How many times have you received a speeding ticket that was unjust? Have you ever believed that paying an extra $600 per year for speeding five miles over the limit is a little too much? I know I have.

That's right, I was clocked at 30mph in a 25mph zone. Now, I am not saying I am innocent or that I shouldn't have been pulled over. But before this incident, I had a five-year clean driving record.

The ticket was for $230 and my insurance would go up by $600 a year. That made me think about the whole idea of speeding tickets and fines. It also made me think what I can do to avoid having to pay huge amounts of money for two seconds of day-dreaming, even though I neither hurt anyone nor created a dangerous situation.

Through my Web research on this subject, I was able to compile the following list of sites that are very helpful if you're in a situation similar to mine.

How to avoid getting a ticket:

SpeedTrap
http://www.speedtrap.com

This site is an invaluable resource for both local and long-distance travel. It has a comprehensive list of police speed-traps for every state in the US, and 36 countries around the world. You can view the list of traps by state, and you can even view a map image for domestic traps. I recently moved to a new community, and this site helped me to locate places where extra care is needed to avoid getting a ticket.

Navigation around the site is simple: two buttons on the homepage allow you to choose between foreign and domestic traps. On the next screen, you will be able to select the state or the country in which you are interested.

Bear Trap Guide
http://www.beartraps.com

Another site that lists traps is the Bear Trap Guide. Different from the first site, this one lists police traps by the highway number. There are almost 70 highways listed here, covering all continental states. In a valuable addition, this site also provides a guide to exits for these highways; you no longer have to wonder what exit to take to go from I-26 to I-85.

Radar Detector FAQ
http://crash.ihug.co.nz/~geoff/radar_frameset.html

If you want to be a little more aggressive about not getting a ticket, you may consider investing in a radar detector. If you're new to this, you will soon be confused with all the different brands and various abbreviations. When I was researching radar detectors, I stumbled upon a very helpful site: the Radar Detector FAQ.

Notwithstanding being in New Zealand, this site offers to answer most questions you might have about radar detector. It will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about how the police radar works, and what to look for in a detector.

Autopedia
http://autopedia.com/html/Radar.html

Once you've decided you need a radar detector (to avoid cops that hide on top of the overpasses for example), you may want to check out Autopedia's radar detector page. There you'll find a number of links to manufacturers, retailers, and other interesting sites. So you will be able to compare characteristics of different detectors and buy the one you want from the retailer who offers the lowest price.

SpeedLabs
http://www.speedlabs.com

If you still want to know more about police use of radar, visit the SpeedLabs. This organization tests both detectors and radar, and will happily send you results of their tests and evaluations.

How to fighting the ticket in court:

So it happened to you... Don't worry, you're not alone - last year 678,000 people received speeding tickets from highway patrol officers. Certainly a number of them was unjustified; policemen, like normal people, make mistakes too.

Getting a ticket and all the formal procedures associated with it can be a very unnerving experience. Thankfully, there are sites on the Web that will help you and give advice on what to do and what not to do at the scene and in court.

How To Beat a Speeding Ticket
http://www.norman-law.com/page12.html

One site that I find to be of great use is "How To Beat a Speeding Ticket." It has a wealth of information regarding everything that you have to do. Not only that, it also explains all the legal procedures and your rights. You may be surprised at how a little thing, like an incorrect driver license number written on the ticket, can help to save you hundreds of dollars in tickets and insurance premiums.

PayNoFine
http://www.paynofine.com