[Lucien21]

I assume he's going to plead insanity.

[Jatsie]

It might be easier to go to Canada, but if you're set on Mexico you can take this map:



Two thousand miles to freedom!

[Melanie68]

Originally Posted by Lucien21

I assume he's going to plead insanity.

LOL!

[Sage]

Originally Posted by Jat316sob

It might be easier to go to Canada, but if you're set on Mexico you can take this map:



Two thousand miles to freedom!

I see he'll be coming through Birmingham. Heh, just when I thought my "fugitive harboring" days were over.

[SakSquash]

Originally Posted by Jeysie

<schoolmarm mode>

Might I remind that traffic laws are not designed because lawmakers feel like being dicks; they are designed to keep you and other drivers *safe*.

Case in point: My roommate is a very conscientious driver who follows the traffic laws. In all except one instance, when he gets in an accident it's because the *other* person didn't follow the traffic laws. The one time an accident was his fault it was when he was first learning to drive on his own and forgot to follow one of the traffic laws himself. He was really lucky to walk away from that one, from what he tells me.

Doing highway speeds in what I'm guessing was a city zone is *dangerous* both to you and to other people. You were doing almost 150% of the speed limit, so it makes sense that your fine is pretty high.

I suggest that instead of trying to weasel your way out of it, you consider yourself fortunate that your first lesson in what happens when you don't follow the traffic laws will only result in you paying a $200 fine, as opposed to paying for a totalled car (which would be worse than $200) or one or more totalled *bodies* (which would be a lot, lot worse than $200).

</schoolmarm mode>

Peace & Luv, Liz

First off, you weren't there, you don't know what happened, so you shouldn't be firing off at the mouth.

Let me educate you. New Paltz is kind of a small place with many back roads that usually lack signs every 200 feet and many of these roads i've never traveled on before.

Now lets jump back a bit. I grew up in an even smaller area where anything not main street is 55 mph.

Now lets go foward. I was doing 61 because I assumed it was 55 mph since I hadn't seen a sign in a while and it was a pretty barren back road. After a few minutes of that, I finally saw a 45 mph sign, and instantly began to slow down. About 5 seconds later I was being pulled over for speeding.

So you see, they must have tagged me before I knew the speed limit and started to slow down.

But yeah, i'm just trying to weasel my way out of it.

[Jatsie]

Originally Posted by SakSquash

I'm just trying to weasel my way out of it.

[SakSquash]

Man oh man. Do they have one of those for me to hang in my car?

[Sage]

Originally Posted by SakSquash

First off, you weren't there, you don't know what happened, so you shouldn't be firing off at the mouth.

Let me educate you. New Paltz is kind of a small place with many back roads that usually lack signs every 200 feet and many of these roads i've never traveled on before.

Now lets jump back a bit. I grew up in an even smaller area where anything not main street is 55 mph.

Now lets go foward. I was doing 61 because I assumed it was 55 mph since I hadn't seen a sign in a while and it was a pretty barren back road. After a few minutes of that, I finally saw a 45 mph sign, and instantly began to slow down. About 5 seconds later I was being pulled over for speeding.

So you see, they must have tagged me before I knew the speed limit and started to slow down.

But yeah, i'm just trying to weasel my way out of it.

Here's what they'll say:
A. 61 mph is more than 55 mph as well.
B. Ignorance of local ordinances is not a valid defense against traffic citations.

Most police cars have video recorders which display the readout from the radar gun. If they have video evidence, your only hope is to somehow prove the radar gun was malfunctioning...an extremely difficult course of action.

If you fight the ticket and lose, you will have to pay the ticket plus court costs plus any other fines you may incur, such as "contempt of court" citations.

You may very well have gotten caught in a "speed trap". If this is the case, the judge and the officers will very likely dismiss any argument you present. In the long run, it's a whole lot easier (and cheaper) to just pay the ticket and slow down.

[SakSquash]

61 is over 55, but would they have pulled me over for it? No.

Every other person I have ever talked to except you have said NEVER plead guilty.

[Sage]

Okay. We're simply giving you the benefit of our experience.
I have never gotten a ticket in your part of the world, and things may work differently up there.
Keep us posted and let us know how this turns out.

[[toj.cc]Phantom]

Originally Posted by Melanie68

I don't think we have points in the US. We have the 18 month thing. Three traffic violations (speeding, whatnot) and your license is suspended for 6 months (I think).

Edit: My bad, they do have a point thing in New York state.

Points in Ohio...I haven't goten any tickets yet...yet...

OFF-TOPIC a little bit...

My Grandpa used to drive city busses...one time he was pulled over for going like 57 in a 55. He made the cop get on the bus and tell the people why he got pulled over. All the passangers laughed at the cop and the cop got in his car and left.

[Maquisard]

Awesome.

[Crunchy in milk]

Originally Posted by Thrift Store Scott

If they have video evidence, your only hope is to somehow prove the radar gun was malfunctioning...an extremely difficult course of action.

It depends on the type of radar gun and the police who where using it. Some models of radar guns require precise calibration frequently in order to return correct results. There have been cases of tickets being thrown out because the police could not prove that their radar gun was calibrated recently.

You won't win any leniency by just having a whinge on the stand.


http://www.trafficticketsecrets.com/...amination.html

http://www.nolo.com/article.cfm/Obje...0/104/263/QNA/

[lakerz]

Originally Posted by Karmillo

Or you could hop in your car and drive through the courtroom window and declare to the court room "Write a ticket on this Bitches!" then do a 180 handbrake turn and head off to Mexico!

Hehehe...I like the way you think!

If you're intent on speeding, I highly recommend you get one of these beauties. They are worth every penny!

http://www.valentine1.com/

Saved my ass on more than one occassion. A V1 along with some common sense and good eyesight (to spot the coppers hiding in the bushes) will no doubt keep you in good standing with your insurance company.

[SakSquash]

Originally Posted by Crunchy in milk

It depends on the type of radar gun and the police who where using it. Some models of radar guns require precise calibration frequently in order to return correct results. There have been cases of tickets being thrown out because the police could not prove that their radar gun was calibrated recently.

You won't win any leniency by just having a whinge on the stand.


http://www.trafficticketsecrets.com/...amination.html

http://www.nolo.com/article.cfm/Obje...0/104/263/QNA/

Cool! I'll try it! Thanks for the links dude!

[Jeysie]

Originally Posted by lakerz

Saved my ass on more than one occassion. A V1 along with some common sense and good eyesight (to spot the coppers hiding in the bushes) will no doubt keep you in good standing with your insurance company.

You know... it's people who prefer to avoid consequences by cheating the safety laws instead of by following them that make me so scared and reluctant to get my own driver's license. After all... even if I take steps to be safe by following the laws, chances are good I'll get into an accident anyway because people are asshole drivers. *sour look*

[Crunchy in milk]

Originally Posted by Jeysie

You know... it's people who prefer to avoid consequences by cheating the safety laws instead of by following them that make me so scared and reluctant to get my own driver's license.

Cars are dangeorus even in the hands of the saftey concious. I fear revheads less than I fear car manufacturers and soccer moms. What ****ing need is there for giant SUVs on city and suburban streets? They're only bought because they're giant ****ing cages on wheels and that so called extra saftey comes at the expense of others. They're driving hazards under the control of hazardous drivers and they're perfectly legal.

[Gordon Bennett]

I've had a few speeding tickets. Fortunately, I come from a political family, and while that doesn't mean that I have any connections to cheat the system anymore, I was able to get a little insight into how the system works and use it to my best advantage.

Politics is all about quid pro quo. Once you know what everyone involved wants, things become easier.

The local government wants money. Traffic citations are a major source of revenue for them. Someone has to pay for the new radar guns, after all.

The officer issuing the ticket wants a conviction, preferably a nice tidy guilty plea.

What you want varies from state to state. Pennsylmania uses a point system, which not only can incur a license suspension, but also can affect the cost of insurance. That means what you want is to avoid points, or if that is not a factor, keep your costs to a minimum.

One thing you have to accept is that unless you have a very good chance at successfully fighting the ticket, you're going to end up paying. That's politics for you. Accept the loss, and worry about priorities. I did at one point go through connections to ask a local lawyer/politician for advice on the matter, and was told that beating a ticket without legal representation was quite difficult, and the lawyer's fees would end up costing much more than the fine.

I stayed calm and asked the policeman about points the last time I had a ticket. (Oh, and btw Jeysie, I am a careful driver. The one time I was distracted and allowed myself to go a little fast on an empty road resulted in a ticket. The others were going down a very steep hill right after a very sudden drop in speed limit - in other words, a speed trap) I was told to plead not guilty, so I did.

What happened was that I went to the court on the assigned date. There were several others waiting, probably everyone who pleded not guilty to a ticket from that officer in the previous couple of months. One by one, he called us over for a talk.

This was the negotiation. He offered that if I pled guilty to a lesser charge, I would get no points, and a partial refund on the fine paid. I accepted, signed a form, and left without once stepping into a courtroom.

Like I said, it may vary depending on the state laws, but that was my experience, and it is likely you may have something similar.

[Melanie68]

Originally Posted by Jeysie

You know... it's people who prefer to avoid consequences by cheating the safety laws instead of by following them that make me so scared and reluctant to get my own driver's license. After all... even if I take steps to be safe by following the laws, chances are good I'll get into an accident anyway because people are asshole drivers. *sour look*

For all the moron drivers out there I haven't been in an accident in ages. Driving is a lot about being aware of your surroudings. If you are going the speed limit and paying attention to others, you'll do fine most of the time.

[seebaruk]

Traffic cops really are cocky little pricks, I swear half of them just get off on the power buzz. And it's true about the radar guns being inaccurate, there's so many stories over here of milk floats that have been caught doing 100mph etc. Hope you don't get a huge fine, although the standard over here seems to be about 80-90 quid, so around 150ish dollars I think.