A driver in California recently went viral when she posted a life hack on how to get out of a speeding ticket by using an online service.
TikToker Arine Kim (@arinekim) filmed the video as a PSA to other drivers and racked up over 495,000 views as of the publication of this story.
In her video, Kim shared how she discovered the service she used to get out of her ticket. “Basically, when I was driving down from the Bay to L.A., cops pulled me over for going 85 in a 70,” she said. “Total fine is around $250 in addition to a point on my record, which increases my insurance car insurance.”
Since Kim lives in L.A., she said she didn’t want to drive over three hours to fight the speeding ticket. So, she did some research to find an alternative.
“I was just not gonna go to court to try to fight that ticket,” she said. “And I found out there are two different online services that you can use to help fight your ticket.”
Kim said that during her research, she discovered two ways to take care of her ticket without going back to Fresno. The first way was trial by written declaration. According to the California Courts Self-Help Guide, this is where a judge reviews a written statement from the accused and the police officer who wrote the ticket. If the court finds the defendant not guilty or lowers the fine, it will refund anything over the new amount, the guide states.
“They’re not actual lawyers, and they won’t actually go to court for you, but they still have a pretty high success rate,” Kim said.
Kim chose the second option: hire a ticket attorney. A good lawyer in this field usually costs between $100-$150 in Southern California, according to a post on the r/CaliforniaTicketHelp Reddit sub. The post states that ticket attorneys will actually go to court for the defendant. Kim said she used one of the multiple sites that have sprung up to offer the service.
“The one I used is OfftheRecord,” she said. “I think they have over a 90% success rate where they will actually hire a lawyer on your behalf to fight your ticket. What’s really nice about this option is that it cost me $99. They have a 100% money-back guarantee if they are not able to have either your ticket dismissed or your fine reduced.”
“And for these lawyers, dealing with traffic tickets [is] literally their bread and butter,” she said. “That’s why they have such a high success rate. And a lot of times, they’ll have a personal relationship with the judge and will be able to help you in that regard.”
@arinekim not endorsing speeding and unsafe driving but ive read reviews where people were going 100+ and still managed to get their ticket dismissed ! Hope this helps :) will update yall on my case ! #arinekim #trafficticket #lifehacks ♬ original sound – arine 🍊
Multiple viewers shared their experience with getting their speeding tickets reduced or dismissed.
“I did trial by written declaration myself, mail it to the court, and got off scott free. The cop was too lazy to submit paperwork lmao,” one said.
“And even if you can’t get the entire ticket dismissed, you can get it extremely reduced,” a second added.
“I used this service and nothing. Just an additional 99$ on top of my fine and the ticket on my record,” another viewer said.
“Damn my quote for off the record is $167,” a further replied.
If you don’t want to spend the extra money, then going to court may be a good option. In fact, it may not take much bandwidth. One Houston driver got her speeding ticket completely dismissed after she chose trial by jury. She had her case thrown out the moment she arrived at the courthouse three months later.
The Daily Dot reached out to Kim via email for further comment.
