I doubt most places would even have the concept of an informal hearing for traffic infractions. . . . The possibility of getting a judge and office together to discuss your traffic infraction is I imagine pretty much zilch outside of your court appointed time.
Most places do have an informal hearing. Its not hard. You deny responsibility on the ticket, mail it in, and they schedule you for an informal hearing. Least thats how they do it up here. Call the court and get the information for an informal hearing. See what they say. Its fast, easy, cost effective, and no hassle. An informal hearing is really designed for infractions and less serious offenses. In this case though the only limiting factor may be that he might not have the option for an informal hearing altogether because of the excess speed. That's why I say, call the court and find out. It's not like they just "Meet" and talk to you. There are two kinds of hearings in a court house, "Formal and Informal" Formal being judge, jury, prosecution, defense, evidence, paperwork, hassle... and Informal being judge, you, officer. You can schedule them to be in like a week, as opposed to months out. Saves you time and money, saves the court time and money. So usually the way it works, they knock points and fines off the ticket to meet you halfway if they think you are guilty, but they may find you not guilty altogether. Its not all that different from a formal hearing with the setup. You sit at a table in front of the judges stand with a microphone and the officer next to you, you both explain your side of the story and what you want done about it, and the judge makes his decision. Given that his record is clean, the outcome should be in his favor. Heres how I look at it:
Formal:
Cost of jury summons (who knows)
Cost of several court hearings
about $500 for every visit for a lawyer
hearings booked months in advance
Lets say the ticket is $500... how much was your lawyer for each visit again?
Informal:
Judge meets with you and officer in a court room.
No jury, no lawyer.
hearing booked 1 to 2 weeks in advance
Court will usually meet you halfway on fines and points
Lets say the ticket is $500 and its 3 or 4 points... They can bump it down to 1 or 2 points and reduce the ticket to $250.
You save the court a lot of time and money by doing an informal hearing. Im not sure how old you are, but if you are over 25, even if you had the full charge and points for the ticket, it wouldn't hardly effect your insurance. I have a TERRIBLE driving record. I have 6 points right now and my insurance cost for my bike is $60 a month.
80mph on the Panigale still feels slow and is really easy to get to.
