Yah, I'd say you were pretty lucky. 35 over is a big deal; you would have been paying for that ticket out of the next ten paychecks!

Here is the wisdom I've gleaned over the last several tickets, I mean years.

1. Never lie to a cop...they know.
2. Always be polite, no matter how p*ssed you are.
3. Call him/her "sir"/"maam"
4. Shake his/her hand after the stop, ticket or not.

And if all else fails and you get a ticket (and you weren't doing something really stupid), ask him/her to put it on your file. If he/she agrees, you won't have to pay it or get points on your license unless you get another ticket in (I believe) six months, in which case, both come due.

You can also contest it, set a court date, and talk to the officer about a week before the court date. Plead poverty, ask nicely and they might lower or omit the fine.

These ideas have worked miracles for me and my husband, and helped make us a lot of friends in the law enforcement community. Just to give you an idea, we've been stopped roughly 7 times, ticketed about 5, and paid 2 I think (the first 2, before we knew to do all this).

You are one lucky *-O-B!

I'm 2 for 2 in my pulled over to ticket ratio, but I'm also 2 for 2 winning (as in no points) in court.