Got a speeding ticket. Pay it, or go to court?

[LOLobo]

I was able to successfully fight a speeding ticket via court by declaration. I documented that the nearest speed limit sign was over 7 football fields away.

My wife was able to successfully fight a speeding ticket simply by appearing to court and offering herself to do community service. Needless to say, the officer could not document her true speed because, according to him, he was not stationary during the read (he was behind us in traffic).

 

[Apple fanboy]

First of all, good for the cops for catching people who willingly endanger innocent people on or near the roadway.

Secondly, try and find out when the traffic cop has a training day and reschedule your court date for that time - say your grandmother is sick or something. Courts and police stations don't coordinate that type of thing. Show up in court, declare your innocence, and if the cop is not there to counter your argument they let you go.

I had a ticket for an expired registration, because the mail lady lost the renewal letter. Anyway, I get to court and this blonde 40-something bimbo in a mini skirt is all flirty with the judge, chews her gum, stares at me, the judge ogles her a bit, and I had the whole fine - plus I had to wait over 2 hours because they overbooked. Pointed out His Honor's tardiness and piss-poor scheduling, explaining that as a consultant I charge $120/hour plus 50% for evenings and was missing almost 3 hours of work due to his lack of responsibility, but got another dirty look from Ms. Bubble Gum. Ah well.

In my country the national speed limit is a maximum speed of 70 mph.
This was set in the 70's based on stopping distances.
Given the advances in tyre and break technology since then, explain how I'm dangering someone's life.

 

[0007776]

If you appear then chances are you'll get a reduced fine if you admit your guilt. But that's not the reality of where it hits, it's that your insurance premiums will increase dramatically. That's the bigger hassle so it's not worth speeding if you are cost conscious.

I'm pretty sure this ticket was resolved and is long off of the OP's record considering the thread is 7 years old.

 

[Melrose]

I'm pretty sure this ticket was resolved and is long off of the OP's record considering the thread is 7 years old.

Touché. I didn't even see that. The Ghost of Old Threads Past has caught me again....

In my country the national speed limit is a maximum speed of 70 mph.
This was set in the 70's based on stopping distances.
Given the advances in tyre and break technology since then, explain how I'm dangering someone's life.

I used to work in a news agency and saw reports from people who get into accidents where excessive speed was a contributing factor, so I guess my viewpoint is horribly twisted and overly cynical.

So I stand corrected. Speeding is perfectly harmless, good old-fashioned fun.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Touché. I didn't even see that. The Ghost of Old Threads Past has caught me again....



I used to work in a news agency and saw reports from people who get into accidents where excessive speed was a contributing factor, so I guess my viewpoint is horribly twisted and overly cynical.

So I stand corrected. Speeding is perfectly harmless, good old-fashioned fun.

Not advocating speeding. 30 in a built up area is perfectly sensible.
The Germans have no speed limit on the autobahn and I believe that works fine for them.

 

[bunnspecial]

Not advocating speeding. 30 in a built up area is perfectly sensible.
The Germans have no speed limit on the autobahn and I believe that works fine for them.

From what I understand, the Autobahn has two pretty strict traffic rules that help keep things safe. The first is "keep right except to pass" and the second is "no passing on the right." People in the US would do well to learn to follow the first, and if that were the case the second becomes a lot easier to follow.

I think everyone in the US has been behind someone in the left lane going 60mph when the traffic is flowing at 75+ in the right lane. The person in the left lane SHOULD be ticketed, esp. in clear conditions going well under the speed limit, and then the folks in the right lane who want to go faster should have to move into the left lane to pass the slower moving traffic.

I was behind someone the other day doing just the above in a 70mph zone. I knew the road well enough that a third lane would be opening on the left in a very short distance, so I waited it out rather planning to pass the slow moving car on the left. What I hadn't counted on was that-for no apparent reason-the slow moving car moved into the left most lane. At that point, I just said "forget it" and passed the slow car in the center lane.

 

[Tech198]

I found out the hard way that the cops had a speed trap set up on one of our highways this morning....got nabbed for a 77 in a 60 (ouch, I know). I can just mail in a check for the fine, or I can appear in court. I'm not going to try to fight it. I know I was speeding, I know I'm an idiot, and I take full responsibility for it. But I heard that sometimes, the judge will be nice, especially to first-time-offenders like me and offer a defensive driving class in lieu of points on your license and increased insurance. Is this usually true, or should I just mail in the fine and save myself an evening of sitting in court?

They are nice... when i drove on expired plates for a few months... I knew what i was doing perfectly clearly.. I just didn't have the money, but drove anyway.

and a foolish turn got attention from the cops..

 

[yg17]

Oh my god, will somebody please put this thread out of its misery? I paid the ****ing ticket 7 years ago.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Oh my god, will somebody please put this thread out of its misery? I paid the ****ing ticket 7 years ago.

Well at least it's no longer on your record then!

 

[chown33]

Oh my god, will somebody please put this thread out of its misery? I paid the ****ing ticket 7 years ago.

You can report the thread using the "circled !" icon in one of your posts, and ask for the thread to be locked. Since you started the thread, the mods will probably honor that request.

 

[Gutwrench]

Most

Oh my god, will somebody please put this thread out of its misery? I paid the ****ing ticket 7 years ago.

Calm down. From time to time old threads get resurrected because MR displays a list of "similar threads" at the bottom of the page. It isn't that big of deal. Is it really that hard for you to ignore?