$335 in tickets,I,m not a happy camper..

[FFutch]

Well gang I got pulled over Monday(April Fools). I was following some slo-poke A-hole doing 40 in a 55. I pulled out to pass and there sat 2 county boys. Everybody saw them but me,and bunched up. So here I am out in the oppisite lane with nowhere else to go but forward. I punch it to go ahead and get around traffic,of course the open stacks made a little noise . I looked in the mirror to see the fat,pudgy cop running to his cruiser so I knew I was in for it . Cop"in a hurry son"Me"sorry sir but I had no choice and no where else to go"Cop"you could of cut back in"Me the guy behind me closed up the hole". I didn't argue any more cause it was pointless. So now I get to go to court(have to with C. D. L. s to keep the points down). The cop didn't have radar so he didn't clock me. One ticket is for speed greater than reasonable which was $65. I could handle that one but the other is negligent driving($270) . I dont know how many points but I'm sure it's a few. I haven't had any tickets in 5+ years so a guy at work said I could get"probation before judgement",but then I'll be on probation for 1 year. What do you guys think,should I fight it,get a lawyer,or take the probation?I kept waiting for the cop to say "April Fools",but I guess he wasn't fooling. Sorry so long..... Doug

 

[Mark_Kendrick]

Bummer dude!!

Fight it. . at least try for the probation. In KS they have a 'deferrance', basically they rape you for a extra $100 to keep it off your record.



You may be able to get off all together. If all the guy was going by was the sound of the pipes then he's in the wrong. the negligent driving will destroy the insurance rates. Find out what the statutes are for each offence. Information is often liberating.



Then again a call to the DA might do the trick.



Good luck!



l8r,

MK

 

[joel]

was it an OK place to pass?

Did you have the dashed lines? Was the lane clear of oncoming traffic? If so, take pictures and take them to court.



I'm pretty sure every state has a provision on the books that allows you to exceed the speed limit a little in order to complete a pass, as long as you slow back down to the speed limit right away - and, of course, make the pass safely.



I'd fight the reckless driving tooth and nail. You had a clear lane, pulled out and accelerated to safely effect the pass, then pulled back in. Nothing wrong with that. Hell, I'd fight them both.



All of this does assume you made a safe and controlled pass and weren't going the "speed of heat" while you were passing.

 

[The patriot]

If Md is anything like here in NJ, go to court. If you talk to the prosecutor, you can get the $270. 00 ticket down to a ticket that dont have points involved. That's the good part.

~However, the ticket w/o points will be some assinine law you never heard of, but will now be a $500. 00 ticket. This is the bad part.

Ahhhh dont you just love justice?

I've heard to stay away from Md cops.

Eric

 

[FFutch]

Yea,Mark I think I'm gonna fight it. I still think I did the right thing. It was either pass or try to force my way back in traffic,which could have caused an accident. I guess I could have been more patient. But I'd been following this guy for 10-15 miles and I was running late for work. The road was straight and clear for over a half a mile so it wasn't like I was passing on a blind curve. I also hate the thought of higher insurance rates. I was in such a bad mood I was thinking of pulling the stacks off and putting my stock exhaust back on. But I decided it wasn't the trucks fault so I shouldn't take it out on it ... Doug

 

[Mark_Kendrick]

May you fight galiantly and be victorious.

 

[SS]

Doug,



Sorry to hear about your wrong place/wrong time story. I've had success with this:

National Motorists Association legal defense kit

Your local library (or maybe even on-line) will have good info on state or local ordinances. For example, in most instances in Michigan, the officer MUST write the speed you were going AND the zone you were in on YOUR copy of the ticket - "excessive" or "greater than reasonable" won't cut it. It will be worth the time to do the research. If it truly was unsafe then you may be better off pleading to a lesser charge if possible. Good luck.



Steve

 

[milehiscott]

FIGHT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Doug,

I agree with the others, esp. Joel and TorqueWagon. Fight it!! Remember that the burden of proof is on the cop. He must PROVE that you broke a law. If it was sunny and dry, greater than reasonable won't cut it. I live with a Denver cop and he told me that the 'pace with the police car speedometer' is VERY shaky in court. The court needs to know that the speedo was calibrated.

Look up the laws for what you got the ticket for. It doesn't matter if you murdered someone in the process. The ticket has specific charges. If you didn't break THAT law, you win. It is up to the cop to get the charges right AND to prove that you did what he said you did.

Good luck.

Scott

 

[fest3er]

Originally posted by FFutch

Yea,Mark I think I'm gonna fight it. ... and I was running late for work. ...

Whatever you do, do *not* mention you were running late for *anything*. And do not admit anything you don't need to that is not germane to the case at hand.



Vehicle in front was travelling 40MPH in a 55. Road was straight and clear; you had the broken line in your lane, indicating a valid passing zone. You pulled out to pass. All of a sudden, the traffic bunched up and you could not pull back in. Since there was still no oncoming traffic, you chose to finish passing.



And if they ask, you weren't in a hurry; after all, you *did* follow the slow-poke for some miles before finding a stretch of road that was clear enough for enough distance to safely pass him.



Take your time. Gather the facts. Take pictures, if needed. Organize the facts. And review the relevant code. Go to court fully prepared.



Good luck,

Fest3er

 

[Bill Lins]

Re: was it an OK place to pass?

Originally posted by joel

I'm pretty sure every state has a provision on the books that allows you to exceed the speed limit a little in order to complete a pass, as long as you slow back down to the speed limit right away - and, of course, make the pass safely.

Not here in Texas.

 

[NVR FNSH]

Look up the vehicle code section that the officer claimed you violated - read it & understand it to plan your defense. With a 15mph difference in your speed you should have been able to pass the slow poke w/o any problem.



My dad beat a similar ticket out here in CA a few years ago - it can be done.



Brian

 

[Chipstien]

At one time I had four negligent driving tickets on my record at the same time. I quit taking them to court because I thought that if I went before a judge they would suspend my license or something. The interesting thing is my insurance never went up becuase my agent never checked my record. Do you know if you get caught spinning your tires they can give you a negligent driving ticket .

 

[MCummings]

Yah,, Here in Texas (atleast my town) You get an "Exhibition of Acceleration" ticket if the cops think you are accelerating too fast (a $175 ticket) Smoking, unmufflered stacks don't go well when the cop allready thinks you were going to fast.



Fight the ticket,, You have nothing to lose,, You'll just pay the ticket anyway. Take pictures of the roadway,, or be very descriptive.



Good luck on the ticket.



Merrick Cummings Jr

 

[Mark_Kendrick]

Originally posted by MCummings

Yah,, Here in Texas (atleast my town) You get an "Exhibition of Acceleration" ticket if the cops think you are accelerating too fast (a $175 ticket) Smoking, unmufflered stacks don't go well when the cop allready thinks you were going to fast.



Fight the ticket,, You have nothing to lose,, You'll just pay the ticket anyway. Take pictures of the roadway,, or be very descriptive.



Good luck on the ticket.



Merrick Cummings Jr

In Okla. they have excessive acceleration, but you have to break traction.



Its hard to move a ehicle without "Exhibition of Acceleration" .



Something about newton comes to mind. . standing objects stay standing and objects in motion tend to stay in motion unless a force is exerted on them. the act of exerting that force is acceleration weather it have a positive or negative value.



Another interesting fact. . Acceleration is actually termed as. . The rate of change of velocity with respect to time.



velocity... A vector quantity whose magnitude is a body's speed and whose direction is the body's direction of motion.



technically a turn is actually accelleration. in a turn speed is usually lost and direction changes. If speed is not lost there must be an input of energy.



The point is that you can use the letter of the law to show them many things. . just think it out in advance and don't mis-speak.



Good luck

MK

 

[MCummings]

Originally posted by Mark_Kendrick





In Okla. they have excessive acceleration, but you have to break traction.



Its hard to move a vehicle without "Exhibition of Acceleration" .



Something about newton comes to mind. . standing objects stay standing and objects in motion tend to stay in motion unless a force is exerted on them. the act of exerting that force is acceleration weather it have a positive or negative value.



Another interesting fact. . Acceleration is actually termed as. . The rate of change of velocity with respect to time.



velocity... A vector quantity whose magnitude is a body's speed and whose direction is the body's direction of motion.



technically a turn is actually accelleration. in a turn speed is usually lost and direction changes. If speed is not lost there must be an input of energy.



The point is that you can use the letter of the law to show them many things. . just think it out in advance and don't mis-speak.



Good luck

MK

Where were you when I went to court for my first "Exhibition of Acceleration" ticket?? My Ticket says exactly,, "Exhibition of Acceleration"



My 2nd Exhibition of Accel. never got turned into the courts. I did break traction on that one. It was a wide, empty road, perfect conditions. I went around the corner in 3rd gear (about 15MPH) in my former 5-speed and went WOT right before I started turning,, The rear-end broke loose and I lit up all 4 rear tires and had my truck at a 45* angle to the road for ATLEAST 20 feet,, and kept the rears lit, leaving about 75 ft total rubber down. (Big, Dark "S" on the road. )

Guess what,, I didn't see the cop that was parked doing paper work. To say the least,, he was P. O. (and I don't mean Police Officer) I couldn't drive my truck after that, I had to have my Parents pick the truck up, and I had to ride with them.

Oh man,, Oh well, Lesson learned. Keep it off the streets.



All I can say about tickets,, Fight 'em.



Merrick Cummings Jr

 

[FFutch]

Thanks....

... for all of the advice and info. I'm going to do some digging,and check all of the laws about passing. I'll also go out and take some pics. Like I said the cop didn't clock me on radar. Him and his buddy was sitting there B. S. ing and looked up when I went to pass(heard the roar of the mighty Cummins ). I didn't run anybody off of the road or loose control or anything. I'll keep ya'll posted on the outcome. Thanks again... Doug

 

[TxDieselKid]

Re: Re: was it an OK place to pass?

Originally posted by Bill Lins



Not here in Texas.

Bill are you sure? I could have sworn that when i took defensive driving about 2 years ago they said something like... .



"If it a two lane road, and it is legal to pass, then you may go no more then 10 mph over the posted limit. "



Could be wrong, that was sometime ago.



Andrew

 

[tcourse]

Pay a traffic lawyer

When I get any ticket I pay a attorney $200 if he gets it dismissed, nothing if he doesn't. He always wins. The judges, lawyers, and prosecuters are all part of the same club. They don't care who you pay. Better them than the city, county, or state. It's worth the $200 to me to keep my Insur. rates down.



TC

 

[weber1048]

Doug



Here is a site that should have all of the traffic laws you need



http://www.mit.edu/~jfc/laws.html



Doug

 

[Bill Lins]

Re: Re: Re: was it an OK place to pass?

Originally posted by TxDieselKid





Bill are you sure? I could have sworn that when i took defensive driving about 2 years ago they said something like... .



"If it a two lane road, and it is legal to pass, then you may go no more then 10 mph over the posted limit. "



Could be wrong, that was sometime ago.



Andrew

Yep, I'm sure. MOST officers will cut you some slack, but not all. The law itself makes no exception to the speed limit for passing situations.



Just a suggestion- any time someone tells you what "the law" is, politely ask them for the "cite" (citation- the code and chapter referencing that particular statute)- you can separate the BS from the truth pretty easily that way. If they can't or won't provide the cite, it's probably BS. BTW, you can find the laws regarding speed limits and passing in Chapter 545 of the Texas Transportation Code. You should be able to find a copy of the Texas codes in your college library.