Speeding Ticket! And I have questions!

audiobliss

Ok, so I got pulled over by a State trooper tonight, only about an hour ago, now. Long story short, went to a friend's house I've never been to before, traveled down US52, not very familiar with that highway, didn't know the speed limit was only 55, was doing 71. I was thinking, had you asked me, that I was just going 6 over. But I wasn't thinking about it because it's dark, it's a straight highway, and I saw, like, three other cars total. So, anyhoo, enough with the excuses.

What the heck do I do now? And I know 'the Club Polk forum is not the best place to seek legal advice', so I'm definitely going to do research online and talk to Dad about it some more...assuming he's not so mad about it tomorrow. (crosses fingers...)

Appearantly since I was going 16 over, I HAVE to go to court, whereas at 15 over or below, I could just mail it in.

So, I have to show up in court. What should I do first? What preparation is necessary?

This is the first ticket I've ever gotten, and I see on here about having the speed reduced if your driving record is good. There is a form I can fill out to request a copy of my driving record so I can show it in court. I'm assuming I want to go ahead and do that as soon as I can.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll go get a new license, since he also gave me a warning because mine is 'unreadable' (rubbed off on wallet).

Now, what's really interesting is, that, this form on the this sheet that I'd fill out, tear off, and send in to get a copy of my driving record is on the back of another sheet that appears that I wouldn't want to tear it apart. I could scan the page or type in the exact, full contents of that sheet so you'd know what I'm talking about, but from reading the heading and its contents, I have NO clue what it is.

The timing really stinks, too, because in 3 weeks we were going to start getting a price break since I will have had my license for 2 years and without a violation. *sigh*


ANY advice would be greatly appreciated! And the more prompt, the better! I know I procrastinate a lot, but I'm NOT procrastinating on this. I'm going to be ready when my court date comes up!

audiobliss

Oh, oh, there was also a note that if 16 - 19, I can't get my speed reduced unless I attend a safey class. And I'm less than a month away from my 20th birthday.

So I guess it'd behoove me to attend one of those classes.

beardog03

go to traffic school, and (see other post) give the cop some weed !!


no seriously....

ask if you can do a saftey course / traffic school, and ask the judge to reduce to under 15 mph to help keep your record clean fro the insurance..

pay big fine...

who knows, maybe the judge will be in a good mood


dress nice, but don`t over dress
speak politely
make eye contact, but don`t dog him...just be very respectful, and humble....who knows, he might cut ya some slack...


bet pop`s is pissed !

Dennis Gardner

Take the course, ask to reduce the speed, and be very careful for awhile since some of the reductions come with a probation period.

audiobliss

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the info so far.


I know a lot of folks like to make up stories or hire lawyers to make up stories to get out of it. I'm not wanting to make up any story here. The radar caught me doing 71 and the speed limit was 55, so I was speeding. No way around that. I'm just trying to legally reduce the consequences through whatever avenues they have open for me.

Now, I have a few people telling me to "walk in there not guilty and walk out not guilty." I have no idea how this stuff works, and like I said, I'm not wanting to make up a story here. However, I travel I40 daily, and the speed limit there is 65, so I'm used to 65mph speed limit. It was dark and hard to see. I really don't remember seeing a speed limit sign until after he pulled me over. AND, after calling my friend, he told me that when I got on the highway, the speed limit WAS 65mph, but that it changed sometime after that.

Does any of that work to my advantage? Or should I just stick with the driver's record and safety class? What are the chances of 'deferred ajudication' where they put me on probation for 6 months and forget about the ticket if I'm clean for 6 months?

Dennis Gardner

Tell the truth, beg for mercy, let the judge know that a deferral would be a blessing to you.

exalted512

You shouldve ran. You couldve taken him off road in the jeep.
-Cody

Shannon W.

You can always ask for the court to produce when the radar equipment was last calibrated and most of the time they will trow the ticked out do to the equipment not being calibrated properly or out of date and also for the PD not doing it like they are supposed to. I think they are governed that they have to keep that equipment up to date and have to have proof of it..
Also did the officer take you back to the car and physically show you on the radar that you was going that fast.. In Illinois that is law also. well at least it used to be..
Another think you can do is Google "How to get of a speeding ticket" and see what comes up.. There are allot of things that the Law enforcement don't keep up to date..

Shannon

66chevyIISS

I agree with the Deferral, since it's your first offense the judge will hopefully be understanding. This happened to my wife and she asked for a deferal. The judge made an agreemnet that if she didn't get a ticket within a year it would be dropped and it was.

VR3

just get a lawyer...

In NC you are pretty much allowed one speeding ticket

However, you certainly were booking it... LOL

But should be able to be reduced to a malfunction of equipment...

But again, like I said - you were over 55 and really booking it... so could be different

audiobliss

Haha, but the thing is, I was NOT booking it! I'm sooo fortune it about that! I was doing at least 80 just a minute or so before that, and was certainly doing 85 or more on the way to his house. I'm just very very very very very fortunate I was only going 71. That's how fast I go when I'm driving 'slow'.

audiobliss

Thanks for all the advice, folks, I really appreciate it. The deferral really does sound like the best bet. I can guarantee you that if I can get one for 6 months or for even a year, I will NOT speed for that time period!

Should I go ahead and get a copy of my driving record to have with me in court?

exalted512

audiobliss wrote: »

I will NOT speed for that time period!

fat chance.
-Cody

dkg999

Go to court, best case is the officer doesn't show up at court. If the officer does show up, just tell the truth, be respectful to the judge, and ask for a reduction in the speed and a lesser ticket/fine. A good judge is going to realize you learned your lesson and give you a little break on the first one.

Years ago I got a deferral on a 175 mph speeding ticket this way. The judge just wanted me to stay out of trouble until I was 18.

brettw22

If a judge deferred a 175 MPH ticket, you were blessed WELL beyond you should have been........Most states I've been in that's not just a civil ticket, it's criminal.

dkg999

In 1976 it wasn't a criminal offense in IA (of course I was in Missouri before they caught up with me!). The judge found it humorous that the officers couldn't say exactly how fast I was going, as 175 mph ground speed was all the faster their airplane would go and I was outrunning it. We used to race from Elliott Flying Service in Des Moines to Elliott Flying Service in Kansas City and back. The cars had an advantage over the motorcycles in that they only had to stop once for gas. On a motorcycle I had to go faster because I had to stop and gas/oil up (2 stroke factory production racer, Yamaha OW-21 3 cyl 750cc) a few times. Finally the IA and MO troopers got together and put a stop to the fun!

The judge was an old hot rodder and gave me the "son come up here and talk to me" fatherly speech. If I could stay out of trouble for the next year until I turned 18, he would make this all go away. I didn't so much as jaywalk for the next year or so!

BTW - top speed on the bike was about 192 mph. In comparison, a new factory 2007 Suzuki Hayabusa will do about 203 mph with just a little tweaking.

lightman1

dkg999 wrote: »

In 1976 it wasn't a criminal offense in IA (of course I was in Missouri before they caught up with me!). The judge found it humorous that the officers couldn't say exactly how fast I was going, as 175 mph ground speed was all the faster their airplane would go and I was outrunning it. We used to race from Elliott Flying Service in Des Moines to Elliott Flying Service in Kansas City and back. The cars had an advantage over the motorcycles in that they only had to stop once for gas. On a motorcycle I had to go faster because I had to stop and gas/oil up (2 stroke factory production racer, Yamaha OW-21 3 cyl 750cc) a few times. Finally the IA and MO troopers got together and put a stop to the fun!

The judge was an old hot rodder and gave me the "son come up here and talk to me" fatherly speech. If I could stay out of trouble for the next year until I turned 18, he would make this all go away. I didn't so much as jaywalk for the next year or so!

BTW - top speed on the bike was about 192 mph. In comparison, a new factory 2007 Suzuki Hayabusa will do about 203 mph with just a little tweaking.

Not trying to one up you by any means. Just two inches of the sides and tuck tight. Suzu "Had" to to make this bike legal for street. 207.076. flat

dkg999

lightman1 wrote: »

Not trying to one up you by any means. Just two inches of the sides and tuck tight. Suzu "Had" to to make this bike legal for street. 207.076. flat

Wow! I had read an article where they had quoted 203 as the top speed with just a little work. 207 is amazing. I had to give up fast bikes, I don't heal as fast as I used to and I like having my license and cheap insurance Me and my little Sporty Pig just hobble on down the road these days!

VR3

That kind of reminds me of a coworkers story -

"Just got my corvette... had a drink in my cup holder... was on a long, narrow, straight road - I gunned it. Right around 130 mph, the drink left the cup holder and the vehicle just got increasingly faster at an incredibly rapid rate...

I saw an older lady getting her mail... lol -- and I passed her, hit the brakes immediately, sliding right through a stop sign on the other side...

Called my friend and asked him if he thought she had saw anything...

He just said.. "Dude... all she saw, if anything was nothing but a green BORG!" haha - to funny

175 mph ticket, thats insane..

dkg999

There's a point just past 150 mph where on a bike everything kind of starts happening in slow motion and it gets really quiet and your periphial vision gets blurry ............ and it's very addictive and that's not a good thing :eek:

dkg999

And now that I totally derailed this thread, back to Mr AudioBliss's issue!

lightman1

dkg999 wrote: »

Wow! I had read an article where they had quoted 203 as the top speed with just a little work. 207 is amazing. I had to give up fast bikes, I don't heal as fast as I used to and I like having my license and cheap insurance Me and my little Sporty Pig just hobble on down the road these days!

I sold her after that run. And will never sit across a "street legal" again. My 'taters ain't big enough. Good move on the cruiser.

lightman1

dkg999 wrote: »

There's a point just past 150 mph where on a bike everything kind of starts happening in slow motion and it gets really quiet and your periphial vision gets blurry ............ and it's very addictive and that's not a good thing :eek:

Your screen name. Ducati KG999?

movtarget

What county was the ticket issued in?

Best bet is to seek the advice of an attorney who specializes in traffic violations. He/She (if they are worth their stuff) can advise you on self-representation, options for reducing (and having zero impact on your insurance... which is the real problem), or use of your one 'get out of jail free card': Prayer For Judgment Of The Court (PJC).

PM me if you would like a reference to an attorney who will at least line up your options for you, including one to pay him to arrange representation in the county you got the ticket in. He will advise you to save the PJC, because he always assumes another offense will happen, and doesn't want to 'waste' it.

I haven't used him very much over the past 10 years, but when I was young and foolish, I used his good advice twice, and he represented me once.

Do not 'just pay the ticket', at least go and throw yourself on the mercy of the court.

MovingTarget in NC

lightman1

the flat stretch eastbound on 74 from Wingate to The Rock.Treitz? MXstyler, Movingtarget? My NAD's haven't dropped yet.

danger boy

do whatever the judge tells you to do.. i think you'll probably have to take a safety class as mentioned already.. and hopefully. after a year it'll be dropped from your record.

or they could throw you in the slammer and you could become big Red's cell ****. He likes em young and smooth. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

TroyD

Do what you want....however, here is my advice (my Mom has worked for the PD for 35 years and know a couple of judges):

Speeding, more often than not, is an air-tight case. Yes, you can get a lawyer (think about the cost involved). Yes, you can challenge the radar gun (approaching urban legend status)....but even if it IS expired, it's not a slam dunk.

My advice? Plead guilty, be respectful and don't make excuses. Generally speaking, the judge will say right from jump street that if you plead guilty he will lower the point/fine/what have you. It's doubtful that you are going to come up with anything that the judge hasn't heard a million times before. The judges that I know say that they go easier on the folks who admit thier mistakes without making excuses.

I would also recommend slowing your **** down.

BDT

BaggedLancer

My experience with traffic violations...... You go into court guilty and you leave guilty and end up paying it.

Usually if you can come up with a good enough story as why you "possibly" may have been going that speed, but obviously you had no clue you were going that fast, they will usually let you off on a first offense if you have a clean driving record.

After the 3rd-5th time in court trying to feed the same stories, they don't like it and you end up paying. And believe me, just because you win a dispute and the ticket gets thrown out or whatever, does not give you the right to speed again, took me about 3 tries before I learned that.

I ended up slowing my **** wayyyy down......sometimes. My last offense was a written warning for doing 61 on a 35 mph off ramp coming off the highway, the cop was standing outside his car at the end of the ramp(loop ramp, couldnt see him at first) and flagged me down by hand. Told him there was no speed limit posted on the off ramp, which their wasn't and I got a written warning. I think he knew there was no speed limit posted and that's why he was just issuing warnings....talk about lucky

lightman1

Danger, Troy and Bagged are right. Plead guilty and lesson learned. That was the last time I EVER went above 80 mph. Stiil got the pee stains on my jeans.

rskarvan

In Indiana... the unwritten rule is that if you hire an attorney... you pay the ticket twice...

Example: Speeding is a $150 ticket. You pay the county clerk $150 fine. You pay your attorney $150. And, the ticket never appears on your record. In short, you can "buy" your innocence and protect your insurance record. They call it a deferral and you are allowed one "free one" every two years. With an attorney, you are allowed as many deferrals as you can afford.

Of course, after a while, you get sick of paying $300 every time you get stopped and you realize what a great amp you could have purchased with those coins and you just give up and slow down.

exalted512

Im sorry, but pleading guilty is the worst advice I've heard on this thread.

DO NOT PLEAD GUILTY. If you do, it will go on your record, your insurance will go up, and your parents will really be unhappy then.

You'll have to find out your local laws, but like I told you before on AIM, ask for deferred adjudication or deferred by your safety class. You will pay more initially, but it won't go on your record and your insurance wont go up.
-Cody