fuck. first speeding ticket

[balooshinakus]

When you do the deferral in WA (at least when I did it about a year ago) I had to take a 4 hour online driving safety class which you get to pay for. It was pretty annoying too because they would make a question popup on the screen at random times to make sure you didn't just walk away from your computer. I just got my laptop out and browsed the web on it and glanced at my desktop every minute or so.

[Bishop]

I personally agree with the people saying your being a dick to the cop after he helped you out....
Your young, dumb, just take it as a lesson learned. I got my first ticket at 16 i think it was, day before mothers day. I KNEW i was speeding, i KNEW i was in the wrong, i ponied up for the cash and called it lesson learned. The insurance is adding to your lesson learned... And cmon, it can't be THAT bad on your insurance... Your 16, get a job if you dont have one and forget about it.
Got my speeding ticket in an old wrangler, owned a WRX and most recently my brand new 07 STi, all had the ticket on the insurance.... It wasn't a big deal, i still knew i did something wrong and didn't complain about it...

One way to look at it though, if you have a higher insurance payment (assuming you pay your own bills), sending more money to an insurance company with help you better prioritize your money, so in a few years when the ticket is gone from your record, the rate will go down and you'll have some extra dough that you made do without before

[sexydylan05]

get a lawyer thats what a few of my friends did. you get the ticket referred? or something like that and it doesnt go on your record you just cant get another ticket for a year or something. usauly cost a few hundred but in the long run could be worth it.

[Leaf]

It's your first speeding ticket and not a big deal. As for fighting it.... YOU WERE GOING 85 MPH which is pretty much speeding way over the limit anywhere you go (cept some parts of cali), The cop already lowered it alot so I doubt the judge will be merciful and lower it even more. Best bet is to suck it up and pay it, buy a radar detector for like 100 bucks, and watch your shit. $75 bucks is nothing as far as speeding tickets go (my very first one was $156). I would suggest going to court anyways and pleading "no contest" so you never really admit "guilt" and maybe the judge will be more leanante on you as it's your first ticket and your only a kid with very limited cash. I would opt for community service to pay all of it (don't settle for just part of it make it clear you have NO MONEY and you want it all paid in community service hours)

[h0lmes]

When you do the deferral in WA (at least when I did it about a year ago) I had to take a 4 hour online driving safety class which you get to pay for. It was pretty annoying too because they would make a question popup on the screen at random times to make sure you didn't just walk away from your computer. I just got my laptop out and browsed the web on it and glanced at my desktop every minute or so.

Interesting. I had a ticket deferred and I didn't have to do any sort of traffic school.

[deutschman]

i just got my first speeding ticket. i was 8mph over the limit in a 65mph zone. fucking sucks. i was going down hill and just didn't bother using my brakes. what cop pulls some one over for going 8mph faster then the posted limit? fucking bitch!

[Bishop]

I don't like to sound like an ass, but you were going over... Cops are usually lenient about 5mph, closer to 10 they'll pop you every time.

[alpinee30m50]

uhhh i just looked at the ticket and its written for a ford escort of a different year. I was driving a ford escape and im pretty sure i wasnt going as fast as he said i was. Im hoping to make a case outta this

[alpinee30m50]

but if it doesnt work how do i get a deferral?? do i check the box that says i want a contested hearing and ask for one there?

[Bishop]

I say good for you for possibly finding a huge loophole that will most likely get the whole thing thrown out in court if you contest it. I say bad for you because I think things like this should stick, and then "teach you a lesson" and you'll be a better driver because of it. I'm not some old fart who is shaking his fist at "those damn kids and their MTV".... I'll be 21 in December.

[alpinee30m50]

haha i know i shouldnt have been speeding. Im a stupid ass kid. but i also take full responsibility for this and im not gonna ask for any favors. whether or not i have to pay, i have learned a lesson.

[madformx5]

In the Dallas/Fort Worth area you have to be going you have to be doing more than ten over to get noticed. The cops would have to pull 80% of the metro area people over if they pulled people over at ten miles over the limit.

i just got my first speeding ticket. i was 8mph over the limit in a 65mph zone. fucking sucks. i was going down hill and just didn't bother using my brakes. what cop pulls some one over for going 8mph faster then the posted limit? fucking bitch!

[Alkasquawlik]

You're lucky if the cop wrote down the wrong car model, it'll be thrown out of court.

[der affe]

uhhh i just looked at the ticket and its written for a ford escort of a different year. I was driving a ford escape and im pretty sure i wasnt going as fast as he said i was. Im hoping to make a case outta this

i was pulled 3 years ago for doing 85 on Lincoln heading towards Tatum (through Paridise Valley in AZ) 45mph limit, at 3:30 AM comming back from the emergancy vet with my rotti when he had flesh eating bacteria. it was late, i was tired and had to go to work in the morning. i knew i was speeding, but not that bad, and there were no other cars on the road to gauge my speed by. a black SUV is comming the other direction (westbound) and suddenly nose dives and hooks a u turn. i slowed down when i saw the SUV nose down and saw that i was doing 85.....DOH! he then followed me down Tatum to McDonald and pulled me right at the boarder of PV. the cop comes up to the car asks me for my paperwork then shines the light on the 135lb rotti in the pass. seat and jumps back. "let's go back to the rear of the car so we don't upset your dog." "OK". so he asks me if i had been drinking because i looked tired. i explained to him that i had just picked up the dog from the vet specialist and that he had flesh eating bacteria, which intailed a 1 1/2 month stay and a 4K+ vet bill. i told him i was sorry, i knew i was speeding because i wanted to get home and get some sleep before i had to get up to go to work, but i didn't realize that i was going THAT fast.
because as he put it" i am a dog owner too, i will cut you a break." "i'll reduce the ticket to 19 over (that is 1 mile under criminal speeding) so you will still be eligable for traffic school, and give you the latest court date i can so you can have some time to recoupe some $ before the ticket is due" much better than being arrested ETC!

so i get to looking at the ticket and he has the wrong address (my DL had a different address printed on it than my actual current address), wrong model (he wrote down 525), wrong colour (blue insted of gray) and one other thing that i can't remember. slam dunk! i was also 3 weeks shy of being able to do traffic school from the last time i had a ticket in the
914-6, so i figured that i would give it a shot.

court day arrives, the cop shows, provides the calibration sheets for his radar equipment. he then proceeds to explain what happened and how he cut me a break based on my circumstances. then judge then asks me what was my plea? " not guility, your honor." "based on what evidence?" he said. i told him about the wrong info on the ticket and how i WAS greatful for the officers lieniency, but since i was unable to go to traffic school for another 3 weeks i had to give it a shot. the judge's responce "well, even though their are discrepancies on the info on the citation, the fact remains that you were speeding. the info on the ticket does not negate that fact.........bang! guilty, pay your fine.


so i walk out of the court room and the cop follows me out.....oh crap.
he taps me on the shoulder and shakes my hand and thanks me for what i said to the judge and to just make sure that i don't drive so fast down Lincoln so he doesn't have to pull me over. he then smiles and walks away. this cop ALWAYS patrols the area of PV where i drive and i see him a lot. he always waves at me, wierd. although there are not too many BMW's in the area like mine....

lessons learned,
1. if you piss off a cop in the area where you drive all the time, they are going to look for you and be dam sure they will. if you are nice to them, they just might cut you some slack.

2. just because they screw up on the info on the ticket doesn't mean that you are going to get off.

you might want to see if you can talk to a judge before hand (i know that you can do that in Scottsdale at least.) and see what your options are as far as to paying the ticket and loosing the points on your driving record.
if you don't go in there as an arrogant kid and explain your situation, you'd be suprised how helpful they can be.

[madformx5]

I am also with the people who think you should'nt mess with the cop who wrote your ticket. You were going at least twenty over so he cut you a big break. When it comes to tickets I can speak from a deep well of knowledge since I have had more tickets than the number years you have been alive. I don't get that many tickest anymore though. I have only had one ticket in the last six years and I took an Internet based defensive driving couse and got it deferred. Now it isn't even on my driving record because it was expunged. If I were sixteen again today I would be scared to know what my insurance would cost. Back in the early 1980's it was high enough. I was paying more for liability insurance back then than I am paying liability today on both of my e30s and my Miata combined. Most of the tickets I accummulated when from that time period happened when the speeds limits were 55mph and 65mph. Once the speed limits especially the ones on the turnpikes in Oklahoma were raised to 75mph about fifteen years ago I stopped getting so many tickets.

I like driving fast as much as the next person as long as I am someplace where it is safe to do it. What will get you pulled over is when you are driving so much over the speed limit that your are sticking out like a sore thump. A second stupid move is zig zagging in and out traffic, which usually the result of driving too fast for the traffic situation. The way to minimize tickets and still drive at least somewhat fast is to not stick out like a sore thumb. When you are coming over a hill doing 85mph you were screaming "give me a ticket." You were just lucky and the officer wrote it for a slower speed. I don't know the speed in WA at which things get real nasty for the person ticketed but at twenty over you had to be close because in Texas the limited is more than twenty-three over and you get an automatic appointment to see the judge.

I read on your thread where someone told you to buy a radar detector. You must remember one thing about radar detectors. A radar detector is not any smarter than the person using it. Ask me how I know. If you are alone on the road without any cars in front of you a radar detector will not stop you from getting a ticket because there will not be anyone in front of you for the officer to turn his/her radar on for. Your detector will pickup you getting radared right before you get a ticket. One more thing about dectors is the fact that they will only save you up to a certain speed. If you think they are a license to drive everywhere at a hundred then you are going to get nailed because you will be on top of a cop before you can shut it down. A detector is one tool to help keeping you from getting tickets it's not the Savior from them.