ElwoodBlues

I've been driving for two years now, completely clean record. Tonight I was driving down this road that connects my town to another town, its big, 15 miles long, empty and straight. Needless to say, everyone speeds on it

It was about 8 at night, and I was driving, keeping pace with the car in front of me, when suddenly blue lights start flashin behind me. I look at the speedometer, it reads 65. The road is posted 55. So I'm thinkin 10 miles over, not too bad but no.

Do you know how fast you were going son?

65 Sir

I clocked you at 85 miles per hour in a posted 55.

FUCK. I might have been going 85 way earlier down the road, but he definately waited till I had been going 65 for quite a while before he pulled me over. Left me with a $300 ticket. Three hundred fucking dollars! I am definately going to court to contest this.

Does anyone have any advice? I live in Massachusetts, if that makes a difference in terms of the laws

P.S: Yes, I drove 55 the whole way home, lesson learned

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absorbentishe

I've protested tickets before, and there's a couple of things that you can do. If you go to court, you'll say not guilty, and a new date will be scheduled. More than likely, the cop won't show up and you'll get off. Of they could ask you to plea bargain, and you'll get off on a lesser amount out of you pocket. Or, you could mail in your ticket, and over pay for a buck or two, when the refund comes back, toss it in the trash. Apperently, there's some loop hole that if the state owes you money, the points never get applied to you license.

I'm sure there's other with more experience than I in this one. I'm in Ohio btw.

Cynthetiq

or since it's your first you could do traffic school.

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LewisCouch

Don't count on the officer not showing up for court. Most citations specify a day of the week that the officer is always scheduled to appear unless his docket is clear.

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mazak

did you see the radar? you know how fast you were going. on a screen.

Neato

I've known people who say that even showing up, dressed nicely and being as presentable as you can, if you plead not guilty, you will likely get your fine lowered at least. Here in Wisconsin 30 MPH over the limit is automatic licence revokation...

KeyserSoze

Request a date change from the court, now when you show up for that date if the officer is not ther plead not guilty, now when the reschedule it for another date wait 10 days and ask for a postponement. Odds are the officer won't be there for that one and your out of it.

My buddy has did this for 4 speeding tickets and it has worked all 4 times.

Good luck.

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drawerfixer

False

My buddy actually tried this too.


In regards to the initial inquiry, gather as much information regarding the time, place, and even officer. Go to court and plead your case. Hopefully the cop won't show up and your ticket will be reduced or scrapped.

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empu

You broke the law. You got caught. It happens. Pay the fine, eat the points and get over it.

89transam

Dammit, I had a post saved from another MB but I reformatted my comp.


Edit: Read this thread

http://thirdgen.org/techbb2/showthre...ghlight=ticket

Bossnass

I'm not sure of the regulations in your area, but in Alberta, Canada, where I live, you could fight the ticket.

In a conversation I had personally with a RCMP officer, I learned two significant facts:

-they aren't allowed to speed without having lights flashing

-if they intend to stop you, as soon as you are clocked as exceeding the speed limit by 12 km/h (calibration wise, the minimum ticketable offense) they have to turn on flashing lights

Essentially what this means is that if you are speeding and a cop comes up from behind you without their lights on (and then turns them on) they were speeding faster and breaking regulations to catch you. A bit of grey area entrapment.

If they are sitting on an approach or in the ditch and you blow by, they have to turn on flashing lights as soon as they start pursuit. You're screwed at that point, but if they pull up and drive recklessly without the flashing lights, they are creating a hazard themselves.

It all makes sense, they shouldn't endanger other people on the road to catch a speeder and they have certain regulations to abide by.

I did fight my last ticket, acting like I didn't really know the rules. I was cruising down a divided highway at 3 in the morning, a car slowly caught up with me, followed for a while then turned on high lights and gave me a ticket. I just asked the judge (it was a pretty casual traffic court) how the officer was allowed to speed, watch to see if I'd go any faster, and then give me a ticket. "If I was speeding, then he must have been going faster then that to catch up. If I saw flashing blue and white lights in my rear view mirror, I'd slow down immediatly, even if I was under the speed limit. I don't understand how the officer is allowed to go that fast" and which point the judge said 'actually that's a good question. " the officer said 'either way he was speeding" and the judge said 'that'a a good point as well.... I'm sure if the good constable here agrees that I should negate this ticket, then you'd be agreeable to ignore the indiscretion on how it was aquired".

If I was cheekier I might have pursued it, but as it was I was quite happy with the outcome and didn't see the need to make life difficult for the officer.

Chingal0

I am going to court for my 5th fucking ticket here on the 1st. I have had 2 tossed and 2 reduced. I just go in and be honest. Lying wont get you anywhere, and yea, just bite the bullet. You fucked up, deal with it.. At least thats what I tell myself

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telekinetic2

I fought a 10 over and the cop didn't show...yippee!

Was the only time out of six* that i got pulled over that there was actually a ticket written...so i still have a clean record!

*(I blame this on cops inability to distinguish a Ferarri from an MR2. The cop who ticketed me thought it was a Mazda)

aurigus

I heard a story once about someone who had one of these black boxes installed in their cars because they let their kids drive it. They were driving like normal, through a school zone, I think it was 35, when a cop pulled them over and said they were doing 55 or something. Normally this would be a huge ticket and a lot of points, but they had this box proving that they didnt go above 35 so they got off. So, this proves a point - cops are not always right, but you have no way to prove it unless you have something like those speed monitors. I don't worry about it too much myself, and I suppose the evidence could also be damning, but it could help you out in some situations!

Stare At The Sun

Forget that, look up stuff on the net, and figure out a way around, shit, what do you have to loose...also, do yourself a favor, get a radar detector. I have a passport 7500, saved my ass many times..

souzafone

Also from Ma. with prior experience.Go to court , but be careful. If you have to miss work to do this make sure not to get an extension---insist on this & explain why,the judge will appreciate the fact that you're one of the few working people he will see that day.In our fine state you cannot argue how fast you were going--only the fact that you were speeding.You weren't speeding, just following the flow.With a clean record & no previous attempts to fight a ticket you will probably get off.Highly unlikely the guy who wrote the ticket will be in court. It will probably just be a representative from the town who won't be able to verify or deny what you say.Remember the fine is bad enough, but the 6 years of insurance surcharges will cost thousands!

Ilow

First I would check the ticket thoroughly for errors, I have had two tickets tossed because of stupid errors (one misspelled my 1st name, one put "2Dr." rather than "4Dr." under body style). Either way you simply say that if there is one error on the ticket what's to say there are not more; like the speed, for instance. I suppose you have to be a little ballsy to do this but it's something. I have had mixed results with the "it's my first ticket, I have a clean record..." defense. I have gotten out of a couple and one recent one in MA was reduced to the minumum ($75!, I think). As you admitted to going 65 already, that is the best you could hope for out of that, probably. The cop did use entrapment to get you, but you'd probably need to get an attorney to verify the actual laws, which may actually be worthwhile since reckless driving (which is probably where you're at 30 over) is more pts. than simple speeding. In VA they have speedometer calibration centers which put your car on a dynomometer to see if the actual speed matches the speedometer, if it doesn't you can claim speedo error and try to get out that way (works extra well if you disconnect the speedo before going). I don't know if that stuff flies in MA. And finally--you don't have to wear a suit, but for god sake don't look like a slob when you go. Good luck, my friend.

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