BG Legal: Court for speeding tickets

[Ikith]

Lets make this quick:

Basically I have four speeding tickets on my record:
1. 2 Years ago (35 to 40 in a 25)
2. 1 Year ago (80 in a 50)
3. Two months ago (65 in a 50)
4. Two months ago but two weeks after number 3 (49 in a 35)

I feel that number three was circumstantial so I sent in the ticket with the "I admit guilt but feel the circumstances allow the situation" (Or something along those lines) box. The reason I feel its circumstantial is:

I was going along a straight one way road with two lanes that was merging into one lane because of construction. I had a bus beside me and a car directly behind me. The road is 50mph as stated above so I was approaching the merge pretty quickly (Was going exactly 50 if not 1 or 2 MPH over) at that point I was thinking slow down and hopefully the guy (Riding my ass as I remember) behind me will slow down in time and not hit me or speed up for a few seconds pass the bus then merge (Without cutting bus off) and then slow back down to 50. I took option 2 and then got pulled over. I feel that it was alright for me to do so as I was always taught that you can speed up to pass someone (Which I think I am wrong now since I got pulled over).

The fourth ticket was my sister distracting me in the car however I am not using that as an excuse for speeding as I know I should have given all of my attention to driving instead of half of it to her.

I feel right now I am fucked because of the 2 tickets in 2 weeks and I really have no fucking clue how to explain myself or even begin to fathom what court is going to be like.

I live in Washington if that makes and difference.

What should I expect/do at this point? What are my options?

[Cooleko]

If you are this prone to getting tickets you should have hired a lawyer from the start and had them contend each ticket. at the minimum you would be in the same place, at the maximum you wouldn't have this record counting against you.

Court will be you walking into a room with a lot of people, the judge will call everyone in one at a time. When it is your turn you get called in. There will be a judge, your police officer, a court scribe. The judge will ask the officer what he saw, give you a chance to defend yourself, ask the officer if you are right or have a possibility of being so, and then side with the officer (whether he is right or wrong).

My advice is since you are prone to speeding is to get a lawyer to handle every traffic violation you get from now on. You don't want to lose your license for nothing!

[Conformity]

yeah dude, i get lawyers for my shit, all i got on my record is 85 in a 65 with 0 points and i just got a job that pays for my car insurance, they didnt giveafuck.

[SephYuyX]

was going along a straight one way road with two lanes that was merging into one lane because of construction. I had a bus beside me and a car directly behind me. The road is 50mph as stated above so I was approaching the merge pretty quickly (Was going exactly 50 if not 1 or 2 MPH over) at that point I was thinking slow down and hopefully the guy (Riding my ass as I remember) behind me will slow down in time and not hit me or speed up for a few seconds pass the bus then merge (Without cutting bus off) and then slow back down to 50. I took option 2 and then got pulled over. I feel that it was alright for me to do so as I was always taught that you can speed up to pass someone (Which I think I am wrong now since I got pulled over).

Thats not a valid excuse to speed, the only option was for you to slow down. And if the guy behind you hit you, it's his fault anyway, not yours.

You should probably stop speeding. Without a lawyer, they dont give 2 shits about what youre going to say.

[Aero]

I feel that it was alright for me to do so as I was always taught that you can speed up to pass someone (Which I think I am wrong now since I got pulled over).

Im not sure if this is the same in America as it is in Canada; but it is never ok to speed to pass someone. Sure we all do it, but in the eyes of the law it is never justified.

[Ksandra]

You should probably stop speeding.

^ If you're this prone to getting tickets, the answer is to SLOW DOWN. Not the end of the world to do so, and a lot less of a hassle in the long run.

[Awoir]

And in the end speeding only saves you a few minutes if that to where you're going. Just stop speeding!

[Conformity]

I say continue speeding and get some money for attorney's, sell drugs to raise money for the speeding.

[MisterBob]

You can easily contend speeding tickets without a lawyer, but not with your horrible record.

[Kaisha]

Im not sure if this is the same in America as it is in Canada; but it is never ok to speed to pass someone. Sure we all do it, but in the eyes of the law it is never justified.

If everyone is going the speed limit, there is never a justified reason to pass someone. If someone is going 10-20 km slower than usual, pass them at the max speed if the stretch of road is clear enough to allow it.

[Mojo]

1.: Never go over 80 (70 in zones marked 55 mph) on the freeway.
2.: Never go more than 10 over in any other area.
3.: Never speed in a school zone.

Follow these rules and you'll probably never get a speeding ticket again. I dunno what to do about court, your best chance is to probably make some sort of deal with the prosecutor if you can (during a pre-trial meeting, if they have these where you live.) If you're lucky, maybe you can make arrangements so that fewer of them show up on your record, I dunno.

[Conformity]

The first 2 months I ever had my license I got in an accident, 1 reckless driving and 1 almost dui that was improper driving along with going 50 in a 35 on a military base.

How did I get these off my record?

Left the country for 2 years

[Gadritan]

And in the end speeding only saves you a few minutes if that to where you're going. Just stop speeding!

I hate when people say this. It's only true if you eliminate every other variable (stop lights, traffic, etc). It can be a difference of 15min on just a 10mile trip. However, NOT SPEEDING is definitely the correct thing to do.

1.: Never go over 80 (70 in zones marked 55 mph) on the freeway.
2.: Never go more than 10 over in any other area.

Never go more than 5 over. I've had half a dozen tickets that were for 10 over because I used to naively believe the same thing (on highways no less). Also, if you're going 70 in a 55 you can lose your license on the spot here in NC. Anything 15mph+ over the speed limit and they can take it right there. Usually the answer to these if you can't get it dropped is getting it reduced to something like "excessive speed."

Take your car to a shop to get the speedometer checked as well. If it's even slightly off, you can usually get it dropped due to "equipment failure." That's only going to help you with 1 though, and you'll need to make sure you bring proof from the shop. Tell the shop you need something that's acceptable in court to use to make sure you get the proper document.

But really, just stop fucking speeding. I had my license suspended 3x due to getting 27 speeding tickets before I finally learned to slow my happy ass down. It's been 5 years now since I've had one.

[Heavencloud]

I live in Washington if that makes and difference.

What part of WA? Where I live (Vancouver) there's only a few places where cops really stake out, although I'm pretty careful everywhere. Mojo's rules work pretty well, although in certain places 10 over is too much. Just gotta know the area really.

[Ikith]

Up in Bellingham. I have stopped speeding because I realize its stupid. The most I ever go over now is maybe 5 depending on the circumstance. So is a lawyer the way to go at this point? How much should I expect to pay? Its really short notice as well since court is on July 21st.

Edit: How would I go about finding one as well? Google?

[Melena]

I will never understand how people get so many speeding tickets. 13 years of driving and all i've gotten was dropping a lit substance out the window (burned my hand on a cig and dropped it, even offered to pick the damn thing up) and not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign to make a right turn. Just not worth the money you lose for fines + increased insurance to save a few minutes.

[Gadritan]

I will never understand how people get so many speeding tickets.

It's called being young and stupid, lol. I drove a lot of high profile cars too, which didn't help. I've scooted past a cop going 45 in a 35 in a Camry and didn't get pulled, yet I had a cop actually issue me a ticket for 38 in a 35 in my old Mustang.

[Ikith]

It's called being young and stupid, lol. I drove a lot of high profile cars too, which didn't help. I've scooted past a cop going 45 in a 35 in a Camry and didn't get pulled, yet I had a cop actually issue me a ticket for 38 in a 35 in my old Mustang.

This!

Now that I actually want to stop fucking up and start being more responsible I'm fucked.

[Falaras]

But really, just stop fucking speeding. I had my license suspended 3x due to getting 27 speeding tickets before I finally learned to slow my happy ass down. It's been 5 years now since I've had one.

Holy balls

[Mojo]

I hate when people say this. It's only true if you eliminate every other variable (stop lights, traffic, etc). It can be a difference of 15min on just a 10mile trip. However, NOT SPEEDING is definitely the correct thing to do.



Never go more than 5 over. I've had half a dozen tickets that were for 10 over because I used to naively believe the same thing (on highways no less). Also, if you're going 70 in a 55 you can lose your license on the spot here in NC. Anything 15mph+ over the speed limit and they can take it right there. Usually the answer to these if you can't get it dropped is getting it reduced to something like "excessive speed."

Take your car to a shop to get the speedometer checked as well. If it's even slightly off, you can usually get it dropped due to "equipment failure." That's only going to help you with 1 though, and you'll need to make sure you bring proof from the shop. Tell the shop you need something that's acceptable in court to use to make sure you get the proper document.

But really, just stop fucking speeding. I had my license suspended 3x due to getting 27 speeding tickets before I finally learned to slow my happy ass down. It's been 5 years now since I've had one.

Hmm, must be different in NC then. I speed all the time, but follow these rules, and in 9 years of driving have only had two tickets (both for going 80+ on the freeway, although cops here are nice about that unless you're being wreckless, thus was only written up for 5 over.)