How to Avoid Speeding Ticket Penalties
Netlore Archive: Forwarded email claims drivers ticketed for speeding can avoid incurring points against their license by overpaying fines.
Description: Email rumor
Circulating since: 1998
Status: False (see details below)
1998 example:
Email text contributed by Kaz M., Oct. 3, 1998:
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If you find that you have got a speeding ticket or you have gone through a red light or what ever you do to lose demerit points from your license, I have heard of a method to ensure that you DON'T lose any points.
It is this: Now, here is the trick - Source: Rick Thoonen |
1999 example:
Email text contributed by Jason K., March 2, 1999:
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Subject: FW: Speeding ticket loophole..
A police officer confirmed this for me. THIS IS FOR USA ONLY I tried to pass this on to anyone I could think of. This procedure works in any state. Read it and try it, you have nothing to loose but the points in your license. If you get a speeding ticket or went through a red light or whatever the case may be, and you are going to get points on your license, then there is a method to ensure that you DO NOT get any points. When you get your fine, send in the check to pay for it and if the fine is say $79, then make the check out for $82 or some small amount above the fine. The system will then have to send you back a check for the difference, but here is the trick! ---DO NOT CASH THE CHECK!! Throw it away! Points are not assessed to your license until all the financial transactions are complete. If you do not cash the check, then the transactions are not complete. However the system has gotten its money so it is happy and will not bother you any more. |
2000 example:
Email text contributed by Vicki A., July 29, 2000:
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Just thought I would share this with you, as you know I work in the ticket enforcement division and in the course of my investigation into "fines, their payment methods, and how points are assessed against drivers licenses" we discovered something very interesting.
If You Get A Traffic Ticket, This has been tried and it works..... I tried to send this to everyone I know. I know that for a fact this works so if you ever get in this situation, you have an out. We discovered that this procedure works in every state. Read it and try it, you have nothing to lose but the points on your license. This is how it works: If you get a speeding ticket or went through a red light or whatever the case may be, and you are going to get points on your license, then there is a method to ensure that you DO NOT get any points. When you get your fine, send in the check to pay for it and if the fine is say, $79, then make the check out for $82 or some small amount over the fine. The system will then have to send you back a check for the difference, but here is the trick! Throw it away!! Points are not assessed to your license until all financial transactions are complete. If you do not cash the check, then the transactions are NOT complete. However, the system has gotten its money and is happy and will not bother you any more. This information came to our attention from a very reliable computer company that sets up the standard database used by each states' DMV. Good luck and share this with all your friends and other family members, as well!!! |
Analysis: The words "Too good to be true" ought to be on everyone's lips as they read the above. Consider the following:
- The scheme is based on this supposed loophole: "Points are not assessed to your license until all financial transactions are complete." Don't bet on it. Most DMVs probably operate like California's, which assesses points against your driving record upon conviction for safety violations. (Source: California NOPS Guidelines.)
- Furthermore, states don't necessarily issue refund checks automatically when there's a small overpayment. For example, California simply keeps any excess amount under $10 unless the payer submits a written request for a refund within six months. (Source: California State Code.) Some other states do automatically issue refunds but cancel the checks if they haven't been cashed in a given period of time — and keep the money.
- Versions of the "no points" ploy have been circulating via email for years (I've got over 150 copies on file). If any states were vulnerable to it, surely they've caught wind of the loophole by now and amended their laws to fix it.
- Despite being prefaced in some versions of the text with the claim "THIS IS FOR USA ONLY," the scheme did not even originate in the U.S. Note the Anglicized spelling of the word "cheque" in the earliest specimen above. Note also the name of the organization from which it originated: "RACV Touring Publications." In case you were wondering, "RACV" is the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria — in Australia, where we have no good reason to suppose the scheme works any better than it would in the U.S.
Needless to say, I don't recommend trying this. It ought to be seen and appreciated, rather, for what it is — a specimen of the time-honored folklore of "Beating the System."
Further reading:
Fine for Speeding
From the Urban Legends Reference PagesMissing the Points
From Urban Legend Zeitgeist
