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Speeding

smithrh said:
$50 sounds low, but at the same time, it's just a speeding ticket.

Ask your attorney if you need to be, or should be, present for *any* of this - then follow their advice.

It's very possible that the attorney will not need - or even want - you around. Hell, it's probably going to be a 30 second phone call with the DA, no way for you to be there for that anyway. At that point, it could be 100% paperwork and no place to show your face.

To be clear, I'm not condoning or defending driving 90+. The OP posted to get advice, not lectures or clicking tongues. He put in the OP that it was an eye-opener for him.
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Sorry, i meant it was a $450 fee for the attorney. She did mention that I may not even have to show up and that we could handle all this via email and phone but I will double check. The only reason I want to be there is so I can verify that they actually handled my case, but they seem to have a good reputation and if this is handled over a call with the DA then obviously I cannot participate. Thank you (and others) for your positive and mature advice.

-Jay
 
sahni130 said:
Sorry, i meant it was a $450 fee for the attorney. She did mention that I may not even have to show up and that we could handle all this via email and phone but I will double check. The only reason I want to be there is so I can verify that they actually handled my case, but they seem to have a good reputation and if this is handled over a call with the DA then obviously I cannot participate. Thank you (and others) for your positive and mature advice.

-Jay
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You don't need to be there. As long as you signed something with the attorney.

I wouldn't worry about it too much as long as you gave them the case. If they are anything like here, they probably have 30+ traffic cases that day with them and negotiate with the DA to lower down the fines for everyone one of them or the attorney will fight everyone of them. The DA probably won't since its a waste of court time. Its just a traffic ticket. If it was a criminal charge, your attorney would be charging you thousands because they know you need them. I wouldn't worry too much about It.
 
heehee said:
You don't need to be there. As long as you signed something with the attorney.

I wouldn't worry about it too much as long as you gave them the case. If they are anything like here, they probably have 30+ traffic cases that day with them and negotiate with the DA to lower down the fines for everyone one of them or the attorney will fight everyone of them. The DA probably won't since its a waste of court time. Its just a traffic ticket. If it was a criminal charge, your attorney would be charging you thousands because they know you need them. I wouldn't worry too much about It.
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So in other words, I could go to court on m arraignment date and see if the DA will offer a plea before I plead guilty or not guilty? I could always ask for a later court date and get a lawyer in the meantime?
 
sahni130 said:
So in other words, I could go to court on m arraignment date and see if the DA will offer a plea before I plead guilty or not guilty? I could always ask for a later court date and get a lawyer in the meantime?
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You probably can since going to court is a waste of taxpayers money and everyones time for a traffic ticket . I don't know what your charge is and I don't know what the law is in your area.

I would probably go with the attorney route if its only $450. The worst is you are out $450 and the fine. All I'm saying is don't stress about it too much and let it be a lesson.
 
OP, I think you need to stop thinking about going to court at all.

Once you hire the attorney, they'll handle everything, and will let you know if they need anything from you, which is unlikely, put possible.

As others have mentioned, there are far some similarities to an assembly line than anything else. Anything you do to upset the assembly line is going to get noticed, and probably not in a good way.
 
smithrh said:
...
Once you hire the attorney, they'll handle everything, and will let you know if they need anything from you, which is unlikely, put possible.
....
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This is good advice. Pay the attorney, do what they say. If they are charging 'only' $450 then they are not expecting this to take long. Anything you do that they haven't asked you to do creates more work for them, and more work for the court. Which somebody is going to decide should be paid for...

You hired a professional, now take their advice. If you just keep quiet and listen, and do exactly what they tell you to do - you will be rewarded. I suspect most of their clients are not very good at taking advice. Otherwise, they wouldn't be in that situation. Be the exception, eh?
 
Yikes driving almost 100 mph on a public road. I'd say you should be thankful that you didn't kill anyone.

I'm not an official old man driver. I have my hat, and I drive slow :p
 
Shrink said:
I'm an official old man...but about the driving part, not so much.:eek::eek:
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I've been driving within the speed limit as people wiz by me lately. I found that by the time I get to my destination I'm a lot less stressful. :)
 
maflynn said:
I've been driving within the speed limit as people wiz by me lately. I found that by the time I get to my destination I'm a lot less stressful. :)
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Everyone knows the speed limit around here is actually 10mph above what's posted. ;):p
 
maflynn said:
Yikes driving almost 100 mph on a public road. I'd say you should be thankful that you didn't kill anyone.
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Meh, as long as its done under controlled circumstances, its not as bad. I did 175 mph / 282 kph once. That said, it was done on a Sunday morning at 6 am, with traffic control cars and constant radio contact.
 
jknight8907 said:
Step one: Pay the ticket, and be thankful you didn't go to jail instead.
Step two: Don't ever, ever find yourself doing nearly 40 over the limit again.

As an alternative strategy, you might get it reduced if you hired a good lawyer.
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It would cost probably too much to get a good lawyer though. Just pay your ticket bro. You're guilty and the judge will find the same thing. Even going to court is a waste of time.
 
sahni130 said:
Yesterday, I got pulled over by Georgia State Patrol for speeding...doing 93 in a 55 zone.
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You didn't happen to be on I-285, did you? :rolleyes: I definitely know that road and how fast people drive. (Watermelon 500, anyone? :))

I've made my fair share of mistakes driving, but the best thing to do would be to pay the fine some way (either fine or lawyer + reduced fine) and take your lesson.
 
DaKKs said:
Meh, as long as its done under controlled circumstances, its not as bad. I did 175 mph / 282 kph once. That said, it was done on a Sunday morning at 6 am, with traffic control cars and constant radio contact.
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The problem is not just you keeping control, but the other drivers doing something unexpected. At those speeds you have no reaction time to avoid something.
 
In the mid '90's I got a ticket for 115 in a 35..

When it was all said and done it cost me about $1300 and a 3 months suspension..
 
maflynn said:
The problem is not just you keeping control, but the other drivers doing something unexpected. At those speeds you have no reaction time to avoid something.
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Which is why I had traffic control cars. If you're unfamiliar with the concept, its two fast vehicles that warn through radio for approaching traffic. One in the front and one in the back. They are often used in Germany during tops speed tests on Autobahn.

TheAppleFairy said:
I got a feeling he might have done his 175 on a race track.
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E4 highway, between exit 141 (Järna) and Exit 134 (Nyköping).
 
TedM said:
It would cost probably too much to get a good lawyer though. Just pay your ticket bro. You're guilty and the judge will find the same thing. Even going to court is a waste of time.
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Extremely poor advice.
 
Thank you all for your advice. Life is a learning experience and after these hefty fees/fines, you bet I won't be doing this again except on a racetrack or controlled area.

Btw, I was on GA- 400 South, right before the toll plaza. This highway is unofficially called "Georgia's Autobahn" but rarely do you get the chance to even go the speed limit--usually whenever I'm on it, I'm stuck in bumper to bumper traffic.

But on a sort of humorous note, I was grocery shopping a couple weeks ago and in the parking lot I saw a older man getting out of his GT500 that he had power slid into the parking lot and when he got out, he said "I drive like that because I can't walk like that". He then told me to not repeat what he did and started giving me advice on "life". :D

But anyways,
I've called a few traffic lawyers around here and they seem to echo the point that they can bring relatively good results. As in, no point on my record, possibly reduced fine. So I think I'll go that route and keep it under the limit from now on. Matter of fact, I drove by the spot I was pulled over at and it gave me the chills.
 
sahni130 said:
I've called a few traffic lawyers around here and they seem to echo the point that they can bring relatively good results. As in, no point on my record, possibly reduced fine.
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I just wanted to point out that no attorney can guarantee any particular results before a judge. If they can, then there's a much deeper problem (rhymes with "disruption").
 
senseless said:
Everyone knows that "uh-oh" feeling as you speed past a hidden state trooper. They have NO sense of humor.
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Do they even have a chance at catching you at that speed? I mean, by the time they catch up they would've lost you in traffic. Unless you drive a bright pink Bugatti Veyron, I'm pretty sure they cant prove you were the one that sped past them. You cant see a plate at that speed.
 
DaKKs said:
Do they even have a chance at catching you at that speed? I mean, by the time they catch up they would've lost you in traffic. Unless you drive a bright pink Bugatti Veyron, I'm pretty sure they cant prove you were the one that sped past them. You cant see a plate at that speed.
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I've wondered that myself. Maybe the radar can lock on to your car until he catches up to you?
 
senseless said:
I've wondered that myself. Maybe the radar can lock on to your car until he catches up to you?
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Assuming you guys have similar, if not the same, tech we use, thats not possible. It acts much like a laser pointer and reads the speed, there is no lock on feature as far as I'm aware. And considering I'm dating a cop, alright, cop in training, I'm fairly certain I'm right. I've also serviced cop cars at work, and the built in speed trap thingy is identical to the handheld one, just bolted to the dash.

I my experience from driving the most common car in Sweden, and having a heavy right foot, they operate on pure luck. They stop the first identical car to the one they saw. If you keep a cool head and deny everything, I hardly think they can prove it.
 
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