I got a speeding ticket today :(

[FunElan]

Some of you know me well, but for those that don't, I'm 18 years old. I haven't gotten pulled over once since I've been driving. In manhattan beach, there's a very large hill that most people accelerate briskly up. At the top of the hill is an elementary school, and the limit changes. I got clocked at 47 in a 25 . I'm not very happy with myself, and I needed to vent, hence why I come here! Is there anything I should do besides traffic school?

Do any of you have interesting speeding ticket stories in your 02's?

-Matt

[jgerry2002]

I'd fight the ticket for sure... any reduction means points reduction which means you lesson the impact of the insurance cost over time. You'll also reduce the impact of any future tickets. Yours sounds like an expensive one if it sticks.

Going through this myself, 71 in a 50 (moving along with traffic too, I was the unlucky one). Have to love the 5 boro's, no plea bargains, which I means I hire a lawyer and hope they get me some sort of reduction on a technicality.

[kbmb02]

In manhattan beach, there's a very large hill that most people accelerate briskly up. At the top of the hill is an elementary school, and the limit changes. I got clocked at 47 in a 25 . . . . Is there anything I should do besides traffic school?

-Matt

1. slow down, Matt, especially around schools

2. 'Bruce' - the guy here in MB with a couple of 02's - is masterful when it comes to fighting speeding tickets (and he's full of stories...)

[74tiiGolf]

Do traffic school and learn from it. Been there, done that. See if you can do on-line traffic school, tho. It's fantastically simple and much less time consuming.

Matthew

P.S. Next time you're pulled over, and the officer asks you if you know why, tell him you do. I've found, the more honest I am, the less likely I am to get harassed. I've had a few that they could have nailed me on but I did my best at explaining how well I knew CA vehicle code (25 in a residential, 35 in commercial, etc.) and they let me go with a warning.

GOOD LUCK!

[cj]

Here's the deal dude. Go in front of the judge. Let him/her know that the points will present hardship. Either financially or just getting in trouble. Explain what happened. Just maybe, they'll waive the points in leiu of you going to traffic school and paying the fine.

If you are indeed as good a kid as you sound here on the board(I have no reason to doubt you), you'll look like a saint compared to some of the scum that will be in there.

Trust me, it's worth a try.

[74tiiGolf]

Here's the deal dude. Go in front of the judge. Let him/her know that the points will present hardship. Either financially or just getting in trouble. Explain what happened. Just maybe, they'll waive the points in leiu of you going to traffic school and paying the fine.

If you are indeed as good a kid as you sound here on the board(I have no reason to doubt you), you'll look like a saint compared to some of the scum that will be in there.

Trust me, it's worth a try.

DRESS WELL IF YOU GO TO A JUDGE! I've seen some tore up folk in front of a judge and it DOES NOT help their cause.

Matthew

[FunElan]

1. slow down, Matt, especially around schools

2. 'Bruce' - the guy here in MB with a couple of 02's - is masterful when it comes to fighting speeding tickets (and he's full of stories...)

I am starting to slow down definitely, I have my GPS in the car 100% of the time now so I know how fast I'm going. and you can bet money that I'm doing the VARA U thing, especially because it helps insurance (right?)

[FunElan]

Here's the deal dude. Go in front of the judge. Let him/her know that the points will present hardship. Either financially or just getting in trouble. Explain what happened. Just maybe, they'll waive the points in leiu of you going to traffic school and paying the fine.

If you are indeed as good a kid as you sound here on the board(I have no reason to doubt you), you'll look like a saint compared to some of the scum that will be in there.

Trust me, it's worth a try.

I will definitely try that, thanks for the compliment as well.

[mtriple]

ticketassassin.com helped me "assassinate" the 70 in 50 zone ticket I had on pch when I first got my 02..

drive carefully!

hamada

[FunElan]

so that site actually works? Is it worth registering with the $25??

[conkitchen]

Here's the deal dude. Go in front of the judge. Let him/her know that the points will present hardship. Either financially or just getting in trouble. Explain what happened. Just maybe, they'll waive the points in leiu of you going to traffic school and paying the fine.

If you are indeed as good a kid as you sound here on the board(I have no reason to doubt you), you'll look like a saint compared to some of the scum that will be in there.

Trust me, it's worth a try.

I will definitely try that, thanks for the compliment as well.

In addition to all the advice above:

In my first 10 years of driving I think I got a ticket for one form of a moving violation or another every year. Now from the very first one until the last violation actually issued, not talking about the many other times being pulled over, I fought them and won quite a few. I learned the get out of ticket game a little better as a result. But nothing beats the fact that if you don’t get a ticket in the first place, you won’t have to defend it in court. How you go about that is a whole other tactic involving how, when, and where you drive.

Firstly, once a citation has been issued, it won’t hit the system for a few days and/or weeks. So no need to do anything about fighting it until it gets uploaded. In the meantime, slow down, pay attention in your area where the cops hang out and remember them so as not to speed there without first looking ahead or getting past the hiding spot. Wait 5 business days and then call the number on the back of the ticket for the court information. Verify the ticket number with the automated system and/or person if you get so lucky. Ask about traffic school if it gets you out cleanly without, points, fees, etc… and works with your lifestyle and schedule. Otherwise; prepare to fight it and ask to change the court date. Move the date out 30 days or more if able. This is allowed and the benefit is that you may reschedule when the officer is not able to attend the court hearing. Your reason for an extension is not necessary, however you are going to be out of town on said written court date listed on your ticket and wish to contest in person. Do not make a payment over the phone. If the bailiff requires you to pay the ticket in order to get a new court date, you may be able to negotiate a reasonable amount in the sum of the court fees and not for the fine. Ask what options exist for poor folks. Use a credit card; you may get miles or points towards the purchase of stuff.

Now that is done, go out and get or dry clean some nice clothes for your day in court.

Under the laws of evidence; the citing officer has to be present to represent his/her side of the case. If he/she does not show up, you HAVE TO ASK for a dismissal. The judge should or will ask you for any pre-trial motions. If not, look around the court room and see if the officer (badge # on the ticket) is in the room. If you do not see him or her, make a motion for dismissal before the judge gets rolling on your case.

Court day. You will be given a time say 9am. This a shared time for all traffic court cases that day. So first come firtst served. The baliff window will be open to check you in an hour before court. Get there early so you don't have to sit a listen to all the other cases before you.

In court, if the officer is there, you’re not going to win the case by pleading guilty or not guilty without a real good excuse. In these circumstances, the judge awards in favor of the officer to move things along. They have all the real dirt bags in the same room to get on with and a few will end up in the county slammer. So they move real quickly on traffic affairs. What you should be advised to do is be real innocent and pleading looking when you explain how driving back from the community center (since you just recently moved to the area) about the unlawful way the traffic pattern shifts from 35 to 25 right at the top of a hill where you can’t see the posted limit sign until you have crested the hill, right in plain shot of the radar gun taking full advantage of this fact. Take a picture of the hill upon approach and print it out for the judge before you get there. Enter your plea of NO CONTEST. This shows respect for the laws, but notes you are concerned enough about the unfair radar practice to bring it to the attention of the courts.

A no contest plea will most likely end in a guilty judgment, but you may be spared the fine and or points. You will still owe the court fee, after all you went to court, and you have to pay.

The best thing you can do while in court is to be respectful and if at all possible make everyone laugh by being self deprecating yet intelligent. They will have mercy most likely because of the guy before you went down and they really do feel good about themselves when they let a “good one” get off.

Good luck if you choose to stand up and fight. It is actually a good little experience if you do it.

[jmon0261]

A little late for this advice...

Get the KA 4993 license plate holder

And use the magic phrase.

" Officer - Would you consider giving me a warning ? "

Good Luck Matt

[tjones02]

BTDT....

1: Remember that you were caught in a school zone, there is very little way out of it.

2: Ok, see if you can take the mail in booklet traffic school; the easiest of them all! It's an open book test. :b....

3: Next, take one of these and call us back with a report on how much fun it was: http://www.streetsurvival.org/

The VARA U University sounds very cool as well. http://www.vararacing.com/info/?id=5166

Steve J and I both instruct for Street Survival in the SF Bay and Sacramento. It's fun to watch piss ant punk teens start smiling when they realize they're having WAY more fun than they thought they would. I love seeing their light bulbs go on when they start to "get it".

Good luck and.... speed safely.

[PabloM]

I get to fight my second ticket in the coming month. It's quite a long story....Both tickets were in the middle of the night.

My first one was a pretty hefty one. I got hit with a "speed contest" ticket while driving in the mountains with some friends. The cops passed us going the other way and apparently turned around at some point to chase us. They caught up to us a few miles down the road when we were going 25 in heavy fog. I'll spare the details on this one. We were going 5 over the posted 45 in straights but did not slow down much for the corners so the cops took forever in catching up. Anyway, they had no radar or anything and because their crown vics cant take a corner, it took them forever to catch up, thus we were "racing". We went to court and contested it. We each got a court appointed lawyer as we were dealing with a 2 point misdeamenor. Here is what the police report said:

"I deemed the safe speed given the conditions of poor sight due to heavy fog (less than 10 yards visibility) and rain to 25....blah blah blah"

then 5 lines later he wrote this:

"we followed them from a distance of 200 yards... blah blah blah"

Our attornies nailed them(when I say them I mean the 7 cop cars with a total of about 12 officers that came after we got pulled over) on this because it just plain didn't make sense and the judge reduced the charges to just a speeding ticket, we all got traffic school approved and one even got the second level traffic school approved(rare).

Now to the next ticket I have to fight in February. This one really makes me mad. I was coming home from my friend's house who lives on Skyline, a local mountain road. My other friend was riding passenger with me while we were doing 5 over the speed limit. 55 when it was 50 limit and 50 when it was 45 limit. We drive for several miles with no car in sight. Then we pass a lookout known as Vista Point, where there are some cars parked. After about half of mile of road I see car lights behind me and slow down to the speed limit. The car takes FOREVER to catch up to me even though they were at max 100 yards behind me. Sure enough I noticed the familiar yellow LEDs on the inside of the head lights and as soon as the car gets close the lights go on. I pulled over and the cop walked up and asked me if he knew why he pulled me over. I said no to which he asked if I knew how fast I was going. I said 5 over and he laughed and asked if i wanted to rethink this. I replied with a no. He then said "I clocked you a few miles up the road at 65". I then told him kindly that he did not do so and then asked where exactly this was. He replied with "the lookout where all the cars were parked". At this point I was quiet confused because that was half a mile up the road and not a few miles like he said. He asked for my and my friend's license and walked back to his car. My friend and I were very confused and couldn't figure out what lookout he was talking about and how he could possibly have "clocked" me at 65. When he walked back I asked him dumbfounded if he got me on radar. To this he replied "No, I paced you". At this point I knew the cop was full of shit(excuse my language) and I started getting very irritated. I asked him again where this lookout was that he was talking about because there was only 1 lookout with cars. He then told me it was a few miles up the road from Vista Point to which I again told him there was no other lookout with cars. He then handed me the ticket with 65 in a 45 written on it. I tried argueing with him some more to no avail. I asked him if he knew how rediculous he sounded and that his whole story made no sense and lastly that I'm obviously going to court for this. He then told me he wasn't going to argue with me on the side of the road (after he had just spent 15 minutes doing exactly that) and so I took the ticket and left.

EDIT: Nearly forgot this detail: just as he was about to walk back to his car to leave I asked him how fast he was going to catch up to me. He then replied 60 to 65. This again makes no sense because that was the supposed speed I was going as well. So if I cannot see him behind me on pieces of road half a mile long and he is going as fast as me how would he ever have caught up? Here I have a question for everyone reading. It's a physics problem. Let's assume I pass the cop while he is stopped on the side of the road. I'm going 50 mph. He then waits 15 seconds before he sets on after me. If it takes him 10 more seconds to get to 60 and he stays at this speed how long would it take him to catch up and how much distance is covered until he catches up?

I just got the ticket in the mail the other day and am doing a written declaration. This means I contest my ticket via mail. If you read on ticketassassin.com they will tell you that a cop gets paid $200-300 in overtime to come to court to give their side of the story but they get nothing when they have to write it in. Also, if for some reason the judge decides the charges will stick, I can still do the regular in court contest with my friend as a witness. This cop along with his partner has done nothing but harass me and my friends. We are all going to file a report at the police station for harassment. I'm not sure how the judge will react to this whole story because it does sound too rediculous to be true (at least to me). Since this has happened I have lost the little respect for cops I had to begin with. (This is me venting). I'm tired of them not using turn signals and never stopping for stop signs. In my opinion if you are going to hand out tickets you better practice what you preach, no excuses.

With some editing, this is going to be the story I send in to court so I guess I nearly have that done now (lol).

Anyway, if you feel you have even the slightest chance of winning, go to court.

[Mike_R]

I mean it's nice you all want to help him get out of a ticket but Hey.... how about you admit you did it, since you did.... Pay the ticket, or best case go to traffic school and get a wavier of points (most states allow this) and don't speed in a school zone (or anyplace else). Learn from your mistakes

We all know no one ever is speeding when they get pulled over and the cop is allways picking on you.