I'm a Maryland resident and I just got a speeding ticket from a state trooper. I was going 105mph in 65mph zone and the ticket was ~$500. Before anyone decides to lecture me on the stupidity of speeding, I've already realized that fact. Sorry. :( Here are the conditions surrounding my ticket. I was going down Route 50 in the middle of the night. There's a LONG declining stretch of straight road about 1km long and there's one car about 500m ahead of me. I got itchy (stupid, I know) and wanted to see if I could hit 120 or so in my car. I gun the car up to around 110 before I realized it was a stupid idea and just then I see a cop about 400m ahead of me. I hit on my breaks and managed to slow down somewhat before passing him. It was quite obvious he saw me speeding and pulls me over. After handing him my license and registration, he hands back to me a $523 ticket. I do not recall ever admitting guilt, when he said I was going 105 mph, I was kind of in shock and didn't say much at all. Normally, I would really look down upon behavior like this but I was on a 4 lane highway that was almost completely empty and put no one except for myself in harms way. The road conditions and visiblity were perfect.

I am definitely going to take this to the court. I'm hoping either 1) the cop doesn't show up when I ask for an extention on the court date 2) plea with the prosecutor for lesser fine 3) plea with the judge if I'm found guilty for a less sentence. I've been a driver for 4 years now, with one ticket for not having my license (another stupid mistake) and no moving violations. I know courts are generally pretty good about first time offenders...but in case, 40 over limit is more than excessive... I'm looking at the ticket and I'm only charged with "Exceed Max" and not "Reckless driving" or "Negligent Driving." I know I should at least persue the "not guilty" route with the chance of the officer not appearing. I seriously doubt the judge will punish me more than $500 for this offense since I'm not charged with anything else... Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

You've pretty much got it down. Just go on as you have planned in your message above.

Wait until about two weeks before your court date to apply for the continuance. I presume you will be called into PG District court (or were you in Anne Arundel? Sounds like you were on that last part of 50 between Bowie and the Beltway to me). Last I was there, they didn't have a state's prosecutor in traffic court any more. I think AA is the last county to still have a SPA present in traffic court in Maryland.
Depending on your fortitude, you can go one step further.
Show up for your continued date and if the cop is present, FTA and then wait for the suspension notice. When that comes, pay the fine, but apply for a new court date. That gives you a de facto continuance again and another chance that the cop won't show. Make sure you do that THE DAY YOUR SUSPENSION NOTICE GETS TO YOU IN THE MAIL! They don't give you a very big window.
Get a current copy of your driving record just before your date, also. The judge will ask you about it. He can get the record himself from the clerk while he is sitting, but having it on you shows that you are concerned.
Don't apologise in court. They don't care if you are sorry. However, be serious, direct and succinct with every answer to the judge. When he asks how you plead, always plead not guilty. The "Guilty with an Explanation" is a crock. Let the judge find you guilty if he so pleases. You will still have an opportunity to explain yourself after the verdict is rendered and before the sentence is entered.
Even if you loose, you probably won't get any worse than the ticket (plus up to $50 in court fees). However, the points are pretty substancial - I think its 4 for that kind of speed. You may end up with a DMV meeting, but that isn't a problem.
I'm assumung you are only 20 or so; unfortunately this puts you at a disadvantage because you haven't been driving long enough to be considered a good driver in the eyes of the judge, so he will be somewhat less impressed by the fact that your record is clean. However, most kids have a few points under their belt by the time they are your age, so you are still in a better position than most 20 year olds in your predicament. Being only 20 puts you in a further disadvantage in that your insurance will skyrocket if you are found guilty.

Don't feel bad - I'm 37 and I regularly pass through that section of highway at 130+ MPH. I just use a RADAR detector and some good eyes.:D In the future, you may have better luck.

Here in NY, doing 105 would get you arrested and your car impounded. Be glad that all you got is a $500 ticket.

A good friend and car enthusiest (who owns a 89 Porsche 944) got a ticket outside of Richmond VA on I95 doing that exact speed (105 in a 65) He got a 500 fine, 90 days suspended licence and ordered to attend defensive driving school at his expense of course. I thought that The VA state trooper would arrest you but suprisingly that did not happen in this case!

Maniac: Thanks for the awesome tip. I got the ticket from a trooper on the AA side of 50, not PG. I'm probably gonna do exactly what you said and then some. I'm going to mail the office for information on the radar detector as well as all of the notes he took. Anything else you'd recommend?

Get a lawyer! I got a friend who has a 5.0 and he's had like 4 worst tickets than that, but he always hires a lawyer, it cost him some money but at least he keeps his licence and his insurance isn't hit as hard. I don't know what the lawyer does, but it works.

ok so far you have been told to go ahead and fight it, get a lawyer etc. for something you know you did that was wrong. so instead of the $523 dollar fine they are telling you to pay a lawyer and court costs possibly doubling the amount of the fine. and in order to get the court date you will probably have to put up the cost of the fine right away as bond or bail what ever they call it. that's what you have to do in PA anyway. so if you don't mind losing that kind of cash by all means fight it. if you get away with a few less points and without losing your license,then maybe it's worth it to you.

i'm curious though, you said "Normally, I would really look down upon behavior like this but I was on a 4 lane highway that was almost completely empty and put no one except for myself in harms way. The road conditions and visiblity were perfect." but at the beginning of your story you mentioned a car ahead of you and then there was the cop ahead of you too. if you lost control at that speed because of hitting some nasty bump or debris in the road, could you not have put those people, not to mention yourself, at risk?

Originally posted by chopsticker
I've been a driver for 4 years now, with one ticket for not having my license (another stupid mistake) and no moving violations.I'm curious. Getting a ticket for not carrying your licence, implies that you were pulled over for something else but managed to talk your way out of a more major ticket. Have there been any other times you're not telling us about?

Not having any moving violations on your record doesn't mean you're a saint. I speak from first-hand experience. :)

LOL.

I am not involved with law enforcement and please don't take this as a lecture because I also speed from time to time (although not quite as fast as you). I understand the temptation, especially in THIS car.

My point is: You decided to "play the game". The cop did his job, so why go to court, swear yourself in, look the policeman in the eye and call him a liar? Seems to me that the honorable thing to do at this point is pay the fine and save the court system for those future times when you ARE ticketed unfairly.

You have been driving for a while and haven't racked up a bunch of tickets so you must be a reasonably good driver who just became mezmerized by the call of the RX-8. I've heard mine calling too.

AutoX is for you. Occasionally you will even get to race cops who'll pat you on the back when you win. :cool:

The previous ticket was given to me after I waved a wooden practice sword outside of my car window while driving 10mph to mess around with some freshmen on my campus. At the time it was really funny and since I was driving to the gym, I completely forgot about the license. The cop decided to give me the ticket for that antic...

As for driving when I got the ticket, the car that was ahead of me was about 500m away. The road was completely straight and was 4 lanes wide. I figured this was as safe as I'm ever gonna get driving over 100 mph outside of the race track. I would never do this if there was another car near me...

Generally speaking, when do you get a chance to plea with the prosecutor for a lesser fine? When the trial has started or before? I have my court date for my speeding ticket tomorrow is why I ask... Thanks!

Pay the fine.....next question?

Go to court! If the cop does not show (without a reason in some caes), the case is dropped! At the least, you should knock down the points and have lower long-term costs (i.e. insurance rates). If its an infraction that risks your ability to hold a drivers license, then get the lawyer.

good luck in court
only 1 out of 12 wins--thats what they told me in traffic school
it depends alot on the judge you get

Originally posted by Rx-Appreci-8
I am not involved with law enforcement and please don't take this as a lecture because I also speed from time to time (although not quite as fast as you). I understand the temptation, especially in THIS car.

My point is: You decided to "play the game". The cop did his job, so why go to court, swear yourself in, look the policeman in the eye and call him a liar? Seems to me that the honorable thing to do at this point is pay the fine and save the court system for those future times when you ARE ticketed unfairly.

Only if one believes the system is reasonably fair should one play by the rules of the system. Yes he got caught for speeding, but should he be so egregiously punished for harming nobody in the middle of the night on a deserted four-lane road. Should this type of offence really carry a far stiffer penalty than hundreds of other more serious offences? If it was a $50 fine and no points then absolutely plead guilty and save everyone some time - that is what this offence under these conditions is worth in my eyes.

If one truly believes the system is fair then one should voluntarily turn oneself into the police everytime one breaks the speeding laws.

BTW the prosecutor will see you before the trial - get there early. I have had 3 speeding tickets in the last 7 years and all were reduced before trial. No tickets in the last 3 years, although I drive faster on average now than before.

HEY LOOK, A NEW PAGE !

Originally posted by aussie77
Generally speaking, when do you get a chance to plea with the prosecutor for a lesser fine? When the trial has started or before? I have my court date for my speeding ticket tomorrow is why I ask... Thanks!

In jurisdictions that have a prosecutor present, they will be sitting at a desk at the front of the courtroom 15 minutes or so before the procedings begin. Just get in line with all the lawyers and ask them to review the case with you.


Originally posted by Rx-Appreci-8
My point is: You decided to "play the game". The cop did his job, so why go to court, swear yourself in, look the policeman in the eye and call him a liar? Seems to me that the honorable thing to do at this point is pay the fine and save the court system for those future times when you ARE ticketed unfairly.


The system depends on sheep like you. There is no "saving the court system" and the cops JOB is to be able to defend himself against such accusations. Where is the honor in admitting to an accusation?


Originally posted by jonalan
Pay the fine.....next question?

How about YOU pay his fine? The court system is adversarial and it is designed to eat up people with that kind of "let sleeping dogs lie" attitude.
Paying the fine wont end for the original poster for 3 years minumum. The insurance hit over that time period could easily be as much as $6000 or more. You want to pay that for him as well?
He has absolutely nothing to loose by going to court except loosing face for a few minutes in front of an overpaid ex-lawyer in a robe.


Originally posted by mikeb
good luck in court
only 1 out of 12 wins--thats what they told me in traffic school
it depends alot on the judge you get

That is probably true, I suppose. I've been to court 15 times in the last three years without a conviction in 5 or 6 different jurisdictions. I've only had the cop not show twice. Of course, none of the tickets were this severe - they were all 15 MPH over or similar. Two were in PA, one in VA and the rest in MD.
I believe it comes down to having the right attitude and a clean record. Each succesive court date does not care about any proceding date that didn't yield a conviction. I had two cases in one week last year. Do you think I volunteered the fact that I just left court in a different jurisdiction for a similar charge? Of course not. I wasn't convicted, so it isn't a matter of public record and I am not in the business of supporting the state's case. The law specifically provides that you should not be.
I'm not beneath using a technicality, either - if I think it won't make the judge mad.
I beat one of the PA tickets because the cop didn't write the tag down correctly. Did I say "your Honor, I shouldn't be found guilty because the cop messed up the ticket?". No.
I went to the DMV, attempted to get a copy of the MD registration for the vehicle that had that tag (none existed - it was a bad number) and presented it to the judge. Vehicle doesn't exist, how did it get measured for enforcement with RADAR? "Officer, please describe the vehicle." He couldn't beyond the basic description in the ticket. "Please describe how my appearance might have been different on that day compared to how I look now." When he couldn't, I put on my glasses and explained that I am restricted.
Insuffcient evidence.
It isn't your responsibility to prove the state's case. Your only responsibility is to be a safe and proficient driver. Don't let anyone bully you with statistics into admitting that the system enforces your safety.

Higher a lawyer. You'll be surprised how cheap it is, especially when compared to a $500 ticket plus the cost of raised insurance rates on a ticket like that.

Everyone I know that have hired a lawyer have gotten off the ticket (some with some reckless driving, etc) In WA you can find a lawyer to do this for about $300.

Any other tips Maniac? Seems you know what you are doing :)

I was charged with 70 in a 45 by radar. They were pulling over 2, 3 cars at a time. I don't want to end up paying higher insurance for the next 3 years, especially when I don't think I was going that fast!

Originally posted by RX8Lover
Here in NY, doing 105 would get you arrested and your car impounded. Be glad that all you got is a $500 ticket.

Ditto in California. He is lucky. He should take responsibility for his actions and pay the fine. There is much more value in taking the ethical route than there is in trying to get away with as much as you can in life.

Originally posted by Zeltar
Ditto in California. He is lucky. He should take responsibility for his actions and pay the fine. There is much more value in taking the ethical route than there is in trying to get away with as much as you can in life.

Accepting responsibility and paying a preset fine are not logically equatible.
"Getting away with it" would be not getting pulled over at all.
Perhaps you should turn yourself in every time you break even a minor traffic law.

Why do people in this country find it so easy to equate braking the law with a moral crisis?
Laws are the result of imposed morality, not the other way around.
If he were to have a moral dilemma, it would proclude his ability to even consider breaking the law.
Or, perhaps, it would cause him to try to moralize situations as you have done.

I had 19 speeding tickets, only got screwed twice. Out of all those times, I either delayed the trial/hearing until the police was on vacation, or he didn't show up that day. The twice I did get screwed was when the CHP showed up late, but did show up and just "poped" out to go against me. The other time I tried to beat the ticket because of the "Show me the speed gun" thing, because most of the time, the agency don't do regular checkups on their speed guns, so if you go ask for it, and you find evidence that they haven't calibrated it for awhile, then you will get off as well. Another way you can fight this ticket is proove you had an emergency and that's why you had to drive faster than stated... that worked for my friend, his dad was terminally ill. Cheap excuse to beat a ticket, but saved him a ton of bucks.

Well, I finished putting together my defense this morning - got six pages of notes and questions. Now that I've put all this work into it, what's the bet the officer doesn't even show :P

Originally posted by aussie77
Well, I finished putting together my defense this morning - got six pages of notes and questions. Now that I've put all this work into it, what's the bet the officer doesn't even show :P

Use the Poll feature, and I'll vote.

Originally posted by aussie77
Well, I finished putting together my defense this morning - got six pages of notes and questions. Now that I've put all this work into it, what's the bet the officer doesn't even show :P

Most important thing is to keep your mouth shut when you can and keep your notes to yourself and inside your head.
Only pull out what you need to get your point across.
Answer questions as simply as possible and only ask relevant questions.
Anything more will look like "grand-standing" and piss off the judge.
Don't interrupt anyone and listen to the judge's instructions carefully. Often, the judge will practically spell out what it takes to get out of the ticket.
If this is the first date (ie - you have not already continued the date) for trial and you are not the first to go up to the defendant's box, listen to other cases that come before yours and see the disposition of the judge.
If it is a "hanging judge" RUN AWAY.
That is right. Just leave.
You wil be written as an FTA (Fail To Appear) and a guilty verdict will be sent to the DMV.
When you get your suspension notice, send in your fine to the court and ask for a new trial. You may get a different judge.
Even if that doesn't work, you will have paid only the fine and not had additional court fees imposed on your fine.

THIS IS MY EXPERIENCE AND IS BASED ON THE LAWS AND CONDITIONS OF THE STATE OF MARYLAND
THE LAWS AND RULES MAY BE DIFFERENT IN YOUR JURISDICTION!

I don't get the whole moral vigilante aspect of breaking some traffic laws outright. People who feel the need to use every tool of the system to get out of their traffic ticket..."but that's what it's there for!" ...well, not really, and if you think you're going to change the legal stance on speed limits or whatever it may be that fits the charge, good luck. Getting off on a technicality isn't the same thing and isn't really a "victory" for anyone in that aspect. I think there's reasonable cases, and cases where people are just wasting the time of the legal system and those in it because they are hell-bent on getting off any way they can.

Do you think you would have felt guilty about speeding if you lost control and were injured? Or would you chalk it up to "these things happen, you can't avoid them" or some other fate, and take any and all future open-road opportunities to peg the speedo? Would that thrust your morals to the forefront of awareness and cause you to question them? To me, people are not always immediately aware of morality at all times, and also morality is never completely static. There's always a possible experience that could cause you to re-evaluate your morals/moralize.

With that said, given your prior record and the circumstances of the offense, I would talk to the prosecutor, and perhaps judge if necessary, about taking a lesser charge.

Originally posted by blizz81
I don't get the whole moral vigilante aspect of breaking some traffic laws outright. People who feel the need to use every tool of the system to get out of their traffic ticket..."but that's what it's there for!" ...well, not really, and if you think you're going to change the legal stance on speed limits or whatever it may be that fits the charge, good luck. Getting off on a technicality isn't the same thing and isn't really a "victory" for anyone in that aspect. I think there's reasonable cases, and cases where people are just wasting the time of the legal system and those in it because they are hell-bent on getting off any way they can.

Do you think you would have felt guilty about speeding if you lost control and were injured? Or would you chalk it up to "these things happen, you can't avoid them" or some other fate, and take any and all future open-road opportunities to peg the speedo? Would that thrust your morals to the forefront of awareness and cause you to question them? To me, people are not always immediately aware of morality at all times, and also morality is never completely static. There's always a possible experience that could cause you to re-evaluate your morals/moralize.

With that said, given your prior record and the circumstances of the offense, I would talk to the prosecutor, and perhaps judge if necessary, about taking a lesser charge.

As for the validity of most speed limits, i think this link says all that needs to be said:

http://www.ibiblio.org/rdu/sl-irrel.html

good link, revhappy...

In chopsticker's case, the best thing to do is go to court and fight it.. he's has nothing to lose... The worse case scenario is that he pays the fine and get a ding on his record. That is going to happen anyway if he chooses not to contest the ticket..

One thing to remember is that speeding and parking tickets are a HUGE source for revenue for most cities. It wouldn't be worth it for cities to focus their efforts and money towards in having their officers to sit on their butts all day (with a coffee in one hand and a donut in the other) monitoring speed traps to collect city revenue, if it wasn't profitable.. I think those officers could spend their time doing better things, like catching real criminals, not minor offenders.

And then there are parking tickets, that's a whole other story. The city basically doesn't deal with them, they hire a large corpration to handle the tickets.. They are responsible for all legal and processing costs. They also collect the money, but then split the profits with the city..

get a lawyer!!! pay to keep your license

I think those officers could spend their time doing better things, like catching real criminals, not minor offenders.


How would police departments go about increasing the staffing, equipping, etc, demands that the acts of catching "real criminals" would necessitate if they didn't enforce traffic/parking tickets that are such "HUGE" sources of revenue?

Don't get me wrong...my dad isn't a police officer or something like that, it's just that sometimes auto enthusiasts can have a more one-sided view of the laws and systems that keep them from turning public roads into their own racetracks when they see fit. That and if you don't care about the situation enough (that is, the law that you were cited to have broken shouldn't have been enforced in your case) to put as much time as some traffic-ticket-conquering vigilantes do into getting off on a technicality instead in on changing the structure of the laws to, in your eyes, help the whole society out, then I frown a bit when you use the time and resources of the system to your own self-serving end and no further.

I don't lose any sleep over it, but there's just so many people that fight off like, a 40mph over speeding ticket on the basis that the officer mispelled their name by a letter or something similar.

Originally posted by blizz81
How would police departments go about increasing the staffing, equipping, etc, demands that the acts of catching "real criminals" would necessitate if they didn't enforce traffic/parking tickets that are such "HUGE" sources of revenue?

Don't get me wrong...my dad isn't a police officer or something like that, it's just that sometimes auto enthusiasts can have a more one-sided view of the laws and systems that keep them from turning public roads into their own racetracks when they see fit. That and if you don't care about the situation enough (that is, the law that you were cited to have broken shouldn't have been enforced in your case) to put as much time as some traffic-ticket-conquering vigilantes do into getting off on a technicality instead in on changing the structure of the laws to, in your eyes, help the whole society out, then I frown a bit when you use the time and resources of the system to your own self-serving end and no further.

I don't lose any sleep over it, but there's just so many people that fight off like, a 40mph over speeding ticket on the basis that the officer mispelled their name by a letter or something similar.


Look, most people would love to change the system, but they don't have the resources to do. There are organizations that offer information on getting out of tickets AND lobby to change the laws.

As for using ticket revenues to fund other goverment functions - that IS denied by these very institutions? Why? Because, it is seen as theft and renders the meaning of the laws worthless. As for most spped limits - they are a joke. When most motorist violate them, there is a problem. "Excessive" speed is accused of mkaing accidents more serious and more difficult to avoid. However, sports cars accelerate faster, turn quicker and brake better AND are lighter than other vehicles that are allowed to go the same speed? To me, that makes no sense.

Ok...After 19 points on my dl and living in maryland i have some insight.Find out type of method used to determine your speed radar,Laser??If he nailed you with either of those your screwed you will never beat the ticket unless it was radar and u can place a larger faster moving oblect near your vicinity.Your best bet is to either A lie your ass off and make up some type of emergency and get that person to go to court with u.B tell the judge its a new car and you really didnt realize how fast you were going,admit guilt and hope judge got some night before.How is your driving record?
Buy a radar detector and blinder and install it fast.Most like V1s i myself have a 8500 and testing em both side by side i like 8500 better.I work in outside bowie and i know that stretch very well.My blinder has got hit twice in there by laser and both times slowed down and passed on by.
Just looked that u posted your driving record.With this being first real offence you may get a break.I read u have 6 pages of notes?I have no idea what u may have come up with let us know.Also was it a pg county or state trooper?

Originally posted by Maniac
Accepting responsibility and paying a preset fine are not logically equatible.


Especially where I live tickets are not equitable. I live in Missouri where the court system is way overloaded and there are dozens of ticket fix-it law firms. You pay the attorney fees ($40 to $80) and the ticket is plea bargained to a non-moving violation with the fine doubled. It's a win-win deal (sort of), the municipality gets double the statatury revenue and the speeder receives no points and no insurance hike. This only works in the heavily populated areas. You're screwed in the rural areas. This is inequitable because if you're wealthy you can drive any speed you wish. Same thing with parking tickets in all states. It's a fixed fine, if you're wealthy enough, you park wherever the hell you want and the fines amount to way less than 1% of your earnings. On the other hand, if you are low income, you go out of your way to avoid even a $10 fine. As someone said about OJ, money doesn't buy justice, money buys injustice!