My speeding ticket: Tale of complete BS!

[gonerogue]

That's not what I meant. Obviously 65 isn't fast and neither is 100 for that matter. The question is why the necessity to exceed the speed limit so much, or even that all? Chances are you're driving <5 miles up the road so those extra 10 miles per hour aren't doing you any good. I love coming up to a stoplight ~10 seconds after the person going 15+ mph over the speed limit just to end up right next to him at the light. The only thing he/she managed to do was burn a little more fuel than I, not taking vehicle fuel consumption into consideration.

I agree, I can't stand it when people travel below the limit when there is no reason to do so. There should be a lower limit as well...

I see what you're saying and I generally agree with you. When I get on the highway, I generally stay in the right lane if I'm only going a few exits, even if that means going 5 under (happens a lot in the right lanes around here). I like to look at a 4 lane (one direction) highway as something of a speed gradient. The greater distance I'm traveling, the more likely I am to stick to the left lane. Although I'll stick to the right lanes at night.

Not too long ago an Insight was pulled over on I-95 doing like 50, when the speed limit is 65. His excuse was that he was saving gas. Whether it's someone like this guy, someone with cruise control set at the speed limit in the left lane, or some dumbass that is weaving in traffic at a much higher speed, they're being dangerous drivers. IMO, some of the most dangerous drivers are the timid (Onoes, I hate driving and I'm going to try to get on an interstate going 40 without accelerating), self-righteous/passive-aggressive (haha, I'm going to block you from going anywhere!), or uber-aggressive (Meh, traffic is only moving at 10 over, I want to go 25 over and I'm going to utilize all 4 lanes of the road if I have to) ones.

In regards to lights, I feel the same way. I get a kick out of the drivers that fly past you when you can see the red light in front of you.

I've definitely been guilty of a lot of these things in the past, but I try to drive with a cool head and give myself time so that I can take it easy. DC-area traffic can be quite frustrating.

 

[719prottege]

my whole family is cops, and i know for a fact, none of them ever drive the speed limit. if they get pulled over they flash there badge and get off scotch free. kinda sucks, but its life. its like having your friend who works at taco bell give you free tacos. just go to the court date if you have one and hope the cop doesnt show. if its like it is here, when the cop doesnt show they drop the charges. if he shows, you get to "Negotiate" 2 tickets that i have had got dropped to 1pt defective headlight and it didnt affect my insurance at all

 

[bradboyd80]

Hate to say it man, but if you fight this on your own, you're not going to like the outcome. I know you're tired of hearing it, but you're going to have to suck it up. I am just as guilty as the next guy of speeding, but man up, and accept the consequences. I've felt "singled out" before myself. But it doesn't cover up the fact that you broke the law. If you aren't happy with your increase in insurance rates, try another insurance company. Its just the price you pay for doing something you know is wrong. Every time you break the speed limit, you're taking a risk. Sometimes nothing happens, and sometimes you end up where you are now. Its just life.

 

[jabba]

Hate to say it man, but if you fight this on your own, you're not going to like the outcome.

I wouldn't discouraging from going to court and trying to convince the judge to just give him a fine and not take an insurance hit. They do it in PA (my own experience). When I lived in Indiana, you didn't have to go to court: you could just pay a fine, it wouldn't show up on the insurance, and as long as you didn't get a second ticket in a year, you had a clean slate. And in Charlotte, the officer would tell you to go see the D.A., who would lower the ticket to 5 over and give you a fine, that way it didn't show up on the insurance.

So he might be able to go to court and get a similar deal.

Of course, a lawyer might increase your chances of success.

 

[squidmotion]

that sux...

in regards to the lawyer thing though, no that would not help anything,,,, but rather simply appeal your ticket. then you just show up in court and give a good impression that you are a safe driver, and hopefully your ticket will either be reduced or withdrawn altogether.

wow, really? "just show up in court and give a good impression that you are a safe driver, and hopefully your ticket will either be reduced or withdrawn altogether"???? funny i have NEVER seen or heard of that happening...

you ever had to stand up and be cross x'd by a seasoned traffic court DA??? i didn't think so...

and why WOULDN'T you use a lawyer? get an attorney if you plan to fight it...... the ticket could be dismissed, or you could get deferred judication at the very least, if you have a clean record, and that will still keep if off your driving record, for about the same cost as the ticket, or a bit more..... and your insurance co. never has to know.


then again, what the **** do i know? i don't have an MBA.

 

[vrspeedemon]

Not sure how things are in your state, but here if you attend the court date and plead no contest they usually lower or drop the demerit points and you
just have to pay the fine.

 

[robin2660]

wow, really? "just show up in court and give a good impression that you are a safe driver, and hopefully your ticket will either be reduced or withdrawn altogether"???? funny i have NEVER seen or heard of that happening...

Well, it does happen. I got ticketed for (all at once) a) driving without insurance b) expired driver's license and c) expired tags. I went to court on my bicycle (in winter), pleaded my case, and ended up with $65 in fines and no court record. I told the judge (and it was true) I couldn't afford the car anymore and that it was parked and up for sale.

you ever had to stand up and be cross x'd by a seasoned traffic court DA??? i didn't think so...

Back in the day, you could pick up a court attorney that would defend you for free. All you had to do is hunt him/her down in the court hallways.

then again, what the **** do i know?

Probably a lot. (outie)

 

[jabba]

wow, really? "just show up in court and give a good impression that you are a safe driver, and hopefully your ticket will either be reduced or withdrawn altogether"???? funny i have NEVER seen or heard of that happening...
you ever had to stand up and be cross x'd by a seasoned traffic court DA??? i didn't think so...

Well from now on you can use me as an example of success: I've shown up to court, and got my tickets reduced. Twice.

I have been cross examined by a traffic court DA, and you're right, it can be daunting, especially if you're young and haven't experienced the court system. Example: the very first time I went to court to fight a ticket an officer had given me late at night, the DA started arguing loudly with me over my somewhat sarcastic comment to her: I was refuting a point in the officer's testimony that he could tell, in the darkness of night, by looking in his rear-view mirror at my approaching headlights that I was clearly going faster than the speed limit. I think she made a comment on how highly trained they are to do just that, and I might have sarcastically mentioned something about showing me the training manual as evidence. The judge put a stop to it, chastised me for not making these points during my cross-examination of the officer, and I lost. Lesson learned: don't try to out-sarcasm a DA. And don't piss off the judge.

 

[Russm]

Got pulled over doing 72 in a Work zone 55 zone in Racine county where they have 4-8 cars doing regular speed traps. I had just told the officer I hadn't seen the small 55 sign at the top of the hill and I truly didn't know how I was gonna pay the $200 ticket and the nearly $1k increase per year in insurance. He told me to go to court, after waiting 3 hrs, I talked to one of the 15 or so DA's that had been working traffic court that morning after watching 500+ people go before me , he immediately said he would reduce the fine and the 4Pts in half, after talking to him for several minutes about hwy conditions and financial circumstances he left the room and came back 5 min later and said singe this document stating that we refuse to prosecute and go have a better day and drive carefully!! I can't tell you how many times I said THANK YOU!!!, Course it helped to be polite, admit responsibility and being 57 yrs old probably didn't hurt. Moral of the story, Go to court it can only improve!!!

 

[cymx5]

Now here is what I have trouble with. This is the BS part. Yes I was going 66 mph.

I stopped reading after this part. The BS part is idiots like you hire lawyers to fight tickets when you know you were breaking the law. I applaud the officer for dishing you the ticket and bailing as quick as possible. He didn't have to listen to you b**** and moan like I just did.

 

[ryanmsp]

Probably best bet is to go to court without a lawyer(cost too much) and bring witness with you or certified letters stating you were going with the flow of traffic and possibly the judge will not tack on points.

 

[kvndoom]

For financial reasons, yes get a lawyer and hope to get it reduced to the point where you don't get ***** by insurance. As long as your mindset is that of taking a lesser hit and not of getting out of it altogether, then there's hope for you.

Once you find out how bad your rates are going to get hiked, call other companies for quotes. If you haven't had a ticket in 3 years, some companies have "forgiveness" plans that will keep your rates low if you don't get into anymore trouble for 3 years. Car insurance is one of the biggest mandatory scams on earth (just behind federal income taxes), so I have no qualms whatsoever with dropping/changing insurers on a whim.

I've been to traffic court a few times, and I can tell you that going without a mouthpiece is a waste of time 99% of the time.

Sure it's important he learns his lesson from this, but I can also understand the long-term monetary pain, all to well.

And I sympathize with you guys who have gotten tickets when you sped up to avoid an accident. I have never gotten busted for doing so, but people are stupid, and people drive stupid. I have sped up plenty of times to get away from fools like that.

 

[Peter B]

I stopped reading after this part. The BS part is idiots like you hire lawyers to fight tickets when you know you were breaking the law. I applaud the officer for dishing you the ticket and bailing as quick as possible. He didn't have to listen to you b**** and moan like I just did.

Well who put the sand in your vagina?

 

[Mybeauner]

^^^^ hahaha x2

 

[Peter B]

I want to clarify, I'm not claiming I'm not responsible. I am. As I see it I am responsible for my car and how I drive it, always. And if asked in court I will say this.

The reason I think it was BS, was the 200 other cars doing the same thing that morning, in a much narrower section of road, INCLUDING a state police officer who passed me on the right. I know i know, they drive like how they want in every state, they are the law...blah blah blah. Doesn't make it right for them to do that. Mostly its the part about the cop that gets under my skin. I know there is nothing I can do about it, just the way things go. I have very high respect for police officers. Always have. But when they take advantage of their position like that, its just not cool.

I know people who have argued the "going with the flow" thing in the past. Some get off, some have to pay. Its worth a shot.

Heck,
My younger sister got tagged for going 45 in a 30 zone when she was 17. Saw the cop turn on his lights to come after her, freaked out, passed another car on a double yellow line and went through a rotary and exited it without using a blinker. $260 ticket (in my car at the time) and 3 moving violations. Since she was only 17 and just got her license she would have lost it for almost a year at the time. She went in, talked to the judge, and he threw the whole thing out.

So like I said its worth a shot. The point of this thread was to get any advice I could. And if the judge decides to do nothing, then I pay up.

 

[cymx5]

Police drive faster than you...otherwise they'd never catch you...I used to believe it was ok to go 80+ because then you only have to worry about police from in front of you. Only 2 times in my life i got pulled over was from the front. Never been speeding since.

 

[robin2660]

Police drive faster than you...otherwise they'd never catch you...I used to believe it was ok to go 80+ because then you only have to worry about police from in front of you. Only 2 times in my life i got pulled over was from the front. Never been speeding since.

80's too slow for that to work. Ha-ha-ha!

 

[hugador]

Meh, I drive differently every day. Sometimes slow, fast, stupid, smart, ect. "I'm on a horse" lol

 

[cymx5]

80's too slow for that to work. Ha-ha-ha!

6 years ago it was fast enough ...btw it's Lompton not Lombard.

 

[robin2660]

btw it's Lompton not Lombard.

??? Little Compton??? (as in, Compton, CA)