Fighting speeding tickets - yay or nay?

[Ramseus]

Originally Posted by Blind_Io

Most recently a cop in Salt Lake pulled me over for "almost running a red light." etc. etc. etc.

That's pretty retarded. If you want to turn left at an intersection without a protectected left turn and there's a ton of traffic you could be there until the light turns red. *weeyooo* "You left the intersection while the light was red!" wut?

[Twerp128]

I've only ever had to pay one ticket, and that's because it was a small town with a stick up it's ass. Generally I don't have problems, I try not to go faster than 10 mph over ever, more importantly I don't tailgate, weave, and always use my signal. Still don't like cops though. They've abused they're authority towards me in other areas off the road. Plus there are sooo many good donut jokes out there.

[Cowboy]

Fighting speeding tickets is pretty useless in Belgium unless you happen to know the right people.....apart from that? even people caught speeding while transporting their wife in labor to the hospital can't get out from under a ticket so why even bother......

I once got fined for doing (after correction) 121 on a sundaynight on the motorway where 120 is allowed .....road safety my ass, its al about generating income.

You think they ever check at so called 'black spots' ? no, because everyone knows its dangerous at said location almost everyone slows down, hence : no money to be made
Now in a 30 km/h school zone on a compleetly straight and wide section of road at 3 at night? BINGBINGBING! jackpot!

Its all about the mentality....do whe check to inhance road safety (like whe should) by checking at dangerous spots, in places where speed realy has to be kept on a leech and risk not reaching our quota on the number of tickets whe have to give out a month because most people drive slowly there anyway ?

Or do whe go stand in spots where where sure to catch sufficient number of people, how the hell cares if its on a deserted motorway at night , everyone who does come by is sure to be speeding......

*in case you havent noticed i'm not a big fan of Belgiums trafficpolicy*

[efoolution]

If a ticket is unjustified, I will fight it ... but if I did do it, I will just pay. I know the rules, I accepted them in driving school as the basic requirement for being allowed to drive on public roads and if I break them, I won´t go "That´s all rubbish, I always know best and do what I want".

What I will fight though, are the signs themselves if they are stupid, that means politically. If my Majors office or the council imposes a stupid sign/rule somewhere, I will fight that ... but as long as it´s there, I will obey it or pay if I don´t.

[prizrak]

I fight them all the time, speed limits are complete BS and are ONLY there for revenue generation. Not to mention that while I might not care about the money points and the fact that it stays on insurance for 5 years is a bitch.

It might be news to you, but cops are more interested in how safe you're actually driving rather than assigning revenue generation based on an numerical limit that may or may not fit the actual conditions. If you get caught by a cop, you can argue that you were maintaining an appropriate speed for the weather and visibility conditions present at the time of the ticket, and the cop and judge determine (using a combination of experience and common sense) whether you're right.

I got a ticket yesterday for 73 in a 50 (mph) I was something like 100 feet BEHIND a cop that was going the same speed on an empty sunny highway. He proceeded to slow down (maneuver I also duplicated) went into the right lane waited to be slower than me (I slowed down to 50) and then issued me a ticket. I am fighting THE FUCK OUT OF IT. To top it off the cop was on the ass of the car in front of him....

[nouseferaname90]

Originally Posted by prizrak

I got a ticket yesterday for 73 in a 50 (mph) I was something like 100 feet BEHIND a cop that was going the same speed on an empty sunny highway. He proceeded to slow down (maneuver I also duplicated) went into the right lane waited to be slower than me (I slowed down to 50) and then issued me a ticket. I am fighting THE FUCK OUT OF IT. To top it off the cop was on the ass of the car in front of him....

That ticket will be incredibly easy for you to fight and win. at least in California it would be.

[Spectre]

Always fight it. If for no other reason than to make the justice system earn its pay - because, let's face it, most of the time the system gets free money instead.

There are other reasons to fight as well. Paramount among which is the growing tendency of states to not only put points on your license, but to charge you money per point per year to retain your license.

You can quite literally discover that your old tickets that you paid for and thought were a closed issue are now going to make your license cost you thousands of dollars per year. Surprise!

[Lurch0001]

Originally Posted by prizrak

I fight them all the time, speed limits are complete BS and are ONLY there for revenue generation. Not to mention that while I might not care about the money points and the fact that it stays on insurance for 5 years is a bitch.

I got a ticket yesterday for 73 in a 50 (mph) I was something like 100 feet BEHIND a cop that was going the same speed on an empty sunny highway. He proceeded to slow down (maneuver I also duplicated) went into the right lane waited to be slower than me (I slowed down to 50) and then issued me a ticket. I am fighting THE FUCK OUT OF IT. To top it off the cop was on the ass of the car in front of him....

I don't know about speed limits being BS. Like many rules, speed limits are trying to cater for the lowest common denominator in society, like the inattentive sleep-deprived dickhead in some 30-year-old beater of a car. I don't want him doing 30 over the speed limit up my street, whereas it might be perfectly safe for Michael Schumacher in a 599. But you have to have one rule for everyone.

Speeding tickets on the other hand, whether written by cops or from speed cameras are almost always just for revenue generation. And if I was in the same situation as you, I'd be pissed and probably fight it too. Good luck with it anyway.

[prizrak]

Originally Posted by Lurch0001

I don't know about speed limits being BS. Like many rules, speed limits are trying to cater for the lowest common denominator in society, like the inattentive sleep-deprived dickhead in some 30-year-old beater of a car. I don't want him doing 30 over the speed limit up my street, whereas it might be perfectly safe for Michael Schumacher in a 599. But you have to have one rule for everyone.

I agree with speed limits in residential areas but not highways, at least not highways like the one I got a ticket on the road is so straight that you can achieve top speed of a Veyron on it. I apologize for not making it clear.

Speeding tickets on the other hand, whether written by cops or from speed cameras are almost always just for revenue generation. And if I was in the same situation as you, I'd be pissed and probably fight it too. Good luck with it anyway.

Thanks

[Viper007Bond]

Unless it was an expensive ticket and the officer was wrong, it's not worth fighting it. Too much time and you broke the rules, so you should pay.

[prizrak]

My problem is not the speed limits themselves really it is the targeted enforcement of one very minor part of driving. My mother going the speed limit is more dangerous than my father going 20 over no matter what the speed limit is. An idiot switching lanes in bumper to bumper traffic WILL cause and accident at some point (as impatient as I am I generally end up staying in one lane unless I'm REALLY in a hurry) even though he is doing it at 20 at most. I have seen idiots pull out in front of me when I am CLEARLY going faster than them or someone almost switch lanes into me multiple times because they just don't pay attention. Or entering an on ramp at 30 for a 50-60 mph highway, no your Kia will NOT make it to the speed of the flow of traffic in time!

Unless it was an expensive ticket and the officer was wrong, it's not worth fighting it. Too much time and you broke the rules, so you should pay.

Do you have the points system in OR? For me that's really the biggest issue it's not the money it's all the points that stay on your insurance for 5 years. I got a speeding ticket like 2 years ago and I will be nearly 30 by the time it clears of my record with insurance. In my state insurance is mandatory as well AND they raised rates recently.

[RUU-CHAMA]

I fight it everytime. I show up in court and the judge calls my name and says case dismissed, every damn time.

[yeeha]

Originally Posted by LeVeL

I got one a couple of years ago that is somewhat questionable. 54 in a 30. I was coasting down a hill with my foot right over the brake pedal. Visibility was good. Fought it mostly because I was 19 and the insurance premium would murder me. Won very easily and haven't gone over 40 there since.

Originally Posted by BlaRo

Usually I show up at a municipal court and the fine automatically gets reduced with a zero-point violation. No lawyer needed. I have yet to show up to a county court to square off against an issuing officer, however.

I've never gotten a ticket and hence never been to court so I'm curious what you say (or anyone else who has been there) when you show up to court to fight a ticket. Assuming the officer was right you were speeding and you know it. Do you argue mitigating circumstances and claim that it wasn't that dangerous or just go for a flat out denial and say the cop was wrong? Something else entirely?

[Quiky]

Originally Posted by Viper007Bond

Unless it was an expensive ticket and the officer was wrong, it's not worth fighting it. Too much time and you broke the rules, so you should pay.

You don't even have a license, so why are you commenting on tickets?

[argatoga]

Originally Posted by yeeha

I've never gotten a ticket and hence never been to court so I'm curious what you say (or anyone else who has been there) when you show up to court to fight a ticket. Assuming the officer was right you were speeding and you know it. Do you argue mitigating circumstances and claim that it wasn't that dangerous or just go for a flat out denial and say the cop was wrong? Something else entirely?

Over here you have three options after getting a ticket (actually four, but only the first three are listed on the ticket).

1) Pay the ticket.
2) Accept that you where wrong, but ask to mitigate it.
3) Fight the ticket.
4) Deferral.

[Dsemaj]

The attitude to speeding in this country is damn right cancerous. I admit that my only ever incrimination was pathetic and completely wrong, but the way that many agencies go about catching speeders is complete and utter rubbish. This country is almost as big as the USA, yet for the most part in the country the fastest you can go is 110km/h or 65mph. It's a complete joke.

I mean, in one state, the Northern Territory, we used to have unlimited highways because a) there's fucking nothing out there and b) you have to drive for ages to get literally anywhere. But the state government decided in it's infinite wisdom to set a limit of 140km/h to lower deaths in the state, because they were so epidemically bad. What they clearly ignored (and they damn well knew what was it was) was that driving intoxicated amounted for a large amount of these deaths, most people in the state refuse to wear seatbelts. There was even evidence of a significant amount of drivers in a certain intersection over a month just going through red lights.

So instead of getting a clear message to these drivers not to drink drive, drink wacked out of their minds, not drive through red lights or just to wear their bloody seatbelts, they decided to slap the blame right onto speed. Because everybody knows "Speed Kills", right?

Oh, and a couple of weeks ago, I spotted a speeding camera trap placed about 100m before the speed limit jumps from 60km/h to 80km/h. Revenue raising bastards! Not to mention, this was on a hill that used to be 80km/h, a hill where even I find myself straying over the speed limit because it's a large hill and it's easy to overjudge how much power you need and what speed you're actually going. Most people prematurely (including me sometimes) speed up a little early just because you can see the 80km/h in the distance and you know it's going to change. I was just lucky I noticed the silver Ford Falcon Wagon on LPG parked on the side of a busy road where no one ever parks!

Oh, and to come back from this major digression, I'd only fight it if the fine is trivial, like 5-10km/h over without realising or being fined coming into or coming out of a speed zone. Gross stupidity, like driving way, way, way too fast should be rewarded with a smack on the head with a batton. It's plain stupid.

[Posmo]

This NEEDS to be posted here

+ YouTube Video

[MadCat360]

Originally Posted by Posmo

This NEEDS to be posted here

I nearly die every time I see that.

I've never gotten a ticket, and I probably won't, at least in California. It seems to be hard to get tickets here. I had a cop point a radar gun at me going 5 over and he didn't even bother. But, if I got an unfair ticket then I'd fight it.

[Sik02Stang]

i agree with Dsemaj thought i still maintain what i said earlier. If its 5 miles over then you have a leg to stand on as most police and courts can agree that no speedometer is perfect but if your dumb enough to get caught going 20 over because you werent paying attention or you were on a strange road speeding and you didnt know the spots or something dumb like that, then, yes, pay the fine and move on with your life. i maintain that the people that get 90% of the tickets are being stupid and unsafe...usually.

as far as seatbelts, everyone should be wearing them and you deserve whatever you get if your not. they are put in the car for safety and the saftey of the car is tested with seatbelts on, not off, so the fine should be paid. no argument.

[Sik02Stang]

Originally Posted by Posmo

This NEEDS to be posted here

EXACTLY!