i wasnt very happy yesterday, i got busted doing 75 in a 65. i was so mad, b/c i was trying to get away from these 2 guys that kept tailgating me and then passing me and slowing down. i guess they were trying to be 'cool' or something, i dont know. so i was passing them in the left lane and there was the cop sitting on the side of the road. i couldnt slow down or avoid it. thats the first ticket i have ever gotten! i didnt know what to do or what to say, i just kinda sat there and my mom's dog was in the front seat trying to figure out what was going on. oh well, i told my dad that it wasnt too bad b/c in all honesty (not to sound bad or anything), but its about time. i speed like nothing else in the 8, so i guess it was about time for me to get caught. now im out some money and i wont be getting to places any quicker nowadays. ohwell

Unfortunate...I know how I speed up to try to avoid traffic scenarios at times. There's a first for everything. Did you try to give the cop an explanation?

This situation is so similar to mine. Tailgaters caused me to speed up to get my first ticket. Of course I got 85 in a 65. Around my area doing 75 in a 65 freeway is regular. Sorry bou't it man, sucks sometimes.

i too got my first ticket ever.
the f$%^^&king police seemed to be have nothing better to do in my area than hiding in the dark parking lot waiting for their prey.

he insisted i beat redlight but i knew it was still yellow when i crossed. :rolleyes:

I got my first ticket in my '8 too, for "passing on the left" in an unmarked road with no "no passing" signs in a grey-zone (not quite commerical, not quite residential). The guy in front of me was going 9mph.
I was driving to get to a vanpool to work. Where I pulled over was where the vanpool picked up. By the time the cop was finished doing his bs, half an hour later, he said "drive safely" or something like that. I wouldn't have HAD TO DRIVE AT ALL if you hadn't pulled me over, asshole. Obviously if I had already reached my destination, my "safety" was pretty assured.

Idiot.

(I started to go through the motions to fight it in court, but wussed out after deciding I didn't want to play with fate in a jury, and waste more time off work)

You all need a Radar Detector and This:

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=73659

and as for the illegal passing...go to court and get those thrown out :D

sorry man that suxs.since this is your first ticket ask for a'' pray for judgement''.the ticket won't go against you or your insurance .the only draw back is if you get another ticket in 2 years you get hit for both tickets .so driive careful.

i too got my first ticket ever.
the f$%^^&king police seemed to be have nothing better to do in my area than hiding in the dark parking lot waiting for their prey.

he insisted i beat redlight but i knew it was still yellow when i crossed. :rolleyes:

i know that here, going through a yellow is classified the same as running a red. the reasoning is that yellow means to slow down as the light is going to turn red, not speed up so you dont have to wait. arguable in court of course, but that's (apparently) what the law is here...

that sucks, 10mph over....that cop has nothing better to do.

go to court, plead no contest, take a reduced fine and court ordered traffic school. It wont count against your 1 a yr or your 5 in a lifetime.

here, going through a yellow is classified the same as running a red.
Wow. That's stupid. What if it turns yellow when you're one foot from the intersection, going 60 MPH?

In California, you're allowed to enter an intersection on yellow, and it's OK if it turns red before you get through.

Ding, that's what I was going to suggest. Traffic school, If they offer it where you are.
In CA they'll remove the ticket if you take traffic school and don't get another ticket in 18 months.

Also In CA as long as you aren't speeding you're allowed to continue through an intersection if you passed the crosswalk lines when the light was yellow. So you're fine if it turned red while you're in it. Of course it's your word against the cops. Judge will take the cops word over yours.

Wow. That's stupid. What if it turns yellow when you're one foot from the intersection, going 60 MPH?

In California, you're allowed to enter an intersection on yellow, and it's OK if it turns red before you get through.

here, youre not supposed to enter it when its already yellow. but the cop can show some leniency if youre at full speed before it changes from green to yellow and youre too close. even then, if it just changed, theres still ample time to get through the intersection. if it changed long before you got to the intersection, and you tried anyways, they can nail you for it. especially the red light cameras, those things have no hesitation at all ;)

its more of a judgement call, but you better call it right, cuz you can get fined for going through a yellow here, even though its rare.

here, youre not supposed to enter it when its already yellow. but the cop can show some leniency if youre at full speed before it changes from green to yellow and youre too close. even then, if it just changed, theres still ample time to get through the intersection. if it changed long before you got to the intersection, and you tried anyways, they can nail you for it. especially the red light cameras, those things have no hesitation at all ;)

its more of a judgement call, but you better call it right, cuz you can get fined for going through a yellow here, even though its rare.

That's why the CA system is more logical -- since the driver knows EXACTLY what the requirement is -- "don't enter on red" AND has a warning - the yellow light. That makes a whole lot more sense than "don't enter on yellow" since yellow comes without warning. The lights for cross-traffic are set to not change to green for (I think) 2 seconds after yours turn red. This gives time for the intersection to clear. So, things are predictable. The last thing you want at an intersection is drivers guessing. This falls under the subject of "human factors" -- how do you make things safe taking human behavior, decision-making, perception and physiology into account?

10 over? What a d!ck. Sorry.

congratulations!!!! :D

10 over is pushing it around here. Extenuating circumstances and the fact that this is your first should make it easy to reduce/get rid of altogether.

You got a speeding ticket because you are a young driver driving a sports car. Sports cars say "notice me!" and the cop noticed you going 10 mph over the limit.

Sad, but true.

10 over is granny driving around chicago. then again, i got my first speeding ticket at 16 yrs old and havent slowed down too much since. id suggest a good radar detector if youre a lead-foot liek me :D

Yeah - that's the conclusion I had too - young + sports car = ticket, regardless of the law. Especially since I don't think I even BROKE a law. I mean, again - there were no double yellow lines...or lines of any sort at all!

I did go to court to contest, but that turned out just to be a "pre-trial". At that point I said screw this, and just haggled with the prosecutor instead. I felt like I was buying a product.

Cop: "Here, try this - you'll like it."
Me: "What is it?"
Cop: "It's a ticket! Comes with a free 180 day probation period, no extra charge."
Me: "No thanks, I'm not really interested."
Cop: "Too late, you already bought it. If you want a rebate, you'll have to go see the prosecutor."

Prosecutor: "So you still don't want the ticket huh?"
Me: "No. This is bogus."
Prosecutor: "Sorry, you should have thought of that before you bought it."
Me: "Okay, well how about my rebate? I want $80 off."
Prosecutor: "I'll give you $20."
Me: "How about $40. AND I want the 180 probation period dropped to only 90 days."
Prosecutor: "Okay, deal."

So we both win.
.
.
.

Sort of.

(I'm done with my 90 day trial period. It turned out the product they were offering was still overpriced, but it's in the past now)

I think that the whole kid+sports car = ticket is bullshit. Do you really think the Police Officer cares who he give a ticket to? If he is running radar and looking for speeders he will give a ticket to whomever he feels is going to fast.

My mentor told me about a time at 11:00 at night a person accused him of profiling. She was going 15-20mph over the limit so she got a ticket. How hard is it to figure out?

Personally I think that 10 over the limit is a little low unless there was construction or some unknown variables that you left out. Was it dark or really congested? Maybe he thought you were tailgating. If it was bright as day and no one around, then yes, I think 10 over isn't worth a ticket. However, if you are going over the LIMIT than you are over. End of story.

Sorry about your bad luck, take traffic school and move on.

Missouri eh, I drove through your entire state last week and never got my car under 100 mph, cept for a small bit of construction outside of st louis...

Okay, what about MY ticket? I wasn't even speeding. You think having a just-waxed, red RX-8 had nothing to do with it. Right.

Next time just don't stop. It's too much paper work for us and we will just let you go. :D

edit: If that works let me know

I think that the whole kid+sports car = ticket is bullshit. Do you really think the Police Officer cares who he give a ticket to? If he is running radar and looking for speeders he will give a ticket to whomever he feels is going to fast.

My mentor told me about a time at 11:00 at night a person accused him of profiling. She was going 15-20mph over the limit so she got a ticket. How hard is it to figure out?

Personally I think that 10 over the limit is a little low unless there was construction or some unknown variables that you left out. Was it dark or really congested? Maybe he thought you were tailgating. If it was bright as day and no one around, then yes, I think 10 over isn't worth a ticket. However, if you are going over the LIMIT than you are over. End of story.

Sorry about your bad luck, take traffic school and move on.

Kids are easier targets though because they have less experience and are less likely to fight it than adult. Plus the judge is less likely to let them off due to them being kids. So it's a lose lose situation for kids.

Anyone is easy. Kids especially. Just for the fact stated my NomisR. However, everyone that doesn't know their state law or how law enforcement works is an easy target to any cop. Sorry, but the truth

So, does Merdy have tinted windows, I wonder? Most "kids" with sports cars do, I bet. Kinda throws the kids+sportscar theory out in my book. :p . However sports cars are more likely to be targetted, probably. 10 over is borderline, in any place I've ever driven, particularly if no one else is doing it. Even if you and 20 others around you are all doing 10 over, alot of times the cop will just pick one out of the pack. If I'm doing 10 over, and get a ticket for it, I don't bitch about it. I got what was coming to me. In the original poster's case I'd take it to court, simply because it's likely the fine will at least be reduced, and I hate stupid ricers who harass people.