it's happened to me, the judge was hinting to the defendants as strongly as he could that all they had to do was say "not guilty" and they could leave.)
posted by McCoy Pauley at 7:06 AM on December 19, 2014 [1 favorite]