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speeding ticket (school zone, wet road)

B

bemylover

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 20, 2005
124
0
Does anyone know what happens when you get speeding ticket in the school zone, and also the road condition is "wet"? I know what happens when you just speed, but school zone and rainy day will probably make it worse.

This is my first ticket ever, I was doing 36mi/hr where the limit was 20. The limit is 35mi/hr on that road when it is not a school zone, I just did not notice light flashing.

I have to appear in court at the end of this month, so I'd like to know what I shall expect there and maybe hear some advice :)

Also, I did not have insurance card in the car(I had it at home), so I got another ticket for that. Will I have to pay the fee for that if I show in court that I actually had the insurance active for that date?

Thanks in advance for any comments.
 
Take the class for the speeding ticket.

The lack of insurance ticket should be dropped with the presentation of the insurance card, these days not all cops give you the chance to "find" the card or current registration -- forcing you to take care of it at the courthouse.

Basically, have that stuff where it is easy to find -- since you may only have a few seconds to grab it.

---

As for speeding in a school zone, you want a public or private flogging?

In Arizona they finally make speeding in a school zone hurt, the cheapest ticket is probably $300+ and doubles if there are children in the area.

Plus they eliminated the traffic school option, so you have to handle it in a courthouse.
 
Sun Baked said:
Take the class for the speeding ticket.
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Do I have a choice here?

I mean probably I will have to pay anyways, but if I choose to take classes will it be removed from my records?
 
Oh Christ, are we going to do this again?

Go to court, explain what happened take the class.

End of story.

Can we not lecture (as much as I hate speeding) and turn this into a flame fest again?
 
I think you guys need to cut the OP a break. It's funny when someone comes and asks for advice and people respond with a high-and-mighty, righteous attitude. I imagine all of you at one point or another have sped, so I don't think it's fair to simply post chastising comments.

As for the question, I don't really know. Since you were going the normal limit of the street, you could plead guilty and tell the judge you just didn't notice the flashing lights indicating the presence of children. While you were still speeding, if you're straightforward about it, the judge might be lenient.
 
Make sure you ask your lawyer (you do have one, don't you?) about getting a "prayer for judgment". Basically, this is a one-time-only get-out-of-jail-free card that you can use, in many jurisdictions, to excuse one traffic offence.
 
iGary said:
Oh Christ, are we going to do this again?

Go to court, explain what happened take the class.

End of story.

Can we not lecture (as much as I hate speeding) and turn this into a flame fest again?
Click to expand...

MoparShaha said:
think you guys need to cut the OP a break. It's funny when someone comes and asks for advice and people respond with a high-and-mighty, righteous attitude. I imagine all of you at one point or another have sped, so I don't think it's fair to simply post chastising comments.
Click to expand...


I have no idea of the OPs circumstances other than the speed (and it was wet!), so this is not a personal attack on him. But I'd like to take issue with the above comments. If someone came on here admitting therapeutically how they raped an 80-year old woman would negative comments be justified? Or only people offering support would be allowed to speak up? I have three young children and every morning watch great hordes filing down the narrow streets around here. The number of times I've been driving and seen children jump out. Anyone who puts a child's life in danger by driving at a speed at which he or she could not stop in time deserves to lose their licence at least, not a pat on the back. This is as good a place as any to dissuade this practice. No? Nothing self-righteous about it. And speeding on the expressway is another matter.
 
MoparShaha said:
I think you guys need to cut the OP a break. It's funny when someone comes and asks for advice and people respond with a high-and-mighty, righteous attitude.
Click to expand...
Exactly, thank you.

If I was saying I was speeding intentionally and now I want to find a way to stay unpunished, you would have every right to criticize. Right now, fortunately, I will appear in court and plead guilty, so all the righteous MR members can let the judge do his job.

FYI I never speed intentionally.

And never jaywalk too :D
 
clayj said:
Make sure you ask your lawyer (you do have one, don't you?) about getting a "prayer for judgment". Basically, this is a one-time-only get-out-of-jail-free card that you can use, in many jurisdictions, to excuse one traffic offence.
Click to expand...

Do they have that outside of North Carolina? I've always loved how delightfully southern "prayer for judgment" sounded.

This thread is definitely going the way of the other one. I unfortunately got involved towards the end of the last one... I felt terrible once it was over, and I hope this one gets closed before it gets to that point.
 
Abstract said:
I think you're going to be screwed and pay a lot of money. Sorry, I just do, since you sped in a school zone.
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I think Abstract is right.
 
bemylover said:
Do I have a choice here?

I mean probably I will have to pay anyways, but if I choose to take classes will it be removed from my records?
Click to expand...

Well the point (for me, personally) is that you were caught speeding, which is something you WERE guilty of, and that is that. I hope you don't get done in for a small slip-up like this, but you know you made a mistake, and you should just take the punishment.

If something bad happened to a member of MR and s/he posted about it, I give them my sympathy. However, if someone did something wrong and tells us about it or asks us what they can do to get away with a lesser punishment, and I happen to think what they did is wrong as well (although my feelings on this have nothing to do with the law, but with my own morals.......ie: your mistake wasn't so bad in my books ;) ), then I'm not going to give my sympathy or help you out.


And I just wanted to say that I agree with what MrSmith is saying for the most part, although not with the example with which he tried to make his point. :p
 
Abstract said:
Well the point (for me, personally) is that you were caught speeding, which is something you WERE guilty of, and that is that. I hope you don't get done in for a small slip-up like this, but you know you made a mistake, and you should just take the punishment.

If something bad happened to a member of MR and s/he posted about it, I give them my sympathy. However, if someone did something wrong and tells us about it or asks us what they can do to get away with a lesser punishment, and I happen to think what they did is wrong as well (although my feelings on this have nothing to do with the law, but with my own morals.......ie: your mistake wasn't so bad in my books ;) ), then I'm not going to give my sympathy or help you out.


And I just wanted to say that I agree with what MrSmith is saying for the most part, although not with the example with which he tried to make his point. :p
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OK.

Hey, I just checked your profile and you are exactly 5 months younger than I am. What a coincidence :D
 
I failed my first driver's license test because I oversped in a school zone. Most folks around here don't take lightly to lawbreakers in school zones, especially. I have no problem driving 90 km/h in a 50 km/h zone (especially those nice curving roads with lots of trees on either side) but I strictly obey speeding limits in 30 km/h zones, because I'm smart enough to know that a 2x increase in speed from 30 km/h means a 4x stopping distance.
 
To the OP:
Since you were concentrating on the road during the rain, you might not even be able to answer this question. Is there a chance that the light on the speed limit sign was burned out or not illuminated? That could really be your only way out of this situation. If the light was not on or is not on during the same time as your ticket, you might be able to fight the speed limit of 20mph.
 
Superdrive said:
To the OP:
Since you were concentrating on the road during the rain, you might not even be able to answer this question. Is there a chance that the light on the speed limit sign was burned out or not illuminated? That could really be your only way out of this situation. If the light was not on or is not on during the same time as your ticket, you might be able to fight the speed limit of 20mph.
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No, the light was on fine. Anyways I will plead guilty and see what happens.
 
There's no reason to plead guilty when you can plead no contest.

And people will tell you to wear a suit: don't.

You want to look younger than you are, not older. Go for school boy chic. Something like a sweater vest with a crisp oxford underneath and your hair slicked back. Be very innocent and naive.

Just explain how it was confusing to you that there are different speed limits on the same road and you didn't see the lights indicating for you to slow down as it was raining. Just be very confused and sympathetic.
 
I think the OP wasn't asking how to get out of this like the other thread, so a lot of the flaming seems really unnecessary. He was just asking what he could expect.

When you go to court, don't try to weasel your way out of it. Just admit what you did was wrong and it was a mistake (which it seems like you said you're doing anyway). And just dress normal, don't try to look innocent, it will probably not end up working the way you want.
 
Thanks guys. I will tell u what happened in three weeks, if I don't get arrested :)
 
I wonder if saying that you didn't see the lights might not be such a good idea — it could raise the point that if you didn't see the lights on a road sign you could also miss red traffic lights, stop signs, small children running out into the road in front of you, etc.

I have no experience of being in court for something like this, but that's what struck me when reading that.
 
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