The Glade 4.0

So I get home from work at 01:30 this morning and about an hour later Lisa gets a call from Stampy, who has been at a friends house in Lake Havasu. She has not been feeling well and wants mom and dad to come save her.

So without ado we get in the car and go. On the way there I am fading quickly. I went through 3 Monster Low Carb drinks to make it there.

On the way home I was not doing quite so well. And Lisa told me to pull over to switch places with her, and she would drive.

Well I adjusted myself and ended up somewhere in the mid 90's. Coincidentally in just enough time to go through a police radar.

The police officer got up to the window and I drew my 9 and said "check yo self foo!" and he tazed me.

So because I am not an idiot... The officer came up to the car and asked for my license, proof of insurance and registration (which I promptly and politely provided). He advised me that I was clocked at 92 in a 65. And went back to his car.

About 5 minutes later he came back and handed me my information and informed me that he would like to let me off easy, but doing 90+ miles an hour was unsafe and so he gave me a ticket for $532 dollars.

I signed the little sheet and he had me start to drive off. As I started off he pulled me over again. This time when he got to the window, he informed me that he had made an error and cited me for 10 MPH too fast (his ticket was for 37 over the limit, which would have been 102). When he handed me the next ticket it was for $302.

This is the first time I have received a speeding ticket.
My impressions here are:
1- My bad; I was in the wrong. It may have been an empty, flat and early morning situation... but had it been a later time in the day I could have injured someone.
2- I would have avoided the entire situation if I had let Lisa swap places with me when she suggested.
3- I did not even see a sign from where the speed dropped from 75 to 65. But again, that is MY problem.. not the officers.
4- I am already looking into the traffic school options. I guess it can be taken online now...
5- The entire situation lasted about 15 minutes. Why? Because unlike many people.. I was not belligerent or abusive to the officer.

He was doing his duty, and I was in the wrong. Yeah a $300 dollar ticket sucks. But as I have said in the past, you pay the consequences of your actions.*


*I know if I go to traffic school; I get no points on my license. But some people have also told me to go to court, and once at court plead guilty and that traffic school and a reduced dollar amount on the ticket is a common occurrence. And I figure it can only help to get the traffic school completed early. My court date is set for July 27th in Boulder City.

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

I might suggest you get a lawyer and get the charges reduced to a non-moving violation if you can.

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In time, this too shall pass.

Shoulda told Stampy to suck it up :p

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Holy shitsnacks!

Should have just pulled over and let Lisa drive!

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"Said I never had much use for one, never said I didn't know how to use one!"~ Matthew Quigley

"nothing like a little meow in bed at night" ~ Bruskey

"I gotta float my stick same as you" Hondo Lane

"Fill your hand you son of a *****!"

You've already done a good analysis of what you should have done. I agree with the go to court and see if you can get the fine lowered strategy. Be prepared to tell the Judge about promising your daughter you would come get her if she ever felt uncomfortable and were on your way to do that. He may not want to hear it, it may make no difference, but it can't hurt to have it ready, just in case. It won't hurt to try, especially since it is the truth.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

In retrospect, yeah I should have.. sadly I thought I could do it since I know she is afraid of the freeway.

I know better next time though.



Would have, but her eye was also an issue. Turns out she has severe pink eye. Now she also has super meds to clear that up.

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

Do not go to court and plead guilty. Get a traffic lawyer and have it reduced to non-moving and pay those costs. It is also possible to negotiate yourself, but do not do that in court. That needs to be done well beforehand with the prosecutor.

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I've never dealt with a lawyer, so I honestly don't know this...would hiring a lawyer to fight a speeding ticket be less costly than just paying the ticket?

Initially, or over time? Initially, maybe not. Although with a ticket in the $300 range, I'd think you'd be pretty close to the inflection point, if you're not already past it. However, over time, with the commensurate insurance increase that is practically guaranteed from a moving violation, you're looking at a great savings by getting your ticket bargained down.

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Why are people suggesting a lawyer in this situation?

Perhaps it's different here in back-asswards CA but you can just do a traffic school session and the speeding point never gets put on your record. With online classes, you can literally get it done in about an hour and then go to a designated location to take the final "test". After that you just mail in your money and forget about it.

It sucks, but just take the ~$400 loss and keep on truckin'.

A well handled bad situation, as you pointed out it could have been MUCH worse. I rarely use my cruise control, but late night driving? That's the time. Or I let Lisa drive, if I have a Lisa with me.

Arizona ticket? go to school no points and no insurance reporting if you do the school.
Speed limits are not absolute in AZ, we still have the reasonable and prudent law on the books. I've had tickets dismissed under that rule

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History of the Condom
In 1272, the Muslim Arabs invented the condom, using a goat's lower intestine.
In 1873, the British somewhat refined the idea, by taking the intestine out of the goat first.

No, not Az; Boulder City NV.

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

My understanding is that points on your license have nothing to do with insurance increases due to a ticket. Or rather, moving violations are still violations, even without points, and will thus still raise your rate.

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“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

It depends on the state.

You guys have some hellacious speeding fines out there. I'm also a little amazed that the ticket says the amount of the fine on it.

In Ohio, at 27 over most cops would cite you for reckless operation, but different states, different statutes.

Still, good job handling it.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

They give you three options for settlement: Pay fine get points, pay fine go to traffic school get no points, appear in court.

They give you the amount in case you decide not to go to court.

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

big fine for only 10mph ;(

DS,
I'd just do the driving school. However, I have heard that many times you'll get a lower fine and still be able to go to driving school if you go to court - I will emphasize that I've heard, only heard, such things.

Sui,
The police officer made an error that added 10mph to the amount Ds actually was speeding (Ds got popped for going 27 over, and the PO wrote the ticket for 37 over, I believe).

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"Dress cops up as soldiers, give them military equipment, train them in military tactics, tell them they’re fighting a ‘war,’ and the consequences are predictable." —Radley Balko

reeding r hard.

C'mon Sui, you can do better than that...

It's "reedin' B hard"....

Do better next time

You don't need a lawyer to fight a traffic ticket. That said, don't go to court, don't go to traffic school, just pay your ticket. You are, after all, guilty.

I've gotten tons of tickets, and have only ever gone to court once. This was for a criminal offense that required me to do so.

One ticket won't dramatically affect your insurance, if it affects it at all. Ticket vs. points won't matter either.

Not for my insurance, anyway.

Tons of tickets, my combined insurance (for my Jeep, my wife's Mazda, and my homeowners insurance on my ~$380k house) is $109/month.

It won't make that much of a difference.

We have the same options here, but we don't write fine amounts on the tickets. We aren't even allowed to say what the fine is even if we know because that's punishment and the province of the courts.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

Yeah, the one time I got a speeding ticket, I had to wait until I got a notice in the mail to know how much it'd hurt my wallet. Officer said he "didn't know" how much it'd be.

Arizona has the fine amounts pre-printed on the tickets. Traffic school is a smidgeon cheaper than the fines

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Women are from Hoboken, men are from Trenton. ~ Jimmy Kimmel