Massachusetts Speeding Tickets FAQ

You can either fight it or pay it. You must request your hearing within 20 days. You request your hearing by mailing in the ticket to the address on the back.

If you are cited for speeding by a police officer, you only have 20 days to either pay the fine or to appeal the fine in a hearing. If you request a hearing, you must pay a $25 filing fee to the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV). If you do not take action within 20 days, you will also receive a late fee.
Failure to pay the speeding fine and the late fee will result in your license being suspended.

If you ignore your Massachusetts speeding ticket you will lose your right to fight the ticket and the Massachusetts RMV will suspend your license until you pay the ticket. If you live out of state you may not be able to renew your license until you pay the ticket and other fines and penalties.

In Massachusetts, the speeding appeal is conducted in the court where the speeding ticket was given. You can find this by looking at the court code (found on the top of the ticket) and usually, the Officer puts the court on the bottom of the ticket.

Yes. You are not required to bring a lawyer and a lawyer will not be appointed to you but you can bring your own lawyer.

Whether you can reschedule your Massachusetts speeding ticket appeal is up to the individual clerk magistrate. If you need to reschedule your hearing you should call the court as soon as possible and ask if they can reschedule it. Most courts will not grant a second rescheduling.

Yes. But in certain circumstances, you can allow your lawyer to appear in your place.

No! Massachusetts does not have a traffic school alternative or a way to plea it down to a non-moving violation. The only way to avoid insurance increases and penalties on your license is to be found Not Responsible.

No. Only the police officer can decide to give you a warning. The clerk can only find you responsible or not responsible.

The police officer who gave you your Massachusetts speeding ticket does NOT need to appear at the Magistrate’s or clerk’s hearing. In Massachusetts, the ticket itself if the prima facie evidence of the speeding. Usually, a police prosecutor will summarize from the ticket.
If you appeal your ticket to a judge the officer will have to appear or you will be found not responsible.

A speeding ticket fine is $100 for any speed up to 10 miles above the posted speed limit. The fine increases by $10 for each additional mile after the first 10. For example, if you are pulled over for driving 16 miles above the speed limit, your fine will be $160. If you were pulled over for speeding in a posted work zone, the amount of the fine as calculated above will be doubled.

Drivers who get three speeding tickets within a one-year period will have their license suspended for 30 days upon paying for or being found guilty of the third citation.

Speeding is a minor traffic violation that constitutes a “surchargeable event” in Massachusetts. The accumulation of three surchargeable events within a two-year period, or five surchargeable events within a three-year period, will result in mandatory enrollment in a driver retraining school.

Surchargeable events accumulate surchargeable points on a driver’s license. The more surchargeable points that you accumulate in a given period of time, the more your car insurance rates will increase.

Yes. Your first speeding ticket may not incur any surchargeable points yet you will still see an increase in your insurance. However, you will lose your Excellent Driver Plus Discount and see your premiums rise and stay higher for six years!

Massachusetts Division of Insurance Website Click Here