Posted on 12/30/2009 9:14:26 AM PST by Vigilanteman
While this may be a vanity, I believe it is another chapter in a growing trend of government to prey on its citizen subjects to add to their coffers.
Yesterday, while returning home from a Christmas visit to relatives, my daughter was picked up on I-77 just north of the Big Walker Mountain Tunnel.
She is 24, a cautious driver and never had a speeding ticket before. I'm 54 and have had only one, when I was slightly younger than she is now.
The circumstances of the ticket are suspect. She was passing a semi-trailer going in the 50's on a steep downhill grade. There were a number of other motorists doing the same thing and she, in fact, pulled over into the driving lane once she was safely ahead of the truck to allow them to pass her. Not long after pulling back into the driver's lane, we heard the siren and lights of an unmarked patrol car who seemed to pick her out as a target of convenience.
I do not doubt that she was going the 77 mph in a 65 mph zone as claimed, but under the circumstances, I think she made the right decision not only to pass the semi-trailer safely, but to get back into the driving lane so as not to risk being rear-ended by other traffic moving up rapidly in the passing lane.
I believe the patrol officer selected her not because she was speeding, but merely because she was convenient. I was asleep in the front seat beside her and woke up shortly after she saw the unmarked patrol car following us.
He asked for, but did not wait for me to actually produce the auto registration. He did not even get the license plate number on our car copied down correctly as he seemed to be in a big hurry to get back to his work of finding his next target.
i would include this with hiring the lawyer... it shows his judgment was lacking that day...
Similar incident happened to my wife and I. She was driving and decided to pass on a 2 lane. She sped up to 67mph to pass a vehicle doing 55. As was explained to me by the officer when I questioned the SAFE passing procedures in my mind, speeding is still speeding. In my mind when passing a vehicle, you hit the gas and speed up and complete your mission as quickly as possible especially on a 2 lane rd. The officer explained to me that speeding is still speeding no mater what the reason. Doing 67 mph in a 55 is still speeding. Logically I can accept that, but unfortunately from a safety standpoint I would do it again in a heartbeat. On a 4 lane highway there is even more logic to the speeding while passing concept, as there is not that necessity to complete your mission in haste. Sorry I would side with the officer. Speeding is still speeding.
Do you know an honest lawyer in Bland, Virginia?
So you admit that your daughter was speeding and she was ticketed. What the hell is your beef? You would have been happier if one of the other guys got it. She got the ticket because she was speeding. That;s called natural consequences
That's been raised to a $1,000 fine in some areas.
In Chicago I saw a $10,000 posted fine for any accident with road crews (and I do not believe it would be in leiu of any further lawsuits for medical expenses).
The sky is the limit. But if you change your citizenship to some other country, the fees would likely be waived.
Unjust? I’m missing the part where you describe that part of the story? You admitted that she WAS speeding. Makes it legitimate in my book.
Still, you would likely beat the ticket on the incorrect license plate info.
Does that apply to officers who speed when not on call?
Hire a lawyer and get the charge reduced to a non-moving violation if possible. The money you spend on the lawyer will be worth it for her, especially with regard to her insurance rates. One question, when the police officer pulled her over and asked her if she knew “why” her pulled her over, what was her response? The answer should always be NO! Never admit to anything.
My daughter got a speeding ticket when she was 18 and the local judge wouldn’t allow anyone (as most local courts would) a traffic school option; so she went to court.
Before the judge came in, the bailiff advised everyone that no appeals for traffic school would be accepted, that the judge wanted defendants to step in quickly when called, and that ... a mother sitting in court with a baby had to keep that kid quiet or get evicted from court.
When my daughter was called, the judge read the charges as she rushed forward.
As she was skidding into the appointed spot, the judge asked: “How do you plead?”
She answered; “I guess I’m guilty but I’d like to make a statement.”
The judge said: “Your fine is $$$; ... make your statement.”
She said: “I work at Disneyland and make $4.50 and hour; so I think your fine is excessive.”
The judge choked ...
He cut her fine in half, gave her three months to pay, and asked if she’d agree to that.
I now proudly call that “The Les Miserables” defense.
Or do the course online. It's a bit of a hassle because 1) you have to know which county and judge the results have to be sent to, 2) it's timed so you have to have total silence at home and no distractions for the duration of several hours, and 3) it might cut off in the middle and you can't log back on so you end up having to call the company and get them to log you back on. All in all, sitting with losers all day is the better option and the looser test is waaaay easier than online.
It has been my experience that the majority of times if you show up to court to contest a traffic violation, the officer writing the ticket will not show up as he’s got better things to do, like writing more tickets, and you will get off. I have also found that the judge presiding over these cases are quite reasonable as well. I’ve gone to court 5 times, and 4 out of 5, the cops didn’t show up. And the one time that the cop did show up, I got off with the judge reprimanding the cop for writing such a ridiculous ticket (driving on the parking lane to make a right turn at a traffic light. there never had been a designated parking lane on that street as there were no marked lanes and there were no parking meters nor any parking signs.)
Hire in lawyer in the COUNTY of the infraction. Make some calls and find out which good ol boy lawyer is friends with the judge. They can probably get it throw out on a techicality.
I was in the car with my son on a street we often travel. The speed limit had always been 35, but by an act of some uppity up, they had recently changed the speed limit to 25 (it was posted 25 in one spot on the 2 mile stretch of road, but neither of us had even noticed the new sign.) My son was pulled over, given a ticket for upwards of $150 (he was travelling around 38mph.) The fact that he received the ticket wasn’t the part that outraged me. The fact that there were 6 police cruisers all lined up pulling over car after car, not issuing warnings because of the new speed limit, but racking up “brownie points” with the department for generating revenue was what made me angry. He paid the ticket, he was exceeding the speed limit.
I don't know in this case but I have got off before because the wrong violation law was sited.
Find out when the officer’s day off it. Make sure you get a hearing on that day. Most will not show up.
I can tell you that the new speed detectors lock in on your bumper, and they hold up in court. In 2003 I got caught in a school zone in Atlanta. I had just pulled away from a stop sign, and did not believe I could get up to 47 mph in a 35 mph school zone, in only 800 feet.
I went to court to argue my case from a logic standpoint - there was not enough time for me to get up to that speed. Being an engineer, I was feeling pretty good about convincing the judge that I could prove beyond reasonable doubt that the cop had made a mistake.
Of course, my best bet would be that the cop did not show up. My “case” was the last one for the night - around 9:45 PM.
Darned if the officer wasn’t there. All he had to say was that he had this radar gun locked onto my bumper, and had it calibrated in the past month. End of case. Judge said be careful out there, and pay the fine. To add further insult, I had to pay $50 in court costs.
With a $325 fine it was worth a shot. Your fine seems relatively low, and the police win if you admit to speeding, no matter the extenuating circumstances.
By the way - for you Georgia drivers - Super Speeder law goes into effect on Jan 1. If you’re going over 75 mph on a 2-lane road or over 85 mph anywhere, you get an extra $200 fine.
But how am I supposed to get to the airport on time if I’m poking along with everyone else on I-285 at just 80 mph? Even the cops pass you when you’re only going 75 mph on that 55 mph perimeter highway. That’s how traffic flows in Atlanta.
If you do not hire an attorney, you will not beat the ticket.
It is as simple as that.
I have hired an attorney three times in the past in New Orleans for handle tickets that I was absolutely guilty of. I won all three cases with zero evidence in my favor. He simply recommended to the judge that the charges be dropped, and they were.
correction to above post- for should be to.
If that is the case, then you're good. The ticket was written in error. Shouldn't need a lawyer for that. A ticket is a legal document. If it's wrong, it's wrong. That's not your car.
I use to challenge every ticket I got (most deserved) as "practice", I worked as a paralegal out of college and planed to get a law degree, I ended up an auditor. I won some and I lost some. Unfortunately (or fortunatley) I haven't got a ticket in the last 10 years so most of my info is a bit dated.
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