Hawkeye Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 Your forgetting your insurance will increase a crapload... I'd first try to see if it can be rescinded.Not to mention if you go to court anyways... and plead guilty/no contest... the fine is usually a lot less. I speak from experience here. I found that to be the case as well. In nearly 4 years of driving in the Northeast US (mainly New York state, but also New Jersey, Connecticut, and Vermont), I've been pulled over twice, and ticketed once out of those 2 times. The ticket was absolutely deserved, and I wasn't going to argue it for a second (I was driving 94 mph in a 65 mph area on the NYS Thruway [don't attack me for it, please, as this isn't about that]). However, I explained my situation to the officer, and he literally told me to plead NOT GUILTY and to go to court to have it reduced. If I had pleaded guilty, that would have been 6 points on my license, and a hefty fine, along with an insurance that would skyrocket. I pleaded NOT GUILTY, and went to court when it was finally scheduled, over 3 months later. I was ticketed on my way to my university in Albany, from my home in Staten Island. The court was only about a 20-30 minute drive from school. When I arrived there, I sat for about 10 minutes, and then the officer who ticketed me called my name to speak with me outside. He told me that since I'm a college student, and because the road was actually fairly empty (I didn't pose a threat to other drivers), he would ask the judge to reduce the violation to "failure to obey a traffic signal". Lo and behold, that is exactly what happened. Noting that I'm a college student, the judge even reduced the amount of my fine to $45, which was only to cover the court fees. Let's summarize: Plead "guilty": Pay $210 in fines for the ticket, have 6 points on my license, see my insurance go through the roof Plead "not guilty": Go to court/pay $45 in court fees, have my violation reduced to 3 points, see my insurance rates not move an inch Oh, and in case anybody is wondering, the second time I was pulled over was only as warning, as I was going 12 mph over the limit, but then, so was every other car on the road, also on the NYS Thruway. The key is to be courteous and professional with the officer. Don't show that you're terrified, even if you are terrified on the inside. If he/she asks if you know the speed you were going, tell the officer the speed you were going. The officer will have more respect for you if you realize you made a mistake than if you act cocky and claim you weren't speeding. Be as honest as possible. I give this same advice to friends, and it has even bailed them out of tickets a few times. Let me just say this though. In New York or New Jersey, an officer won't even blink for somebody doing 10 mph over the limit (mostly because you have to go that speed to keep up with traffic in every lane, and if you don't, you will be tailgated). They will go after you mostly only for 20+ mph over the limit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.M.K Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 So yesterday I got my first speeding ticket, which is absolutely bogus!I was driving in light-medium traffic and there was a huge truck in the right lane with drywall in his bed. It didn't look very secure so I decided to pass him up by going into the left lane and accelerating to pass him. Then out of nowhere some hotshot cop who looked like he just stepped out of the set of Reno911 pulls me over and tells me I was goin 70, which was "way too fast" (the speed limit is 65 btw) even though I was just passing a guy. If i fight this, what are my chances? Would he just not even show up or would this be a bit tougher? Mate just pay the fine. You broke the law remember. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blues Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 Were you going over the speed limit? yes or no? If yes you were speeding, end of story, the cop can give yo a ticket. 2nd you passed on the left... you are not supposed to pass on the left, typically in america the slower traffic keeps right, and moves out of the way of faster traffic. So thats prolly what tipped you off to the officer. Just go in, say that you were sorry, and ask for probation. Its like an 80$ fee, but asa long as you dont screw up for the next 90 days to 6 months, that ticket never even gets to see your record. Quite handy imho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samg Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 No, it's your responsibility to have your speedometer calibrated correctly, trust me. My speedometer was off by 7 MPH after we changed the tire size for a brief period, then I just forgot the tires were a different size and got a ticket for speeding even though I didn't realize it.As for your ticket -- if you were only going 5 over, any decent lawyer can argue that radar guns have a margin of error of roughly 5 MPH. Funny that, i asked a highly ranking police officer recently and he agreed with me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snyper Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 Your [you're] forgetting your insurance will increase a crapload... I'd first try to see if it can be rescinded. If you fight it in court, they give you the max points in Ireland. ie..if you seed the points are 4 for that offence, but if you pay it you get just 2, if you contest it and loose its all 4.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+shift. MVC Posted March 20, 2007 MVC Share Posted March 20, 2007 If you want to be technical 66mph could be going over the speed limit. As soon as you're over 65, he CAN give you a ticket, it's just that most cops choose not to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drshdw Posted March 21, 2007 Share Posted March 21, 2007 Wow, pulled over for 5mph over. That isn't a huge fine as they (police) really don't start racking in the money until you're well over 15mph over the limit, atleast in TX. The other day driving back home, did 85mph~ (left lane) to drive pass an 18 wheeler (right lane), state trooper behind me didn't even flinch..he was doing a good 90 right afterwards. :shifty: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koolslacker Posted March 21, 2007 Share Posted March 21, 2007 If you go to court, most likely the judge will cancel your ticket if it only 5 mph over. I always do 5 mph over and I have never been pulled over. I have driven on east cost only and no problem doing 5 mph over. If the weather condition is not ideal, the speed limit is lower than the displayed one. In that case, doing 5 mph can get you a speeding ticket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kombolcha Posted March 21, 2007 Share Posted March 21, 2007 LOL some douche in a isuzu rodeo tried to "race" me yesterday, i saw the cop from a mile away and i kept it at 55 (limit is 50) and the guy in the isuzu went faster... he got pulled over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snakehn Posted March 21, 2007 Share Posted March 21, 2007 No chance buddy, i had my first speeding ticket 2 weeks ago, i was going 79MPH on a 75MPH Highway, i would say is "BS" but you never win on this so i just payed the fine, didn't bother to fight it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drshdw Posted March 21, 2007 Share Posted March 21, 2007 No chance buddy, i had my first speeding ticket 2 weeks ago, i was going 79MPH on a 75MPH Highway, i would say is "BS" but you never win on this so i just payed the fine, didn't bother to fight it. 4mph over is nothing as it's like 5 dollars more than the base rate or something. Just go plead not guilty or if you want, defensive driving. Or hell, plead that the radar was off and not calibrated recently when you're at court. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metallithrax Posted March 21, 2007 Share Posted March 21, 2007 I know that you can get away with plus or minus 10% but I didn't know the +2mph as well. I'm kind of an expert as my dad is currently in his 4th year of fighting a speeding ticket so he's had plenty of reading time :p We often do 80mph on the motorway and generally have a police car sat behind us, they don't pull you over it's just a sensible speed to go at. Following this rule you can get away with 80 as 70+10% = 77 and then the extra 2 takes you up to 79 and you're sorted. I'd fight it, chances are the cop won't turn up, if he does then it'll probably get thrown out anyway (the courts have better things to do than worry about people going 5mph over the limit). Am I reading this right? Your dad is in his 4th year of fighting 1 speeding ticket? 4 years to fight a speeding ticket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayepecks Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Funny that, i asked a highly ranking police officer recently and he agreed with me... In what way did you ask the officer (as in, how did you phrase the question)? I got two speeding tickets while my speedometer was incorrect by 7 MPH. Stated this both times -- neither ticket was revoked. I had a friend who had a similar problem, and his speedometer was off by over 10 MPH. It is your responsibility as a motorist to have the correct calibration for your speedometer. If it weren't your responsibility, every Joe Schmoe could go out there and put larger tires on their car and not have it recalibrated to throw the speedometer off. If you can somehow prove that your speedometer was off due to something out of your control, you can possibly get the ticket revoked, but that is highly, highly unlikely. You're not going to get a mechanic to admit he forgot to do something, or anything like that, let alone get a mechanic that remembers the exact situation. If you replaced the tires yourself (as was my case) with a different size that messed up your speedometer, you're utterly screwed since you're at fault. I don't know if it's different in the UK, but that is definitely how it works in the United States. Trust me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amrinders87 Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 70 in a 65... thats pretty harsh. Exactly what I was thinking. I always go about 70 in 65 MPH speed limit and hot not received any tickets. In fact, cops have even passed me and they have not pulled me over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayepecks Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 A 5MPH lenience is pretty much an unwritten rule when it comes to going an improper speed. If you go any more above or below, you stand a much better chance to be ticketed. Occasionally it is OK to speed, however, such if you were impeding the flow of traffic by going to slow -- but the chances that will happen normally aren't too high :laugh: 5MPH is a general rule of thumb because any lawyer you see on TV will be able to argue that radar guns have a margin of error of 5MPH or so, along with a few other minor factors. Most of the times if you take a ticket like that to court it'll immediately get thrown out. As far as the new "laser radar" (not a scientific term, but what most people call them) guns go, I don't know if the same defense in court would work since they're far more accurate. But I'd definitely be mad if I got a ticket for only going 5MPH over or less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sensayshun Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Am I reading this right? Your dad is in his 4th year of fighting 1 speeding ticket? 4 years to fight a speeding ticket. Yeah the british court system rocks. However I found out yesterday it's 3 years not 4 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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