Speeding ticket.. help please

90gs · #1 05-12-2003, 04:24 PM

ok heres the setup..

i live in california. my speedometer is broken so i always just go with the flow of traffic, and just guess if im all by myself. so im following my girlfriend home so its like (other driver) -> (me) -> (her) -> and i can tell shes going a little fast but im right behind her and the other driver is right behind me so im just going with the flow. i was just about to slow down a little when i hear BEEP BEEP BEEP (radar detector) and i look over and theres a highway patrol driving along going the opposite way, i SLAM on my brakes and lose like 5-10mph but as the CHP drives by he flashes his red and blues. gf takes the next offramp and i follow her, cop appartently flipped a bitch and came back so he was right behind me at the redlight on the offramp, light turns green, i start driving, so does she, cop turns his lights on and gets on his loudspeaker and is like "RED CAR PULL OVER, BLUE CAR PULL OVER" i had my windows down and stereo off and i could barely hear him, gf had windows up and music loud so she didnt hear anything, she turns on the next street to pull over but the cop follows me cuz i went straight. im pulled over and he walks to my window and i yank my radar detector off my window and shove it under my seat, he asks for my license and i give it to him and he pockets it then says "what do you think it means when an officer flashes his lights at you?" and i say "it means pull over, like i did" and he says "FOLLOW ME". right after i start to follow him gf calls my cell and says "im so sorry you got pulled over" and im like "im following the cop, hes looking for you" and then the cop pulls into a parking lot and walks to my window and says "does she have a cell phone?" i say "yea im on the phone with her" and he runs over and yells into the phone "TELL HER TO GET OVER HERE OR SHES UNDER ARREST" so like 3 mins later she shows up and he talks to her. in the end my ticket was written for "80+ in a 55" and hers was "85+ in a 55" cuz i slammed my brakes. her mom called the police station and found out that she also has a charge for reckless endangerment and a citation for music too loud (guess the officer assumed that because she said she couldnt hear him over his loud speaker). this is my 2nd ticket but im doing traffic school for the first one this weekend. i heard that your 2nd ticket costs like twice as much as your first one, but im doing traffic school so will i get billed for the double price or the same price as the first ticket. i was thinking i'd get charged for the 2nd ticket because i got the 2nd one before i did traffic school for the first one. do you get your license taken away for reckless endangerment (30mph over the limit)? also.. the car right behind me didnt get pulled over and he was going the same speed as me and my girl....

B16EJ1 · #2 05-12-2003, 05:15 PM

Sorry to break the news to you but you're screwed. You can't fight it. The most you can do is get the fine lowered. I suggest two things. One, get your speedo fixed and two, get your girl to slow the hell down. 85 in a 55 isn't just " a little fast " and even if the car behind you was staying with you I doubt the rest of the traffic flow was anywhere near 30 miles over the limit. Like I said, sorry if this is harsh, but you messed up and now you gotta pay.

PWMAN · #3 05-12-2003, 08:33 PM

Yeah, slamming on the brakes is the last thing you wanna do, cops get pissed at you for doing that. You'll learn.
Yeah and DO get your girl to slow here ass down.

casperGSR · #4 05-12-2003, 09:56 PM

regardless of how many tickets you have if you're doing over 85 in a 55 zone that's reckless driving and if the cop feels like it he has the authority to have your car towed and impounded on the spot and suspend your license up to six months... best I can say is good luck and don't tell the cop (or judge if you end up having to appear in court) your speedometer is broken, they'll just add that one onto the list.

92teggsr · #5 05-13-2003, 12:55 AM

sounds to me that cop was a little "unprofessional".... I don't think it's exactly legal for him to take your cell phone from you and start yelling at your gf and telling her he's gonna arrest her. Also did he cuz at you or her at all ? cause that can make a difference too. You should have asked to see his radar gun because that's your legal right and it sounds like he was just having a bad day and letting it out on you. Are you sure you were going as fast as 85 too ? I think there are some things you can say to get it dropped down to a normal speeding ticket and not a reckless driving. Talk to some people on that or other cops if you know any.

90gs · #6 05-13-2003, 01:20 AM

girlfriends mom is paying for hers so i dont care about that.

mine was written as 80 so i dont have wreckless. hers was written as 85 and they didnt tow her on the spot so i was wondering if they were going to do that later.

the cop didnt take my phone, he just ran over to me and yelled into it right in my face.

cop didnt say anything about slamming brakes, made the difference between reckless driving and a high speeding ticket so im glad i did it

sameintheend01 · #7 05-13-2003, 03:39 AM

i think her tcket can get thrown out cuz he can't tell her to come back. And you should have asked to see the radar gun. Well, you can johnny cochran his ass and say he was racist and make sure to request his radar certification records and any complaints against him (your legal right). Tickets don't get doubled (never heard of that). What county was it in (please not LA).

90gs · #8 05-13-2003, 02:59 PM

well he flashed his lights and got me but she kept driving so he thought she was running from the police and he was about to call a helicopter. my radar detector lit up when i saw him but i didnt him write what the gun said on the ticket so i asked him "hey, you didnt get me on radar?" even though i KNEW he did, and he said "no, we arent required to use radar anymore, i can estimate your speed within 1 mile an hour just by looking at you". how was he racist? i didnt mean that tickets were doubled.. i meant like your first ticket is reduced just to give you a break but your 2nd ticket is normal priced. it was Nevada County.

BLU CIVIC · #9 05-13-2003, 03:03 PM

ask for a "Prayer for Judgement" might work

.....it did 4 me

YellowMaranello · #10 05-13-2003, 03:26 PM

How did he know that you knew who the person in your gf's car? Seems kind wierd... You should have just said you didn't know who it was. Oh well, whats done is done. Sorry to hear that. And if he didn't get you on radar, you could get away with it.

90gs · #11 05-13-2003, 03:37 PM

er forgot to say, when he first came to my window after saying "what do you think it means when an officer flashes his lights at you?" then i said "it means to pull over, and i did" then he said "whos in the red car?" and i said "girlfriend". in Nevada County they dont require radar anymore, they dont even have a space for it on the speeding ticket anymore... lame!

94tegRS · #12 05-13-2003, 04:10 PM

sorry to tell ya, but that traffic school is useless for the first ticket now, at least in WA. if you get a ticket, you take a deferred progrtam thing, pay the fine, take trafic school and it goes off your driving record, get another ticket within like 1 year i think and the first goes back on the record. and so does the 2nd. I did the deferral thing, went to the school, got my 2nd ticket off my record (trafic school only works 1 time every 3 years here) but then a week and a ha;lf later got a 3rd ticket and 2nd went back on, man i was pissed. my fault for speeding but i always seem to get caught, and the way law enforcment goes, sually the more you have, the more you will get.

for example. my friend just got pulled over yesterday (i was in the car) for wreckless fdriving, he crossed an intersection into the mall gfoing like 15 over, at the same intersection where 1 week earlier a car took a womans baby and stroler right out from in front of her while she was crossing, cop said he was driving ina wreckless manner and to go ands park, and he followeds us. but he hasnt ever gotten a ticket in his 3 years of driving. so he got of with a warning. I have a DUI, driving wihtout a license, 5 speeding tickets (3 of them more than 20 over) but once I got my license back, started driving better, hadnt even got pulled over 1 time in the 7 months since I got it back, but I got pulled over for going 13 over once (speedometers off i found out) but because my record shows me as a bad kid, got the ticket without even being able to explain a thing.

so Id try REAL hard to stay clean for a while.

but get yopur spedometer fixed as son as you can and you may be able to get off by saying your speedometer broke a coupe days before that, you made an appointment to fix it, but til then you flowed with traffic, and got the ticket, but now it is fixed and you dont speed nho more, and you had already learned yourt lesson from last time you got a ticket. or youll get it reduced at least.

and to B16EJ1, one of the tickets I got was for 24 over in my integra, and I ws following the flow of all 5 lanes of traffic on the I5, right lane was still going this fast too, so traffic does flow fairly fast some times, but I got picked out cuz I was the only lowered car with "modified" exhaust in the big crowd of people.

90gs · #13 05-13-2003, 04:17 PM

here in california i dont think it works that way as far as the ticket going back on.. you can also do traffic school every either 12 or 18 months, dont remember...

Melt · #14 05-13-2003, 05:16 PM

when did you get your first ticket and take traffic school for it? cause if it was less than 18 months ago then you are not eligible for traffic school again.

And ive never heard of having to "follow" a cop when he flashes the lights.

And there is no way he can clock your speed that precisely without a radar gun ... go to court and fight this shit

Melt · #15 05-13-2003, 05:20 PM

oh and why did you rip your radar detector out of the window? They are legal here in CA, I have been pulled over twice with the radar detector in there and nothing has ever been said about it.

And I have been pulled over 5 times total since I have gotten my civic, and only have one ticket (ran a red light) and the cop has never given me any shit about my exhaust or anything else.

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