Two speeding tickets in one week....help

[Busie23]

Here it is all time worst week...
Get up early on Friday 2/8/01 to go to doctor appointment that I have had for three months because of pain in my wrists. They scheduled me wrong so I would have to come back at another date.

The following Monday I receive a call from the doctor's office saying they can squeeze me in on Tuesday morning. This is an hour drive for me, but I get up at 7am to meet with the doctor. After waiting an hour cause he was late he gives me an EMG test to see if I have carpel tunnel in my wrist. Low and behold I do in both wrist at the age of 21 and I'm a computer major?

I get pulled over going up a hill while in major traffic and as a white conversion van is passing me in the left lane. Officer sites me for a 41/25 and no seat belt. Two offences means I have to drive an hour back to appear in court.

So I get my car washed and continue home only to get a flat tire. This was my second since December. I then remember I had a take home test that was due later that day. I have nothing to turn in so I get 20% off.

Week #2

I have to run home to help my mom take care of her store for the day and decide to start working on another project at my house that night. My hard drive crashed and I lost it all, so now the project that is due at the end of the week is all gone. I leave all upset about it and head back to school at about 3am in the morning on 2/20/01.

I'm driving through a huge area where its all car dealer ships and I get pulled over for 44/25. I ask officer if he would have pulled me over had it been in the day when everyone is zipping through this area at 50+mph and he says no.

Now I have two court dates, one on the 26th for the second ticket and one on March 7th for the first ticket.

I feel I have a strong case against either ticket. One was in heavy traffic going up a hill early in the morning in a business area with numerous buildings, street signs, and powerlines all around. Not to mention there was a large van passing me and I was in the middle of a pack of cars at 10:30am in the morning.
The second was in a long strip of 4 lane road where car dealerships line either side. It was late at night and I was the only car on the road. Again there are numerous buildings, powerlines, street signs and thousands of parked cars for the radar to reflect off of incorrectly
I plan on pleading not guilty for both citations in hopes that the officers will not show up at the court date. If they do show up I could use some pointers on how to get out of these. I feel that I have strong cases in each instance, but I don't know what to expect if I actually have to defend my case. I'm even contemplating hiring a lawyer to handle it for me. Any information, or tips would be helpful.

And please understand that no one ever goes anywhere close to 25mph in either of these areas. I just got extreamly unlucky.

ssmrtka@kent.edu

 

[mundania]

My god man, carpal tunnel, flat tire, hard drive crashing, and SPEEDING TIX on top of that.
You musta done some bad crap in your previous life...that is if you believe in stuff like that =D

 

[Total Refected Power]

Bend over and kiss your ass goodbye.

 

[perry]

The one in traffic, you may have a leg to stand on. For the second, get ready to be bent over.

 

[GD695372]

Well with law enforcement it's most often:

Loyalty above all else except honor, err wait that's noo good...

Loyalty with a little honor err fries on the side.

That's more like it!

Results not typical^ and may vary from area to area. GD695372 cannot be held accountable for his threads/posts on account of the 1st Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America.

 

[bozack]

slooow down

 

[UWDawg]

just be happy you did not go twice the speed limit (25*2=50). Then it would have been called reckless driving. That is when you can kiss your sweet virginity goodbye.

 

[Hooobi]

Didn't bother reading your actual post, but I've found that you should always plead not-guilty for these things. My experience is 90% of the time the cop doesn't show up & your case is dismissed for a $40 court fee.

Even if he shows you can still request defensive driving.

my .02

H

 

[jeremy806]

Well, sounds like you are screwed on the second one. As to the first one, you have a valid argument that the officer actually clocked the van because the signal off of a larger vehicle would come back stronger than the signal off of your smaller vehicle.

Of course, the officer could just as easily say that he paced you.

Good luck in traffic court. I have never been there, but I have had plenty of tickets in my time. Lucky for me, I've only had two tickets in the past couple years. Back in college, I almost lost my license from too many speeding tickets, even had two in one week one time.

Good luck, Jeremy806

 

[Busie23]

I'm more concerned with the points going on my license. I have read several of the other posts in here on speeding tickets and am getting conflicting results about the drving school thing. Some say plead guilty and be assured of getting the driving school and no points, others say always plead not guilty and then take the drivung course as an option? But some are saying you can only do the driving course if you plead guilty?

I'm more concerned about the carpal tunnel as that will make a bigger inpact on the quality of the rest of my life...any promising thoughts on that?

 

[PhaZe]

man thats extremely unlucky.....

lucky for me i dont have a car to speed in

 

[Zucchini]

This is why cops suck

 

[Zucchini]

This is why cops suck

 

[NovaTerra]

Get a lawyer. In Florida, there are entire firms dedicated to doing nothing but getting people out of speeding tickets. You probably have something similar there. Use it. It is a lot cheaper in the long run. I know.

 

[OS]

Among other things, in ca you can request an extension push back the date you need to come in.

 

[Dameon]

You are going to be in very bad luck though if you get the same judge for BOTH tickets.

 

[OutHouse]

there are numerous buildings, powerlines, street signs and thousands of parked cars for the radar to reflect off of incorrectly


if you use that arguement in court you wont have a leg to stand on. First off find out what type of radar was used to clock you. If it was laser, there will be no stray reflections. If the radar gun was regular radar you still dont have a chance with that arguement. Its true that other objects in the radars path can cause false readings, but the court will bring up that the officer has been trained on how to use the radar correctly. The officer will then testify that there were no objects to give a false reading in the bounce back. and you were the only one on the road.

Now the first ticket you say a white van was passing you. it doesnt matter on the size of the vehicle. The radar gun picks out the fastest object and gives a reading on that object. it is then up the the training, judgement and experience of the officer to assertain on which one is the fastest object the the radar gun is picking out.

you were speeding and got caught, pay your fine and move on and slow down.

 

[Emulex]

getting a speeding ticket is a sure sign of someone who DOES NOT PAY attention to the surroundings around themselves while driving. Open your eyes dude.

When i roll on the freeway in atlanta, its 90+ the whole way. When i roll down peachtree every morning its 60-70 (in 35).

Keep your eyes peeled and your brake pedal ready..

havent gotten a real ticket in ages (or an accident of my fault). I did get a ticket for driving with expired tag in a FRIENDS car !!@%@#$

(you shouldnt have to check the tags before getting in, but do, and check their insurance card too, word of advice).

Wake up, open your eyes, slow down when you're in a obvious cop trap.

you prolly just threw down enuff money to buy a new 1.2ghz athlon pimped out complete system after you figure in your time, ticket costs, and your brand new shiny raised insurance rate.

 

[myputer]

Well perhaps if you lose your license speeding wont be a problem anymore. You're screwed.

 

[teckmaster]

from reading your little tidbit. Pleading not guilty is as stupid as getting 2 speeding tickets in a week. I don't know you, but you don't sound really smart

 

[Deicide]

He sounds like a pretty intelligent guy to me, just one thats had a pretty sh!tty week or two. My guess would be to just call a lawyer, or try to delay the court date long enough that the cop won't show up for it.

 

[Zorro]

VALENTINE 1 Get one now you will need it..

 

[iamwiz82]

why the hell are you in such a rush. I admit i usually go 5 over or so, but never 15 or 20 over. I dont see the point in cruising at 20mph+ over the speed limit, no matter how fast traffic is going

 

[apoppin]

<<Two speeding tickets in one week....help>>

Help?! Do you mean advice?

OK . . . slow down. (Ands wear your seatbelt - there is just NO excuse for that.)

The worst I ever managed was TWO speeding tickets in ONE week from the SAME police officer.

. . .

Needless to say, I did NOT convince the judge. I just learned to slow down AND be more aware of my surroundings.


You'll get no sympathy from me. And you'll NEVER beat the radar &quot;reflected&quot; wrong ticket. Better to plead guilty, ask for traffic school for one ticket and mercy on the other.

 

[sharkeeper]

I don't blame people for their mistakes. Really, I don't. I do expect them to pay for them though.

Better luck next time.

Cheers!