Speeding Ticket..

[ychanus]

I just got a speeding ticket today, the cop clocked me at 71mph on a 55mph zone (interstate highway). I haven't had any ticket for almost 10 years, and I'm usually the one telling friend and family to slow down...

However, it happened when I was driving back to home from work. I was all the way at the leftmost lane (5 lanes in between). Frankly, I didn't know how fast I was driving but I was sure that there were a few cars around me that were faster but I was the only one on the left lane.

Anyway, I checked my speed and it was at 62mph as soon as I saw a parked cop car from very far away on the left shoulder and then I let off the throttle completely. Once I passed the parked cop car, the officer got into the car and pulled me over.

I was very surprised as I didn't know the radar gun could caught me that far away, or the officer just BS about that. My mind wasn't very clear as I thought I should have asked to see proof. The ticket is $138 + possible insurance premium increase?, a 1/48 yammy drain down to toliet.

I'm very upset, as I'm guessing if the cop could have accidentally shot another car around me that was going at 71mph. Even so, I don't know how to prove that. I really want to fight for it but I don't have any knowledge and experience. Anyone could share some experience and suggestion?

Sorry about the rant

[F360°]

Depending on where you live it might work differenly, but here in San Franciso there's a little money saving step.

-Go to where ever you need to go to , to paid for that Speeding ticket

-Do not paid the ticket

-Say you want to request a Hearing and then set a date ( it should be free)

(you can also request a translator to meet you at the setted date, which make it easier since you just have to talk to the translator)

-Go there and say yeah my bad, I would like to go to traffic school.

-(This is where you are saving $$$)They will then only charge you around $75 instead of your Full ticket ammount because you request for a hearing. Now you will still have to paid all the other fee that your originally have to pay anyways, but you ticket price went down.

-Now you have to sign up and go to traffic school, the fee depends on schools, but you will need to do this or else your insurance premium will increase due to loseing a point.

This also works for STOP signs, Red lights, and other moving violations.

Hope this works for you.

By the way, My record is clean and I'm a good driver with all points.

Edited July 11, 2006 by F360°

[Phyrox]

1) That's a pretty cheap ticket/penalty. I wouldn't even worry about it.

2) My philosophy on tickets is that since we all speed and/or violate traffic laws all the time and get away with it, you should really just think of tickets as the price of admission. Sometimes they bust you when they should have nabbed someone else...most of the time you run a light or fly down the freeway with no repurcussions. Honestly, I just count any tickets as a random fine for car ownership. Takes all the stress out of it for me.

3) In my experiance (personal, family, and friends), it is extremely hard to get out of a ticket. You might end up saving some cash, but it doesn't seem worth the effort to me.

So, I guess I understand your frustration, but given the difficulty of fighting it, the big picture, and the fairly light penalty; I say don't sweat it.

ps- of course, if the option exists, do traffic school. Some places you pay the ticket, AND do traffic school, other places you pay a lesser fine and do traffic school. Either way this is a must.

Edited July 11, 2006 by Phyrox

[Lynx7725]

Uhm, maybe I am out of line here, but maybe you get your speedometer checked? I mean, if it's really malfunctioning, that would have bigger implications.

How to handle the fine, I'll leave to the rest.

[kalvasflam]

I suggest going to court.

In the bay area, you go to court, if the cop doesn't show up, your case is just dismissed. It's half a day. Worst case scenario is if the judge thinks you're going just to see if the cop is going to show up. So, have a care, and prepare a story.

In your case, the story ought to be, I was going along as fast as the other cars, when I looked down, I realized I was going a little faster than the speed limit, so I slowed down immediately, the cars around me were still going, I think I was around 60 or so mph at the time, at least that's what I remembered, thinking back. I know I wasn't going as fast as some of the other cars, but I was still over the speed limit. Gear it to admitting your guilt, and asking for leniency. Remember, worst case is you go to traffic school anyway.

DO NOT go out of your way to contest what the radar was saying. You could I suppose, but it would piss off the judge. Not something you'd want.

You might also want to point out other things like your clean record for the last ten years.

Edited July 11, 2006 by kalvasflam

[ychanus]

Do you guys think if I question the officer's ability to correctly shoot a radar gun from that far away with many cars in between five lanes, will that pi$$ off the judge? I'm thinking about taking some pictures to show the distance between the parked cop car and my car.

By the way, I'm in TwinCities Minnesota, and I doubted my speedometer is bad.

[HoveringCheesecake]

You could try that... but I think the judge might just think you are trying *too* hard to get out of some little fine. Personally, I'd just pay it this time. If it happens again then I'd do something like get my speedometer checked or take the issue to court.

[jenius]

I don't know about you guys but I would pay $120 NOT to go to court. I mean, $120 is about half a day's work if you're making the Bay Area average any way. Besides, I hate myself for not remembering, but the traffic school I took online took all of one hour to complete. PIECE OF CAKE. I'm admittedly a bad driver (I think other people suck but they have better records than me, that's for sure) and I just pay the piper, take the school, and move on. Now that I started collecting toys I can tell you that I'm definitely a slower driver though. As you said, one ticket = one yammy (or groceries if you're into eating).

[TheLoneWolf]

I dunno about Minnesota, but here in MD we have an old saying about radar guns: if you can see the cop, then you're close enough for him to clock you.

If you're going to question the cop in court, you better have a significant amount of empirical evidence on your side. Judges hear BS all day long and have little patience.

[Roy Focker]

This is OT and besides it could have been included in the semi-allowed OT topic about automobiles.