No Free Pass For Cell Users in UP School Zones
As you may have noticed, the police departments of University Park and Highland Park are out this week actively patrolling the cities’ school zones for drivers talking on their cell phones and other traffic-related violations.
What you may not know is Highland Park officers are giving offenders a warning this week only, while University Park officers have already issued 32 tickets (over the 2.5 days since school started) to drivers talking on their cell phones in a school zone, according to officials from both police departments.
Last year both departments wrote well over three hundred tickets a piece (HP wrote 395 from December to May, 2007 while UP wrote 332 from January to May last year, according to both departments).
UPDATE: The tickets come with a $75 fine, $11 of which goes to the city (the rest goes to the state), according to HPPD.
Any Overheardian received one of these tickets? If so, please tell us how much it cost you or if you hired a defense attorney or someone to try to have it dismissed.
The fine in UP is $99.00. The State collects $64 of that. The only person who can dismiss a traffic ticket is the municipal judge or a person can elect to hire an attorney to get the charge dismissed by the court.
Chief Adams
Ah! Thanks for the info. Y’all hang up those phones, now. Think of how many MiCocina’s Mambo Taxis you can buy with that $99.
Just kidding, Chief.
Love the fact that the first thought is “How do I fight the ticket” instead of “Wow, maybe I should follow the law and not be on the phone in a school zone”. The HP way lives on!
OUOV - you think too much. The first thought wasn’t “how do I get out of it,” it was “how much does it cost.” Don’t look for a negative where there isn’t one.
Hi,
police departments of University Park and Highland Park are out this week actively patrolling the cities’ school zones for drivers talking on their cell phones and other traffic-related violations. So, I advice the vehicle holders to be very careful regarding their driving and be cautious about the polrce around
UP needs to be writing tickets rather than warnings this week and every week since four of the six HPISD campuses are in UP city limits, plus the school zone for CTK. The law has been on the books, and with the school zone flashing lights on once again, drivers need to be diligent!