Proxi

Yup, the morning I left it was all snowy and icey. When I got to the courtroom, there was about 12 of us waiting for the judge. When the judge came in he actually congratulated us for coming in on time regardless of the road conditions caused by the snow and ice. Coming back home though was fun - so to speak. Since the street going to my house was sort of an uphill climb, I turned off my 8's DSC/TCS and basically drifted my way to my garage. And boy was my car loud trying to climb up to my house. I was reaching the 8000 RPM range on second and third gear trying to drift my way back to my garage. By the time I reached my house, my neighbor who was plowing snow off his driveway shouted at me with a big grin on his face, "having fun there?!!"

Now I have to clean my car again.

Razz1

Sonded like you had fun.

Proxi

If I foolishly speed and get caught, then yes - I deserve to get the ticket and I will gladly pay the fine. But if there were certain circumstances that made me sped up, then hell yeah I will contest the ticket. On the day I got my ticket, I was already doing 40 on a 35 zone - which is 5mph above the speed limit and usually an acceptable speed for such zone. I needed to make my right turn on the next street and I was on the left lane. The minivan on the right lane was next to me was doing the same speed I was. My car was already halfway past the minivan. The vehicle behind me was also travelling at the same rate of speed I was. So rather than suddenly slow down and go behind the minivan, which by the way might cause the vehicle behind me to also suddenly slow down too and "may" cause a domino effect (and maybe an accident), I just took the better judgement and sped myself up to pass the minivan since I was already halfway ahead of him. Of course the state trooper didn't know this because as far as he knows I was a guy in a sports car doing 47 on a 35 zone by the time he saw me.

The fine he gave me was $158. It may be less than Anibal's $286 fine, but still that's no chump change for someone who has to pay bills, a mortgage, and a family to support. I will assume that you are well off financially since you described the $286 fine as "measly." Well sorry to burst your rich bubble but not everyone here can afford such "measly" amount. You also compared to the $286 amount to the value that is spent in the long run (such as gas spent in the future and the car's value as time goes by). Well sorry to break your daddy bigbuck's way of thinking again but when somebody expends that kind of amount just for a speeding ticket, they really don't care how the amount will affect them in the long run especially if you got bills to pay in the right here and now. Let me use your "5 year" explanation if you don't mind. Think of it this way, would you rather save $286 in a span of 5 years -or- would you rather save $286 RIGHT NOW?!

So before you pass judgement on us, you need to learn the facts first on why we fight or contest a ticket in the first place.



That is all.
Move along now - nothing to see here.

crafted_soul

my 2 cents :
I would fight the ticket no matter whose fault it was. Because if you fight, there's a chance that you could get your ticket deferred or you might even get lucky and get the charges dropped all together even it's your fault.
I got a ticket for speeding a couple of years ago and even it was obvioius that it was my fault I decided to fight it, and guess what happened?? The judge let me off with just a warning because it was my first time. I know it sounds unbelievable. But Judges can do that, if they want. In a court room they are the law! So there you have it.
If I didn't fight and paid the ticket, that would mean I admitted and the ticket would go on my record, and I would end up paying high insurance premium for NEXT THREE years!! Thats what would happen if I didn't fight. And you know how much the insurance companies charge people with bad records??? You could end up paying more than 30 dollars a month to 150 dollars for atleast three years!!! Maybe more! That reason alone is more than enough for me to fight the ticket.
If you lost, well.......you were already losing if you decided to just pay the ticket! So if you fought and lost, atleast you knew that you didn't go down without a fight! ha! :D

whitebeau

1 word. Mucklestones, Great Lawyers If your in the Seattle Area, Jeannie Muckletone. Her brother covers the North Side, both got into the business due to their father i believe.


http://www.mucklestone.com/

It's worth paying their fee, they have great Repour with the system. I got 2 citations last year in a months period, both carrying 2 infractions, landing about 1,200.00 each. Both dropped.

TheBri

Yes. If the ticket is for more than 5 MPH over the limit I call them up and have them make the ticket go away. 5MPH over I just pay since a.) it doesn't go on your record and b.) the ticket fine is less than their court costs.

Ever since I've had my Passport SRX I have not had a problem with even getting tickets in the first place. <knocks on wood>

crafted_soul

Cops usually don't pull you over for driving 1 to 4 miles over speed limit. I think most cops give you a break up to 5 miles over the speed limit. Unless you run into some mean cop or they're desparate to bring in some fund for the city or whatever ( IMO anyway).
But I have a friend who did get pulled over for driving 5 miles over speed limit. So thats why I said "usually". Then again...his car was too loud and standing-out a lot cuz of the grapics and everything. And he was in some small town on highway 2.

I didn't know the ticket wouldn't go on your record if you got it for driving 5 miles and under speed limit?? Is it really true? I mean it's still a traffic violation.

kristopher_d

Always do the speed limit in small towns. Think about it, it's a small town. You speeding down main street is about as exciting as it gets most months.

TheBri

I have been pulled over in the past for doing 10+MPH over the speed limit and the cop winds up writing the ticket for only 5 MPH over the limit to "be nice".

whitebeau

dude.. a ticket is still a ticket, whether your insurance go up is completely Dependant on the insurance company. IE: State Farm is now doing some promo if you get in accident that is your fault, your premium doesn't go up.

I Just dispute them all... but then again i've also maintained the practice to wait for track days to let loose. though drifting on the on & off ramps and loop arounds are still hard to resist