Got my first ticket.
Speeding. 61 in a 45. Am I screwed?
|
in netherlands your License is taken once you go 55 km/h over the limit
|
Your goin to JAIL MAN!
YOU TOTALY BONED! and not just figurativly.... |
Quote:
Lynsie |
Quote:
|
Be humble, pay the fine. :) I got my first ticket soon after I got my license (41 in a 30). I was only 16 and horrified. I have only gotten a couple of warnings since then since I'm such a scaredy cat. :P
|
Ouch 4 points
:) Another 7 within 18 months and you'll get suspended. |
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:
|
We do here in CA too :)
|
I haven't gotten an actual speeding ticket (aside from a couple of warnings) for 21 years. I have no idea what I'm talking about then. :D
|
Well, I turned it in today and i'm going to fight it in court. The lady told me it would be about 3 months until they even give me a court date!!
|
First time I got done was 65 in a 40, but I sweet talked the cops into letting me get away with a warning. Some of my mates have had 3 points and a fine from it, but you need 12 points in the UK to have your license revoked anyway. No idea how it works in the US.
|
The first time I got pulled over (about 3 years ago), I was going 57 in a 35, but the cop was nice enough to lower the fine by half.
The second time was just recently, 70 in a 60, and I got off with a warning. |
What bullsheight.
People are now telling me that since a statey pulled me over, it's going to cost me like $200!!! That can't be right, can it? |
I have read the the fine is between $90 and $300 so they may be right.
How can you fight it in court? You were caught speeding so what is there to fight? |
^ the severity of the fee?
|
Yeah, the point is to try to knock it down or to get it dismissed.
|
<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 |
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! :D
|
As you do.
|
I assume he's going to plead insanity.
|
It might be easier to go to Canada, but if you're set on Mexico you can take this map:
http://img423.imageshack.us/img423/6595/map5ik.jpg Two thousand miles to freedom! |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
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. |
Quote:
|
Man oh man. Do they have one of those for me to hang in my car?
|
Quote:
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. |
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. |
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. |
Quote:
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. |
Awesome. :D
|
Quote:
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/ |
Quote:
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. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
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. |
Quote:
|
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.
|
All times are GMT -8. The time now is 10:26 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Design & Logo Copyright ©1998 - 2017, Adventure Gamers®.
All posts by users and Adventure Gamers staff members are property of their original author and don't necessarily represent the opinion or editorial stance of Adventure Gamers.