2nd ticket in 6 months....

[ghetto waggon]

Last night, 9:36pm- pulled and ticketed for
"RECKLESS-RACING ON HWY"

I'll say in advance that it was a totally stupid misake, and I shoulda known better.

Now, we (the night crew) just got off work and were headed off to the new SWAT movie. Me and a friend, leading the line of cars, timed the light so that we could talk as to whether we were making any other stops. The light turned and we were still talking. The guys behind us gave a quick honk, and I yelled "lets go!".

At that point we both took off. I peeled and he near burnt out at the light. Just as I hit 7k rpms in 1st, I see a cop on the other side U-Turn around and put his lovely lights to use. I put the hazards on and came to a stop and ended up blocking the road. The friend of mine tested his luck and ran.

After finally pulling off to the right, and waiting about 5 mins of waiting for the officer, he comes up and does the license & registration routine. I do it and try to, in a friendly way, explain that we were begininng to hold up traffic from talking and simply said "lets go!" and happened to peel. He sharply cut me off and said "THERE'S NO GETTING AROUND IT, YOU WERE RACING ON A HIGHWAY, I AM DEBATING WHETHER OR NOT TO IMPOUND YOUR CAR AT THIS POINT" :wtf: !?!?

The fun really begins when I've got my box cutter in my wallet, from stocking the shelves at costco. A split second after viewing my box cutter, a he pulls the gun, passively aiming it at the ground.

Two more cops show up to "aid" the officer.

After being repeatedly threatened to impound the car until the trial date (Sept 19), I was forced to reveal the other driver. I realize this is something I'd never do on a normal basis, but I couldnt picture having the car IMPOUNDED for over a month.

After the other two officers showed up I was asked to get out of the vehicle etc, etc. After getting getting patted down on the hood of their car the other two cops starting talking to me. They appear to be cool as s***-> asking questions as to "where you go to school" "thats a nice car", "you at least beat him right???".
I totally wished one of them pulled me. After officer assvipe finished searching the car he came back to hear the three of us openly conversing. He's like, "He's clean, get out of here, NOW".

Then I was handed the court summons and asked to sign here saying that I will either pay or appear in court. I continue to ask what were the penalties if I were to pay vs. showing up in court. He corrects himself and scratches out the box and says, "oh, no. YOU'RE PAYING, AND you're going to court...No question about it". (Last ticket I got I had the option (not obeying hwy sign). So I appered in court and it was cleared upon driving school.

Frustrated enough I agreed to sign. At this point I wanted to get it over with. The guys had left me and I wasnt sure what was in store for me.

The asshole completely tried to rub it in that he was letting me off soft and that I should thank him. I refrained, politely though.

All in all....I was only really caught peeling out? Now, (HA, after just finishing driving school from the first ticket), I do realize that screeching tires does constitute reckless driving upon the officers judgement.

But whats with all the "RACING ON HWY" excitement and THE ******* IMPOUNDMENT? Realize I wasn't pulled for exceeding the speed limit. He didnt have jack s*** on me. Like I said, I was maxing out first gear when I saw the lights.

My real question is: Do I risk loosing my license? Realize I am only an 18 year old kid. My first ticket was in may 2002, while I was 17. Birthday falls in june. Now August 9, I get another.

Anyone from VA familiar with the point system? What do I face as far as that?

I'm totally screwed as far as insurance goes, as I expect a
+/- $1000 increase (from the $3000 last year).

IMO this scenario was way overplayed! I realize they take racing seriously, but come on guys!

:bs: :bs:

 

[mctoone]

Well, I feel for you because YOU know you were not racing but they didn't...here, in British Columbia, street racing has got out of hand...and I think the police are really nervous now a days. He may have been trying to put the fear of God in you so you will not drive like that any more. Who knows but maybe he's just fed up having to go tell parents that their child has died in a car accident..

 

[PeaB0dy]

Best thing to do, go to court, plead no contest with an explination..

Give them your side, but never accuse the officer of anything..

You shouldn't have pulled over, you automatically claimed your guilt.

Police in the US are paranoid, but then so are the rest of the country, your news agencies do a real good job of that..

Did you consent to a car search, you may want to investigate it if you didn't wether he has legal right too with out consent..

He can flash his light in your car and look, but, can he leagally enter your car?

Hope he doesn't show up to court, you may go scott free (I heard in FL that the cop doesn't have to show up anymore..).

 

[z00mer]

Dude...I know what you`re going through. After being stationed in Norfolk for a year and having to deal w/ the cops in that area, I do believe that they`re going to try and stick it to you w/ this ticket. After all the VA. cops that I ran into....i`d say they`re all pricks!! And being that your last ticket was less than a year ago......

And as for FL. not having the cop show up in court....that`s a new B.S. law that they just started at the begining of the year. It`s all a bunch of dookie!!!!:mad: Another thing that totally sucks in FL.....the troopers over there get to drive Z-28 SS, after going over their required quota in one month, along w/ a major bonus!!

 

[mp5]

Since you are still young, got a ticket within the last, and now have the reckless charge, get a lawyer to handle this for you. They will get a lot better results for you than you can get on your own. In addition, their fee will be a lot less then the increased insurance premiums you'll be paying for next 39 months. In my past experiences, the courts could care less about keeping the streets safe, they just want to increase thier revenue and as long as your willing to pay thier willing to let you continue to play.

 

[iLisa]

Joe.. man that sucks! Where did this happen at?
I got pulled over once in when I lived in Maryland and when he shined his flashlight in my car, he saw my big MagLight (which is exactly the type of light they carry) his question to me was, "why are you carrying a POLICE flashlight in your car?" WTF.. anyone can buy a MagLight at Target or Galyans... At the time, I had a 91 Plymouth Sundance with lots of different leaks so I told him the truth, that I used the flash light to locate where the leaks where coming from under my hood.
cops suck. I feel for you.

 

[MP5driva03]

Hey Joe, gimmie a call sometime this week. If you have any questions at all, I know someone who has all the answers. My dad knows just about every up and down of the legal system, considering what he does for a living, so I would suggest you gimmie a call and we'll see what happens. Im really sorry man, that sucks; I would not have pulled over until he PULLED me over man, but more power to ya for wanting to do the right thing. Good luck.

Chandler

 

[ghetto waggon]

after talking with the guys i found out fairfax county just heavily expanded two of their divisions at a seperate new facility. Those two would be street racing and drugs.

And yes, you are correct in saying they have the interceptor camaro's...we took a drive over there and they had three, totally unmarked. Silver, green, and black. Windows tinted at 5% or less. I've also seen a fully marked camaro with chrome rims at borders.

My next problem is letting the parents know....always fun

Am I correct in saying that I need to get a lawyer?
At this point I dont care about the money issue. I'll pay. I just dont want to loose my license.

THanks guys

 

[Micah]

wow, you sound like me. I got up to 14 points on my license in the first 2 years I was driving. I didn't get a ticket for the first 11 months. Felt invincible. Then I started getting caught, often.

I can tell you this, reschedule court appearances when you can. Points are recorded on your license and reported to your insurance company based on the date of your court date, not of the offense. I've delayed a ticket 4 months once. Just took two really nice phone calls to the court systems secretary.

I recently got a ticket in Delaware, on the way back from Atlanta. I literally was 50ft. from NJ when they pulled me over. But the fees are cheap in Del. 64 in a 50 is $56.15. The cop actually circled and wrote on the ticket "87 actual". Otherwise I would have tried to plea bargained with the prosecutor. So I am writing out the check now. Joy.

By the way, when I had 14 points, I was 22 years old, (didn't get my license until I was 20) and for liability I was paying $3800 a year. I was on "NJ Assigned Risk" insurance where they just farm you out. You don't get to choose your insurance company. I also had $400 in Surcharges a year for a year. Then it started to go down. The fun part was that when I turned 25, my insurance dropped. Moving into my car payment was painless.

 

[ghetto waggon]

that sounds risky playing with the court dates

also, we're most likely going to have my friend involved as well, so that'd make it even harder.

We'll see

 

[REMillers]

Court date switching is possible, a co-worker avoided her reckless (85 on the Dulles toll road) by doing that.

And yes seen the Camaros many many many times on the parkway. Ohh and one is specially hookup to handle and the other ones run low 11second 1/4miles.

Talk to Chandler see what his dad has to say since he is a judge and such. Could be good free legal advice.

When is your court date?

I'll wait in the parking lot to slash the cops tires if he nails you

 

[ghetto waggon]

Like I said I wish I woulda just gotten pulled by one of the other cops that showed up. Of course I got the dick.

 

[ghetto waggon]

and I dont understand about "shoul've waited to actually get pulled" ???

Did I need to have him in front of me hitting the brakes?



After thinking about it, I'm glad I didn't run. I remember a friend's dad's patrol car, and it had a camera in the front bumper that ran when the lights were activated. Knowing that my friend prolly already got f'ed

who knows

 

[Stealth5]

what a crock, cops are ****** assholes

 

[fastdrvr23]

what a crock, cops are ****** assholes

Not all of us are... I'm a reserve county deputy and a former MP in the national guard, and I take a totally different line with stuff like this. I only work 1 weekend a month now, but it's enough to make me glad that I don't have to do it all the time. There are some really dumb-ass ignorant s***-heads that are on the roads.

In Joe's situation, I probably would have let him off with a warning, the friend that ran would have a ticket. Hell, at least Joe fessed up and told the truth, s***, I hate being lied too more than anything.

For example: In May, I pulled two guys over for street racing... I was parked at an intersection on a four lane highway, listening to the radio looking for people to run the red light, or a drunk or two. Anyways, two cars pull up, An older eclipse and newer Mustang GT... They start into revving, spinning a little, screaming at one another etc... At green, they take off... Right in front of me! A White Crown Vic. with Deputy Sheriff plastered all over it. Idiots. I catch up, eventually, and get them both pulled over. Well, the first thing out of the mustang driver's mouth is, "What's the ******* problem, I wasn't doing anything wrong."
Uhhh, yeah. Normally, since it was 1:00 AM or so, and no one was around, I would have let them walk. "Don't do it anymore, shame on you", that sort of thing... What a terd.

He ended up being high as a freakin' kite on Crystal Meth... The poor guy in the Eclipse, with his g/f, looked like he was going to die from fright. He said the guy had been chasing them for a few miles, swerving towards them, basically harassing them, and he just wanted to get away. So, I let him off with a "Speed Greater Than Safe" violation, our lowest allowable fine, with a court date... I urged him to go, and when the court date came, I sort of "forgot" to go to court. Thus, dismissing his violation all together. The other asshole got to spend a little time in club fed., have his car impounded only to find more dope, and went to court to pay all sorts of fines and such.

Sometimes, not ALL cops are assholes. Unfortunately, you're probably too young to understand just how many drivers are complete and utter fucktards. Anyways, I figured I'd share.

Joe, just go to court, a lawyer is not a bad idea, but at the very least do go to court. Good luck with it...

 

[Ryan]

dude blow the cop off take it to court explain the situation if the judge doens't understand then u pull the box cutter jump over the counter and cut his/her ******* throat

 

[iLisa]

When is your court date?

I'll wait in the parking lot to slash the cops tires if he nails you

yeppers.. I will sit out there with Rob and we'll take care of the cops car.. lol..

 

[ghetto waggon]

At first the cop read to me, like the first ticket,

"...by signing here you admit to either paying the fine or attending court if you feel for any reason the summons was not given in fairness..."

So when he stopped, I asked if he could possibly clarify what my options were as far as paying vs. going to court.

He then corrected himself and said, "You ARE paying, and you ARE going to COURT. He then scratched out the box that he asked me to sign, and then made me sign on a different line.

I have yet to call the courthouse and see what exactly is in store for me as far as fines and penalties. Although, on the last ticket, they said they couldnt provide any information as to the points and licensing penalties...(I guess that meant call the DMV?)

Haha, and fastdrvr, I like the "Forgot to show up for court" bit.
I percieve thats about what would have happened if I would've gotten pulled by one of the other guys.

I agree not all cops are assholes. The one who came to my accident did an awesome job and was extremely friendly. He left me with his card and offered his cell phone number, along with the invitiation to call him at any time if I were to come across a question. Just like any other given situation, there are heroes and assholes. Just turns out I got the asshole.

 

[acl]

I don't know if I'd mess with the whole rescheduling of the court date thing - I had to do that three times because I couldn't make a trip to upstate NY (4 hours away) for doing 73 in a 65; when I switched from being covered under a corporate auto policy to my own that ticket was still lingering because I had waited so long to go to court. It's funny how things work out, if I would have just mailed in the fees and been done with it I would have saved 2K in insurance premiums for one year.

An old trick that I can't say still works was to overpay the ticket by a buck or so and never cash the refund check they mail you. I know people that have done that (many years ago) and never had any points show up and their insurance companies never knew about the tickets.

As for the officer, not much you can do. It's the luck of the draw on which type you'll get. Some moron smashed my rear window in my old SUV when he was directing traffic (waving his flashlight and walking around an intersection) then had the nerve to write me a ticket and say I tried to run him over. THAT was a fun court date - luckily for me this guy had many problems in the past and the Judge knew it, so the ticket was dismissed, but they wouldn't pay for the window - glad it was a company vehicle

 

[jaje]

back in st louis i was worked at the public defender while still in law school and learned lots of tricks on reducing tickets or getting out of them completely

if you got a ticket designated as "reckless" in VA you cannot pay by mail and have to physically appear in court...if you don't go they will find you guilty and assess the maximum penalty

try to get a delay for your court date...i had to write a letter for mine in VA

go to court early and listen to the judge and how he reacts to others who have gotten a ticket...decide your guilty / non guilty (do not plead nolo contendere as its basically guilty)

look at what was written on the ticket and see if they wrote a speed or (radar) designating speed

if not then its more of a gray area and use "distance" (how far away the cop was watching what he thought was reckless) as a way to make it out that the cop was exaggerating what you did (peeling tires from a stop light is not per se a crime)