rant: should i have got this speeding ticket?

it's about 3-3:30AM. i'm out for a drive with a couple friends who had a bad day/week and we're just cruising around.

we're on a road that goes way out in the country. headed back into town. there are no other cars around, except the officer. we see the car turn around when we pass eachother, lights come on, i'm pulled over beside a Kerry/Edwards campaign sign.
she comes to the car. greets us. points her flashlight in my eyes from half a foot away. asks me how fast i thought i was going. i said, "Probly 55, maybe 60 @ the most, maam." she then asks me what i thought the speed limit was. i said "50 mph." she informs me that it's only 40mph (and really, i've lived here for most of my life and thought that road was 50mpg). so she said she clocked me doing 54mph on radar.
she asks for my license and registration. then asks for ID from my two friends also. she heads back to her car. she's taking a long time.
me and my friends start chatting it up. i assure them i wont get a ticket, i'll get a warning, as i have a spotless driving record. not so much as a parking ticket to my name. never been pulled over for speeding in my life. plus, my granma has been pulled over @ LEAST half a dozen times for speeding, and has NEVER got a ticket. time goes by. i turn my car off (i'm running low on gas).
she comes back to the car. tells me, okay, here's your ticket... i cut her off. i say "I'm getting a ticket?" and with an amused look on her face, she said yes. so she went thru that procedure. gave us all our stuff back.
and she didn't even say anything when i used my modified Arc LS to sort thru my glovebox!
so now i have a $132 speeding ticket that i can't afford. my insurance is gonna go up, which i can't afford.

can i get this thrown out???

i have a spotless driving record. i'm so upset that the first time i'm ever pulled over for speeding i get a $132 ticket. isn't it customary to get a warning first? or 6 in my granma's case? i know it's not set in stone, but damn, isn't there such a thing as LEO courtesy?

some more info:
the road that connects to the street i was pulled over on, which you have to take to get there, has a posted speed limit of 50mph. then you turn off into an equally country road, and the speed limit changes to 40mph. i went back and checked it, and your headlights just barely catch the sign when you turn, as it's a very awkward turn and the sign is rather close to the road you're turning off from. on the whole length of the road, there is one other sign posting a 40mph speed limit. so yeah, my fault for missing that one the past 10 years. i'm an idiot.

but again, do you think i could get this thrown out? i mean, damn. kinda brutal for having a spotless driving record. i want a warning! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif all for 15mpg over the speed limit on a country road with no other cars except one officer.

Edit:
also, how much can i expect insurance to go up? if anyone has a decent guesstimate. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif

Should you? Yes. Sorry, but you broke the law. You might get a judge to agree with you if you challenge it in court, but I doubt it.

You were going 60 possibly in a 40. In Montana, that's a felony (reckless driving). I'd be happy about merely getting a ticket if I was going 20 over.

i was doing 14mph over. and i thought i was only doing 5mph over the speed limit.

i'm gonna go back and see if i could make a case for the initial sign being posted in a bad spot.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

it's just. damn. not even a warning. i can't afford this, y'know?

if i was anything resembling being financially stable, then i might not mind quite as much, but... *sigh*

Edit:
also, i just researched to see how fast you have to exceed the limit for it to be a criminal offense, and in the state of Maine, you must be going 30mph over the speed limit. it would also appear that $132 was not the minimum fine either. this is all so severe for my first time. i don't even wanna drive now, LOL. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Well, I'm not saying it doesn't suck... it does. But legally, the officer acted correctly. I don't know what criteria they can use to give a warning.

i know she was doing her job, but i'm just wondering my chances of getting it thrown out and wondering how much my car insurance could go up.

any CPF'ers who had it happen to you?

[ QUOTE ]
should i have got this speeding ticket?

[/ QUOTE ]

Were you exceeding the posted speed limit? Yes. That should answer the question. The rest is all irrelevant.

I can identify with how you're feeling Ryan, I recently got my first speeding ticket in 15 years.

Luckily in FL., you can attend a Driver Improvement class which keeps the points off your license, and prevents your insurance from going up.

Peter

I'm not sure that 1 ticket would instantly jack up your insurance. If nothing else, it won't go up until it's renewal time anyway. Unless it's different for you south of the border. If your ticket was for something like careless/dangerous/drunk driver, then yes, I'd expect it to rise but 1 speeding ticket unlikely. That depends on your insurance company but i've got a buddy who's had 2 speeding tix in 2 years and his company didn't raise his premium, actually went down. but YMMV

When you saw the other car coming, did you slow down at all? This may be the reason the cop gave you the ticket.

Just take defensive driving, ~$40~ and get it over with. And, depending on your age, your insurance will probably not move at all.

Cameron

Ryan, we'll be waiting over at B/S/T ~ Lights if you need us. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Good luck.

Ryan,
Here in Texas we have a few options. For people such as you who are very much wanting to avoid an expensive ticket and preserve their driving record, there are 2 popular options. Please note, these may or may not apply to you in your state, but would be worth asking about.

#1. Ticket dismissal by taking a driver's education course. These can usually be signed up for here locally for about 40 bucks. But I have also heard you can buy a driver's ed package at bookstores and even do it all online, and have it carry the same result. This seems to be the most popular option here. However, you can not do this if you have had driver's education within like a 4 year time period prior.

#2. Ticket dismissal by deferred adjudication. What this means is that you go to court. Plead guilty to the ticket. Ask for this deferrment. What this means is the court will basically put your ticket "on hold". Usually they called this a probation period wherein if you DON'T get any more tickets (say 1 year), then this one goes away. If you DO get another ticket, then this one and the new one both go against you.


I guess these are some options you might look into. Don't take it too heavy. Most cities will also let you get on a payment plan if you tell them that you can not afford the entire cost of a ticket.

Technically, you could get a ticket for going 1 mph over the limit. If speed limits were set more reasonably, this would actually be fine in my book. The fact is that limits are set much lower than most people drive for the express purpose of bringing in revenue. The only recourse long term is to pressure your legislature to raise speed limits to more sensible values (55 mph to 75 mph on two-lane country roads, 80 mph to 125 mph on Interstates). If enough people did this, and elected representatives who felt likewise, the only people getting speeding tickets would be the small minority who would really be going too fast to be safe. Nowadays that's not the case. Low speed limits has turned the US into the automotive laughing stock of the world, and has resulted in the majority of the population becoming law breakers. Limits should be set high enough that the majority of drivers don't feel comfortable exceeding them. On a limited access highway the minimum curvature radius should be the only controlling factor. On other roads signals and cross streets necessitate a lower limit.

BTW, an officer can also give you ticket if you were going too fast for the conditions. If you're in heavy snow and ice, the speed limit might be 65 mph but an officer can pull you over for going 30 if he feels it's too fast for the conditions.

Anyway, you might use the low visiblity of the sign combined with the sudden changes in limits as an excuse. And I'm sure that's exactly why the officer picked that spot as well. It's all a stupid game which has little to do with safety and everything to do with revenue. I know police in suburban/rural areas have very little to do so they tend to issue petty tickets like this. When I was in college I was actually stopped for going 45 mph in a 25 mph school zone on my bicycle. I managed to get out of a ticket but it was totally stupid. The road had a 45 or 50 mph limit which changed suddenly to 25 mph, I was the only one around, and school wasn't even in session (so the lower limit shouldn't have been in effect).

Come to NYC. Outside of times when they have "crackdowns", you see people driving 50+ mph all the time on 30 mph local streets, running stop signs, and running red lights. Rarely is a cop to be found. I'm not saying it's right, or that more people shouldn't get tickets, but the fact is that with terrorism the police don't have time for petty speeding tickets. My biggest pet peeve is people running red lights. Unlike going 20 mph over a ridiculously low speed limit in light traffic, running a light is a highly dangerous activity all the time. More red light cameras would guarantee 100% enforcement but organizations like the ACLU seem dead set against the idea.

Try for driving school. Also..... I'm making an assumption here, but your gramma likely wasn't out at 3 a.m.

Whether your rates increase depends upon your insurace company, and if they check your driving record. When my license expired, I was in the military and got a driver's license here in Hawaii instead of renewing in my home state. It took my insurance company almost six years to check my driving record and see that my license expired. They had no idea that I had even renewed in another state because I didn't tell them.

Some insurance companies may give you a "freebie" for your first offense. If they do find out, the moving violations are assigned "points" that each represent a percentage increase in your premium rates. 1 point might make your rates go up 4% or so depending upon your insurer and policy. It's progressive where 2 points might make it go up 10% (instead of 8%). The point values for infractions and their penalty will be outlined in your automobile insurance policy.

Oh yeah, yes you deserve the ticket. Sorry, that's the law. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/broke.gif

-Randy

Frangible, Sasha, Peter, Mr Mimizu, Greenlight, Cameron, Mapson, Capnal, JTR, Turbo, Randy, thank you all for replying. I assure you I've read all your comments, and I will reply to all of you later on. Right now I'm getting a sale together and getting ready for a doctor appointment. Blah.

-Ryan

[ QUOTE ]
More red light cameras would guarantee 100% enforcement but organizations like the ACLU seem dead set against the idea.

[/ QUOTE ]

The goal is to prevent accidents with the red light camera right? Believe it or not making the light stay yellow for 0.5 seconds longer dramatically reduces the amount of crashes at a light (People that would accidently run a red now get by on a yellow) whereas red light cameras cause accidents at the intersection to go UP. Rear end accidents often double or more as people slam on their brakes on a yellow when they should just go through.

54 in a 50?
That one probably ought to be appealed.
Go back and get a picture of the scene of the pull over and a pic of the 50mph speed limit sign and take those to court too.

The officer probably never saw it either on her mind numbing patrols.

There is often a small margin for error with radar guns and vehicle speedometers, just like the polls. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

If the officer who works nights can't show up to court during the day /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/sleepy.gif your ticket may just get dismissed.

Between my wife and myself, we've had 6 or 7 speeding tickets over the years. We've had a few different insurance companies over that time. None of them were ever discovered by the insurance companies. I can't say that it will be the same in your state with your insurance company, but I woulnd't worry about it.

I also think you have a very good chance of at least getting the amount reduced if you go into court (well dressed, suit and tie recommended, speak to the prosecutor, and say "This is my first offense, can I have these charges dropped?" He/she will probably say no. So try this, "Okay, for the sake of simplicity, I am prepared to plead guilty to this if we can come to an agreement in reducing the fine." You said it wasn't the minumum fine? Ask for the minimum. If he/she won't agree, plead not guilty. If the officer doesn't show, you're off the hook. If he does show, try your sign argument.

In the future, if an officer asks you how fast you were going, politely say "I'm sorry officer, I would prefer not to answer that question." Never admit to speeding, which is what you did even by your own account, or you're sure to get a ticket. Very often the cop doesn't even know you were speeding, but just suspects that you were, and pulls you over just to ask. If you tell them you were speeding, you've just asked for a ticket. Twice I've had this happen. Both times I know I wasn't clocked because my radar detector didn't go off, and when I politely declined to answer, I was simply told something to the effect of, "you were going too fast, so slow down. Now be on your way and be careful." I know if I had admitted to speeding I would have been given a ticket. The first thing cops do when they pull you over is try to get you to admit to speeding. Don't give them that free pass, make them work for it.

Speeding tickets suck. Many speed limits are just too low. I don't advocate reckless driving, but sometimes going over the limit is perfectly safe. It sounds like this is what happened in your case. Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

3rd_shift, it was posted as 40mph according to his story. So, it's not 4mph over, it's 14mph over.

Ryan,

I'm not trying to be mean here ..... however.

Ignorance of the law is no excuse, sorry, but that's how it works. If you were going over the speed limit then you deserve to get ticketed. Doesn't matter what you thought it was.

Take your medicine, pay the fine. Though, you might get a slight reduction if you go and see the magistrate or whoever handles traffic infractions in your area.

Sorry man.