I got my 2nd speeding ticket. What should I do?

Big Bill wrote:

> On Sun, 05 Dec 2004 21:38:36 -0800, "C.H." >
> wrote:

>>Speed limits are revenue generators.

> Sorry, I don't agree,

Then why not just make the penalty for speeding points on license only.
Make it enough points so that 2 speeding convictions in a period of
one year would result in the loss of one's license for the same period
of time.

The fact that they collect fines, and are more than willing to plea
bargain down speeding offenses to fine only without points or not
reporting a conviction to the DMV supports the theory that speed limit
enforcement is primarily about revenue, not safety.

truckinsp wrote:

> Sorry, Dave, he did not....and your agreeing with him has very little
> merit.......there are posters on this board whom I disagree with in
> principle, but they make intelligent arguments for their cases......they
> don't pull out the old "well when I drove the Autobahn" BS......and their
> writing is creative and fun to read......but people like you and
> CH....welll.........YAAAWWN.......
>
>

So far YOU are the one who has not analyzed anything. You have just
said YAWN repeatedly.



John

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truckinsp wrote:

> Sorry, Dave, he did not....and your agreeing with him has very little
> merit.......there are posters on this board whom I disagree with in
> principle, but they make intelligent arguments for their cases......they
> don't pull out the old "well when I drove the Autobahn" BS......and their
> writing is creative and fun to read......but people like you and
> CH....welll.........YAAAWWN.......
>
>

So far YOU are the one who has not analyzed anything. You have just
said YAWN repeatedly.



John

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Bradley C wrote:
> Christopher Green > wrote in message >. ..
>
>>On 2 Dec 2004 20:35:39 -0800, (Bradley C)
>>wrote:
>>Bloody good way to end up out the cost of the ticket plus the $99.
>>Anybody who makes promises like that is a fool or a cheat, possibly
>>both.
>>
>>You will need a defense, one that casts doubt on the speed you were
>>radared or paced at. It may be difficult, because the OC toll roads
>>are paradise for law enforcement: light traffic, perfect sight lines,
>>an abundance of victims^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hdrivers who blow off the speed
>>limit.
>
>
> It looks like I will have to fight dirty.
>
> I have a few things working for me:

I don't see how one of these works for you. In fact, you cook your
goose with several, and serve yourself up to the nice cop with rice
pilaf and buttered peas. Mmmm-mmmmm... I especially like:

> 1) Where he was, and what he drove: He was parked right around a
> corner, after I passed under an overpass. He drove a Cruiser marked
> "Highway Patrol." I barely had time to react, and I even hit the
> brakes the moment I saw him.

Tell that one to the judge! The cop will thank you for it.

> 2) The traffic was quite heavy at the time. If I had to hazard a
> guess, I'd say that the rate of cars going by was about 100 per
> minute. Most were traveling between 65-80mph.

See above.

> 5) He also admitted that he writes many speeding tickets along that
> same road every day.

Irrelevant.

> 6) When the cop acted surprised at the speed of my Sentra, I simply
> said, "Well yeah, it's a pretty good car. She gets me where I need to
> go."

Oh yeah, that will score you lots of points in court.

> 7) The cop pulled me over as the sun was going down. I don't think he
> got a good look at my face. I was just part of a string of tickets
> he'd written that day. He wrote down my car color as "Gray," but it
> is really a bluish-purple.

Woo-hoo!

> I have a goatee, though it could very
> easily become a full beard.

Again woo-hoo. Why don't you try bleaching it all blonde, too? Worked
so well for Scott Peterson.

If you really want to fight this, better hire a real lawyer. You're no
Matlock.



John

--
To reply, remove "die.spammers" from address


Von Herzen, moge es wieder zu Herzen gehen. --Beethoven

Bradley C wrote:
> Christopher Green > wrote in message >. ..
>
>>On 2 Dec 2004 20:35:39 -0800, (Bradley C)
>>wrote:
>>Bloody good way to end up out the cost of the ticket plus the $99.
>>Anybody who makes promises like that is a fool or a cheat, possibly
>>both.
>>
>>You will need a defense, one that casts doubt on the speed you were
>>radared or paced at. It may be difficult, because the OC toll roads
>>are paradise for law enforcement: light traffic, perfect sight lines,
>>an abundance of victims^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hdrivers who blow off the speed
>>limit.
>
>
> It looks like I will have to fight dirty.
>
> I have a few things working for me:

I don't see how one of these works for you. In fact, you cook your
goose with several, and serve yourself up to the nice cop with rice
pilaf and buttered peas. Mmmm-mmmmm... I especially like:

> 1) Where he was, and what he drove: He was parked right around a
> corner, after I passed under an overpass. He drove a Cruiser marked
> "Highway Patrol." I barely had time to react, and I even hit the
> brakes the moment I saw him.

Tell that one to the judge! The cop will thank you for it.

> 2) The traffic was quite heavy at the time. If I had to hazard a
> guess, I'd say that the rate of cars going by was about 100 per
> minute. Most were traveling between 65-80mph.

See above.

> 5) He also admitted that he writes many speeding tickets along that
> same road every day.

Irrelevant.

> 6) When the cop acted surprised at the speed of my Sentra, I simply
> said, "Well yeah, it's a pretty good car. She gets me where I need to
> go."

Oh yeah, that will score you lots of points in court.

> 7) The cop pulled me over as the sun was going down. I don't think he
> got a good look at my face. I was just part of a string of tickets
> he'd written that day. He wrote down my car color as "Gray," but it
> is really a bluish-purple.

Woo-hoo!

> I have a goatee, though it could very
> easily become a full beard.

Again woo-hoo. Why don't you try bleaching it all blonde, too? Worked
so well for Scott Peterson.

If you really want to fight this, better hire a real lawyer. You're no
Matlock.



John

--
To reply, remove "die.spammers" from address


Von Herzen, moge es wieder zu Herzen gehen. --Beethoven

On Mon, 06 Dec 2004 18:42:06 GMT, Arif Khokar >
wrote:

>Big Bill wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 05 Dec 2004 21:38:36 -0800, "C.H." >
>> wrote:
>
>>>Speed limits are revenue generators.
>
>> Sorry, I don't agree,
>
>Then why not just make the penalty for speeding points on license only.
> Make it enough points so that 2 speeding convictions in a period of
>one year would result in the loss of one's license for the same period
>of time.

I don't get to make those decisions.
Why points only, though. Why not hit the offenders where it really
hurts?
Just because fines exist doesn't mean they only exist to raise money.
I'd think that those who speed and get tickets regularly would rather
have the fines.
>
>The fact that they collect fines, and are more than willing to plea
>bargain down speeding offenses to fine only without points or not
>reporting a conviction to the DMV supports the theory that speed limit
>enforcement is primarily about revenue, not safety.

Again, I can't agree.
Plea bargains are done for several reasons, and provong that fines are
all about making money isn't one of them.
If fines were really about raising money, then there would be a *LOT*
more made from those who use the diamond lanes when they aren't
supposed to, for just one example. The number of people speeding are
volunteering for fines right and left, yet few of them get nabbed; how
is this all about revenue?
Seriously, maybe a little more thought or even investigation into why
we have traffic laws and how they are crafted would help.

--
Bill Funk
Change "g" to "a"

On Mon, 06 Dec 2004 18:42:06 GMT, Arif Khokar >
wrote:

>Big Bill wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 05 Dec 2004 21:38:36 -0800, "C.H." >
>> wrote:
>
>>>Speed limits are revenue generators.
>
>> Sorry, I don't agree,
>
>Then why not just make the penalty for speeding points on license only.
> Make it enough points so that 2 speeding convictions in a period of
>one year would result in the loss of one's license for the same period
>of time.

I don't get to make those decisions.
Why points only, though. Why not hit the offenders where it really
hurts?
Just because fines exist doesn't mean they only exist to raise money.
I'd think that those who speed and get tickets regularly would rather
have the fines.
>
>The fact that they collect fines, and are more than willing to plea
>bargain down speeding offenses to fine only without points or not
>reporting a conviction to the DMV supports the theory that speed limit
>enforcement is primarily about revenue, not safety.

Again, I can't agree.
Plea bargains are done for several reasons, and provong that fines are
all about making money isn't one of them.
If fines were really about raising money, then there would be a *LOT*
more made from those who use the diamond lanes when they aren't
supposed to, for just one example. The number of people speeding are
volunteering for fines right and left, yet few of them get nabbed; how
is this all about revenue?
Seriously, maybe a little more thought or even investigation into why
we have traffic laws and how they are crafted would help.

--
Bill Funk
Change "g" to "a"

Try from the eastern border to past Billings on I-94. What's that about
150 miles with no restricted corners? I drove that route both before
and after the interstate and there were only a few places you couldn't
safely cruise at 80-90 when it was two-lane. I also drove (once ) the
I-90 route from the southern border to Billings in a 54 chev in 1963
(again prior to the interstate). That trip may have been on US 212 -
it was the one passing through the Custer battlefield.. Pushed my
cruise up to 75 when I crossed the border and maintained it. With very
few exceptions there is nowhere on the interstates that cruise of 80-90
is not safe. The few exceptions are the last few miles to the summits
of passes. I am still trying to figure out WTF wind/snow/ice/rain have
to do with there being or not being long open stretches. Anyone with
eyes can look at a map an see that you are wrong. Even in the western
half the highways follow the valleys and again are 'long and open' by
anyones definition except when crossing a pass. Been there, Done that
and have the T-shirt.

Harry K

Try from the eastern border to past Billings on I-94. What's that about
150 miles with no restricted corners? I drove that route both before
and after the interstate and there were only a few places you couldn't
safely cruise at 80-90 when it was two-lane. I also drove (once ) the
I-90 route from the southern border to Billings in a 54 chev in 1963
(again prior to the interstate). That trip may have been on US 212 -
it was the one passing through the Custer battlefield.. Pushed my
cruise up to 75 when I crossed the border and maintained it. With very
few exceptions there is nowhere on the interstates that cruise of 80-90
is not safe. The few exceptions are the last few miles to the summits
of passes. I am still trying to figure out WTF wind/snow/ice/rain have
to do with there being or not being long open stretches. Anyone with
eyes can look at a map an see that you are wrong. Even in the western
half the highways follow the valleys and again are 'long and open' by
anyones definition except when crossing a pass. Been there, Done that
and have the T-shirt.

Harry K

Big Bill wrote:

> On Mon, 06 Dec 2004 18:42:06 GMT, Arif Khokar >
> wrote:

>>Then why not just make the penalty for speeding points on license only.
>> Make it enough points so that 2 speeding convictions in a period of
>>one year would result in the loss of one's license for the same period
>>of time.

> Why points only, though. Why not hit the offenders where it really
> hurts?

It really hurts to lose your license. If you end up getting pulled over
without a license, you'll get arrested. That's going to "hurt" a lot
more than a $100 give or take fine would.

> Just because fines exist doesn't mean they only exist to raise money.

No, but it doesn't mean that one shouldn't run the risk of losing their
license for repeated speeding offenses. If I get 5 speeding tickets in
one year and manage to get them all plea bargained down to no points,
I'll never risk losing my license over it. Frequently, the police
officer at the roadside will lower the speed on the ticket to the fine
only speed.

> I'd think that those who speed and get tickets regularly would rather
> have the fines.

It's not what the offender will rather have. If you want to stop
speeding, you need to make it so that losing your license is a real
possibility. The system is set up now so that's hardly the case. It's
quite obvious that fines don't deter people from speeding (or you would
never have situations where less than 1% of traffic obeys the posted limit).

>>The fact that they collect fines, and are more than willing to plea
>>bargain down speeding offenses to fine only without points or not
>>reporting a conviction to the DMV supports the theory that speed limit
>>enforcement is primarily about revenue, not safety.

> Again, I can't agree.
> Plea bargains are done for several reasons, and provong that fines are
> all about making money isn't one of them.
> If fines were really about raising money, then there would be a *LOT*
> more made from those who use the diamond lanes when they aren't
> supposed to, for just one example.

There are no HOV lanes in the state that I live in.

> The number of people speeding are
> volunteering for fines right and left, yet few of them get nabbed; how
> is this all about revenue?

Because the government just fines people enough so that they don't
really see it as a serious penalty. Points on the license is a serious
penalty since they stay on there for several years (at least in my state).

As long as they're not really deterring the behavior, they're just
making money off of it. They're not actually interested in taking steps
that would significantly reduce the incidence of speeding.