Looking for advice on whether I should bring a traffic lawyer to a ticket negotiation in NY.

A couple of weeks ago I got a ticket for not wearing my seatbelt, which I already pled guilty to.

Then, about two weeks later, I got pulled over by a NY State Trooper on the interstate. He told me I was doing over 80 in a 65. I handed him my license and registration without any issues.

He asked if my license was clean, and I said yes. I completely forgot about the seatbelt ticket from two weeks earlier because I wasn’t thinking of that as part of my driving record.
He went back to his car, came back, and gave me a ticket for “speed not reasonable or prudent,” which, from what I understand, is a 3-point violation if I’m found guilty. However, he did not write the speed I was going on the ticket.

As he was handing me the ticket, he also thanked me for wearing my seatbelt and then said something along the lines of, “Make sure you tell your friends to wear theirs too.” That comment was completely unsolicited and kind of caught me off guard. I don’t know if he was referencing the seatbelt ticket he had just seen when he ran my information or if it was just a generic safety comment.

My appearance next week isn’t the actual trial, it’s basically an opportunity to negotiate the ticket with the prosecutor.
My brother thinks I should just go by myself because these negotiations are pretty routine. A traffic lawyer I spoke with, of course, thinks I should hire him and have him come with me.

I’m trying to decide whether it’s worth paying for an attorney or if this is something people typically handle on their own.

For those who have gone through this in New York:

Is it common to negotiate these tickets yourself?
Does having a seatbelt ticket from two weeks earlier make the speeding negotiation any more difficult?
Is there any significance to the trooper’s comment about the seatbelt, or am I reading too much into it?
Would you hire a lawyer for a situation like this, or save the money unless negotiations fall apart?

This is in Kent, New York.

I’d appreciate any advice from people bwho’ve been through the NY traffic court process.

I live in PA was going upstate NY to watertown and roughly half way there got a speeding ticket. Unfortunately going 86 in a 65. I admit I am wrong for speeding. The dog was puking and I jist wasnt paying attention.

Looking everything up, it wont effect my pa license point wise, but will effect my insurance.

What steps should I take, not guilty or guilty? Should I hire a laywer?

Further information

First offence never been pulled over before.

Clean record.

Happened in cortland NY

Got pulled over by a trooper on 787 on 6/11. Pleaded not guilty and mailed my ticket in that same day. Still nothing…How long does it take to receive it in the mail? This would be Albany traffic court.

The NY DMV has this on their website:

Moving Violations

Your New York State driver license will be suspended if you fail to answer a ticket for a moving violation in any state except Alaska, California, Michigan, Montana, Oregon, or Wisconsin. Your license will remain suspended until you answer the ticket. 

Drivers from any state, except those from the six states listed above, will have their driver licenses suspended in their own state for failure to answer a moving violation in New York State.

The New York State DMV does not record out-of-state convictions of moving traffic violations of New York State non-commercial licensed drivers, except for traffic offenses committed in Canada

I'm curious what this policy looks like in practice and if anyone here can provide data points. It would appear that if you get a ticket in another state so long as it's nothing crazy like DUI, if you just pay it, the NY DMV ignores it.

I'm wondering, has anyone here gotten a ticket in another state that they just paid or did not plea down all the way to a non moving violation, did anything show up on your driving record? Also, even if nothing showed up, did your car insurance find out about it and raise your rates? I know sometimes car insurance companies have their own systems. It would be good to know definitively if you get a ticket out of state that you don't need to spend money getting a lawyer or wasting time negotiating out something.

My mother was recently pulled over in New York and given a ticket: "VTL 1225-D: Operate Moving Motor Vehicle While Using Portable Electronic Device".

She works as an orderly transporting autistic people (patients?). One of the patients uses his phone in the van (he isn't allowed to), so she doesn't keep her own phone in the cup holder. Instead, she normally keeps it in the driver's door compartment, but in this particular van the phone repeatedly falls out.

She then placed the phone on her lap, but it started slipping off while she was driving. She picked it up to keep it from falling, and held in her hand with the steering wheel. She maintains that she never looked at the screen, touched the screen, texted, called anyone, or otherwise used the phone. The trooper observed the phone in her hand while the vehicle was moving and issued the ticket.

She also says the trooper told her something to the effect of, "I know you're not using your phone, but having it in your hand is enough." I understand that may ultimately come down to credibility unless it's on body camera footage.

There was also a coworker in the passenger seat who witnessed the incident and is willing to testify (only in writing, he is very busy, I guess) that she was only holding the phone because it was slipping and was not interacting with it.

We're trying to decide on the best course of action. Specifically:

Should we request a supporting deposition?
Is this the type of case that's generally worth fighting, or are we more likely to be better off trying to negotiate a plea to a lesser violation?

Any advice from people familiar with New York traffic court would be greatly appreciated.

Location: Dutchess County, New York

Does anyone know the ticket turnaround for them? They received my ticket June 18th. Any idea when I should get a response?

Got a ticket in April for cell phone use (VTL 1225) in Ithaca. After the stop I downloaded the sysdiagnose logs from my iPhone which show it charging in its wireless charging cradle in my car during the alleged use. (I'm able to confirm the timestamps because I also recorded the officer's observation and the subsequent stop with the dashcam on my Tesla.)

I pleaded not guilty, got the officer's deposition (which was one sentence long), and rejected the plea deal at the pre-trial conference.

However, I just spoke with a local attorney who advised me to take the plea deal anyway. Says that because of my clean record the 3-point reduced charge (failure to obey - VTL 1110(a)) will not raise my insurance, and that my likelihood of losing the trial is still high enough that it's not worth risking it.

Any thoughts?