So I got my first ticket today...what can I do about it?

[Thoreau]

Originally posted by: MonkeyloveGood

Originally posted by: digitalsm
By your own admission you were atleast 15 over the speed limit, 45 in a 30. You were speeding, got busted. Pay the ticket and be done with it.

Actually, I said I already saw the new speed limit of 55mph when I got up to around 45mph.

Some of you people on this forum are real jerks. Some are extremely helpful while there's always gotta be that one handful who provides nothing but insults and "words of knowledge."

Seeing the sign isn't the same as being in the zone already. Until you are PAST the sign, you are still in the other speed limit zone, not the 55mph zone.

 

[Thoreau]

Originally posted by: MonkeyloveGood
Like, I said I was watching my speedometer. I may have been mistaken about the whole passing the limit thing before you can go that speed but the fact that the cop pulled me over for what i did in the middle of town is what I'm saying. If I was watching my speedometer then how else would I of known that I was going at 45mph at that point?

Some of you people just really like conflict don't you? Don't tell me you keep under the speed limit at all times every time you drive. If anyone did that they'd be honked at constantly and cut off constantly causing a waay more dangerous situation than going the "flow".

Hehe, that's why I love Phoenix. I'll tell you flat out that I drive to work every single day (well, the days that I *do* work) going 80 in a 55 zone, altho where I start out it's a 65 zone for the first 2 miles of my 25+ mile drive to work.

Stop getting so worked up about a ticket, it's not worth the headache (or the total ownage from M4H.) You were speeding, you admit it, and even if the numbers are inflated, even by a little, you are still looking at rate increases that you can't afford. 1 point or 4, it's still gonna cost you. Find yourself a new insurance carrier that starts out with lower rates, or possibly look into reducing the coverage amount on your plan, or even increasing the deductible to get the rates back down.

 

[syee]

I'd just pay it. Get it over and done with. See if you can take the defensive driving course in your own city/county to wipe it off. (I've never been able to take that option here in Colorado - here it's either pay the fine or see you in court.

The same thing happened to me (46 in a 35), and the speed trap was at the bottom of a hill which I think is kinda lame. They said I could go to court and dispute it, but that probably wouldn't be worth my time...I'd have to take time off work, drive myself out there, and all that stuff, and I figure if I worked that day, I could probaly have made the money for the ticket back anyways. It was a $120 ticket + 2 points apparently here in Colorado which I thought was even worse. Anyways, to make a long story short, it was my first speeding ticket, and my insurance rates didn't go up. (they actually went down for these 6 months by a few dollars). I'm sure the insurance company will overlook a first time ticket - it's not like you were DUI or anything serious like that, although I guess this is the at the insurance company's discretion. (I'm with Allstate).

Oh yeah...and buy yourself a radar detector and let someone else be the "rabbit". That's what I did...radar detector = cost of speeding ticket and if you let someone else be the bait, you'll probably never get caught again. 🙂 That's what I ended up doing after the first ticket.

 

[Krugger]

no way i can stand even a whole page of this.
1) you have the right to ask the cop to see his radar, which should show your highest speed when clocked. unfortunately if you ever were at 53, it might just show that anyway.
2) the speed limit sign is where the limit changes. who the F doesnt know that? that's not a gray area. do you stop at a stop sign when you see it? a red light? no.

 

[snooker]

you can take your car where the police takes theirs to get the speedometer calibrated and have yours checked and calibrated. If it is off, then you can go to a judge and plead guilty but with a reason, then show him the paperwork from the place. They usually drop it once they see you was at fault due to mechanical error, which you have since fixed..... It worked for me once 🙂

 

[Fiera]

If it was in Ill. You'd be better off going in and asking for court supervision. Then it only shows up on your record if you get another ticket within 90 days. As far as aruging the ticket, you have to do it on the spot, they won't deal with it if you go to court.
You still pay the $95. I know from personal experiance.

 

[Grouchyoldguy]

Were you clocked, paced, or caught on radar.
Clocked= Timed passing two points of known distance. Division tells your speed.
Paced= He goes as fast as you and his calibrated speedometer tells your speed.
Radar= He sits in his car and the display of the radar gun tells your speed.

Get it right people!!!!!!

 

[LordThing]

You got caught in yet another little town speed trap. They fund their city on this kinda thing, so it's normal to see people complain and they count on the fact that people will pay the $100 fine rather than fight it because they probably knew you were an out-of-towner(being a small town, the cops probably know all the cars).

Same thing happend to my family when we were on vacation. Got ticketed doing 45 in a 25 coming off a hill around a blind curve into their town. We litterally saw the 25mph sign and then heard sirens. Honestly, we were not doing 45, probably more like 35, but still the cop "let us off easy" with a $100 fine.

Unfortunately for you, your best bet is to pay the ticket, do the online traffic school and move on. Never drive that road again.

 

[Mill]

Originally posted by: Krugger
no way i can stand even a whole page of this.
1) you have the right to ask the cop to see his radar, which should show your highest speed when clocked. unfortunately if you ever were at 53, it might just show that anyway.
2) the speed limit sign is where the limit changes. who the F doesnt know that? that's not a gray area. do you stop at a stop sign when you see it? a red light? no.

1. Wrong.

 

[Nitemare]

Originally posted by: matt426malm

Originally posted by: IanthePez
You can take the classes online most of the time..

Just pay the ticket, it's too much work to do anything else.

That's what I did

This or you paying the ticket is what they are banking on.

Contest it in court. If you really want to be b!tchy about it attack the officer's competency and the machines calibration in court. Ask when the machine was last calibrated. When he was last trained on it and so on and so on.

Cops nowadays make up crap just to give you tickets especially if you have out of state plates. They are like Sheriff Al Thurman from Walking Tall and use them as revenue generators. If you know without a doubt you weren't speeding go after him.

 

[EMPshockwave82]

Originally posted by: bradruth
Accept it. If his radar said 53, in all likelihood you were going 53. If you're sure you were going slower, perhaps your speedometer is off.

off 53 - 45.... that's quite a bit.... maybe not really noticeable to the eye in a car but still a lot for a speedometer to be off

off by 53 to 33.... that's noticeable to the human eye... i can tell a huge difference between 33 and 53 (i dont know about you) but the speedometer is off logic just dosent seem to work here

 

[Chiropteran]

Originally posted by: Mill

Originally posted by: Krugger
no way i can stand even a whole page of this.
1) you have the right to ask the cop to see his radar, which should show your highest speed when clocked. unfortunately if you ever were at 53, it might just show that anyway.
2) the speed limit sign is where the limit changes. who the F doesnt know that? that's not a gray area. do you stop at a stop sign when you see it? a red light? no.

1. Wrong.

I don't know what country you are from, but in the USA point (1) is correct.

 

[Chiropteran]

Originally posted by: emmpee
you've convinced me, you're obviously right. things i've learned:

* 15mph over the speed limit is definitely a grey area, and shouldn't be enforced.
* the fact that you were speeding 15mph over the limit when you were pulled over is completely irrelevant.
* speeding should never be enforced anywhere near a speed limit sign, because that would be unfair.
* your ticket should be thrown out in court because it is completely unfair.
* cops aren't always right, so then they must be always wrong.

Where I live, 15mph over the limit is rarely enforced. 75mph on I66 in a 55mph zone is common and I have never been stopped nor have I seen anyone else stopped for driving at that speed. If a law is never enforced, then there very clearly *IS* a grey area.

 

[Tom]

"So I bet cops tell the truth all the time eh?"

Generally yes. Given your own description of events the fact is you were almost surely doing exactly what he says you were doing, maybe not in the "middle of town" as you take his statement, but that isn't the only way to define "middle of town". If you look at the highway as a continous thing, "middle of town" could mean the entire stretch of highway where the speed limit is 30mph.

BTW, what driver's education class did they teach you to speed up past the speed limit becasue there is a car behind you going faster than you ???

You challenge this, and honestly tell that to a judge, you think you he's going to say that's an acceptable reason to break the law ?

 

[emmpee]

Originally posted by: Chiropteran
Where I live, 15mph over the limit is rarely enforced

great!

75mph on I66 in a 55mph zone is common and I have never been stopped nor have I seen anyone else stopped for driving at that speed.

great!

If a law is never enforced, then there very clearly *IS* a grey area.

100% wrong. Laws are laws. Non-enforcement of a law does NOT make it any less valid, NOR does it become a "grey area".

 

[Lonyo]

Where I live, 15mph over the limit is rarely enforced. 75mph on I66 in a 55mph zone is common and I have never been stopped nor have I seen anyone else stopped for driving at that speed. If a law is never enforced, then there very clearly *IS* a grey area.

75MPh in a 55 isn't like 45 in a 30, there are fewer people in the 55, and it's less of a % increase over the legal limit.

The OP is an idiot. It doesn't matter if he was only speeding 50 feet before the sign, the limit applies AFTER the sign, and he shouldn't be driving if he doesn't know this.
You see a sign, then you begin to slow down so you are at the limit when you get to the sign, then you speed up once you have PASSED another sign.

I don't think it matter how much he was over (at least 15mph by his own admission), he doesn't know one of the basic rules of the road, and hence deserves everything he gets.

 

[Yosoce]

I think from now on police officers should ask people they catch whether they think its fair or not that they were caught and face prison time. If they dont think its fair, then obviously the law is fvcked up and the perp should be released. Possibly if found "unfair" the police officer should be reprimanded as well.

 

[Mill]

Originally posted by: Chiropteran

Originally posted by: Mill

Originally posted by: Krugger
no way i can stand even a whole page of this.
1) you have the right to ask the cop to see his radar, which should show your highest speed when clocked. unfortunately if you ever were at 53, it might just show that anyway.
2) the speed limit sign is where the limit changes. who the F doesnt know that? that's not a gray area. do you stop at a stop sign when you see it? a red light? no.

1. Wrong.

I don't know what country you are from, but in the USA point (1) is correct.

Again, WRONG. 100% WRONG. You have ZERO and I mean ZERO right to ask a police officer to view his radar gun. Now hush.

 

[allisolm]

Again, WRONG. 100% WRONG. You have ZERO and I mean ZERO right to ask a police officer to view his radar gun. Now hush.

There appears to be some disagreement about this point out there:

"DOES A SPEEDING MOTORIST HAVE THE RIGHT TO SEE THE RADAR GUN?
You have a right to see the gun and to see the basis for which the cop is stopping you. You'll need to do some work, but you can also subpoena the calibration records for the gun. In California, for example, if it wasn't calibrated within the last 10 days of your stop, you win."
http://law.freeadvice.com/general_practice/traffic_law/speeding_radar.htm

"Does a speeding motorist have the right to see a radar gun?
A speeding motorist does not have the right to see the radar gun even though it was the reason the official stopped the motorist in the first place. A motorist can, however subpoena the calibration records. In many states there are laws regarding the frequency of the gun calibration. If the gun was not calibrated according to law, you win. "
http://www.legalnation.com/faq.asp

I read a third opinion that said you have the right to ask to see the reading but the officer doesn't have to show it to you. (I can't locate that site at the moment.)

 

[Mill]

Nope, still wrong. If you can find a statute that says they are required to show it then do so. The only time an officer will let someone see it is out of niceness. Most of the time they don't want to deal with the hazard to your safety and theirs. Plus it is a bad idea to challenge an officer, because they are much more likely to remember to prep for you in court.

 

[allisolm]

Geez - two out of the three opinions I gave AGREED with you and you're STILL stuck like a broken record on "wrong."

 

[Mill]

Originally posted by: allisolm
Geez - two out of the three opinions I gave AGREED with you and you're STILL stuck like a broken record on "wrong."

That's because opinion doesn't matter much unless a statute can be found.

 

[Ultima]

Originally posted by: bradruth

Originally posted by: MonkeyloveGood

Originally posted by: bradruth
Accept it. If his radar said 53, in all likelihood you were going 53. If you're sure you were going slower, perhaps your speedometer is off.

Ok, right so the cop is always right? I'm sorry but I can tell a difference between crusing around the low 30s and 53mph. Who's to say he didn't clock me as I was exiting town when my speedometer read about 45 and rising? Like I said, there were 2 times I had to stop within town so speeding up to 53 mph with my 112 hp car wouldn't really be smart to do only to stop again a couple of blocks away.

So you want me to decide who has more credence, a law enforcement professional or a guy who complains about a speeding ticket on a tech-related message board? I'm sorry, but I'm going with the officer. Perhaps he did clock you later than you claim he said, but as long as you were still in the 30mph zone it's speeding. Deal with it.

And it's still bullsh!t. Ever hear of "spirit of the law" and not letter of the law? This is just another example of penalizing a good driver for revenue generation. These actions just lower respect for good cops. Can you deal with that?

 

[Ultima]

Originally posted by: MonkeyloveGood
Why do some states, cities and counties NOT allow speed trapping? Basically because it's NOT fair. Sorry mill, but you're seriosuly brainwashed. Aren't these so called laws intended to protect people rather than be cash making machine for small rural towns that don't have any source of income otherwise?

And a fair judge would probably dismiss a case where a cop pulls someone over for going 56 in a 55mph zone. While it's against the law, I'm sure anyone with common sense would understand how absurd it is. But mill, you go and enforce every single law you see. Hey, in a suburb near chicago (evanston) it's illegal to skip. Man, imagine the cash making possibilities that can be by setting up a skip trap near a local elementary school.
I'm sure the cop would be commended for doing his job. Riiiight.

Amen. I got busted for allegedly going 75 in a 45 cause of a speedtrap.. now many of you probably think "oooh dangerous speed" but actually the 45 was on a god damn FREEWAY where EVERYONE was going at least 60, including me. I wasn't going 75 but I somehow got clocked at that. I got the ticket reduced to 60 in 45 cause even the judge knew it was bullsh!t. I can deal with a 60 in a 45 ticket cause at least it's honest, even if it's still BS.