Obviously, the best way to avoid a fine for speeding is to simply obey the posted speed limits. If you’ve already received a ticket, however, it’s not a lost cause. Under certain circumstances, you may be able to get your speeding fine reduced. In addition to saving you money immediately, this will often help prevent your auto insurance rates from going up in the future.

Some states are very generous when it comes to forgiving a one time mistake on the record of an otherwise cautious driver. Rhode Island drivers, for example, are allowed to ask that a speeding ticket be dismissed if it’s for exceeding the speed limit by less than 20 miles per hour and they haven’t had any other infractions in the last three years. A number of other states will allow you to defer judgment on a ticket if you keep your record clean for the next six months.

For a minor infraction, traffic school is often the best way to get a speeding fine reduced or to have the charged erased from your driving record. Several different traffic school options are available in most states, including online courses. You may have to pay tuition for the traffic school, however.

As a last resort, you can go to court to get your speeding fines reduced. This can be time consuming, but courts do count on the fact that only about 3% of drivers bother to contest a ticket in this manner. Sometimes, clerks will reduce the charge in order to avoid taking time away from more important cases. You may also be able to get your fines reduced or eliminated if there is a significant typographical error on your ticket or the ticket writing officer fails to show up for the case.

If it is a serious speeding ticket, or you have had previous speeding citations, you may want to consult with a traffic ticket attorney to see what assistance they can offer.

Whatever option you select for getting your speeding fines reduced, do not give into the temptation to simply ignore the ticket. If you ignore a speeding ticket, you risk having a warrant issued for your arrest. Thanks to modern technology that allows DMV offices to easily share information with each other, this could happen even if you get the ticket while traveling out of state.