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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / February 2005Out-of-State Speeding Ticket
This week I had to make a rush trip to Virginia to visit a dear Uncle who had a heart attack. Had to speed up to pass a slow moving truck and just as I got around him, coming the other way was a State Trooper.. at the time I was doing 65 MPH,, sadly I found out I was in a 55MPH area. The trooper ticketed me and did not want to hear any excuses. Now I have the option of sending the fine or going back to Virginia and trying to plead my case. I do need all advice, good and bad.. first ticket in over 15 years. big concern is the possibility of increased insurance premiums. What happens if I just ignore the ticket, does the traffic court automatically judge me guilty,, etc. Any and all advice appreciated. thanks. RG > This week I had to make a rush trip to Virginia to visit a dear Uncle who > had a heart attack. Had to speed up to pass a slow moving truck and just as [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > guilty,, etc. > Any and all advice appreciated. thanks. RG I've had one or 2 tickets in a decade (minor infractions, nothing like DUI,etc) and never saw a spike in insurance. Don't ignore it, it'll complicate things down the road. I'd pay it, and cross your fingers about your insurance. > This week I had to make a rush trip to Virginia to visit a dear Uncle who > had a heart attack. Had to speed up to pass a slow moving truck and just [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > guilty,, etc. > Any and all advice appreciated. thanks. RG It looks like Virginia has the option for you to take defensive driving. In Texas you have the option of deferred disposition (aka deferred adjudication) that allows you to pay the fine and go on a probationary time of 6 months (some cities is 3 months) and if you don't get another ticket in that time, your ticket is dismissed. Both those options are something you should look into. If neither of those options are available, the only other option is one I heard from my friend a long time ago. I'm not sure if her information is accurate or if they even do it anymore but she says that if you ignore it for 7 years, the ticket will be dismissed. Of course you can't get pulled over in that state or there will be a warrant out for you. I suppose there is one more option: pay the fine. -Bruce >This week I had to make a rush trip to Virginia to visit a dear Uncle who >had a heart attack. Had to speed up to pass a slow moving truck and just as [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >guilty,, etc. >Any and all advice appreciated. thanks. RG I got an out of state ticket for driving a junker that had some vehicle violation. Can't remember what the heck it was, too many years ago, but I took the ticket back to New York State and paid it through the mail with a check. Nothing bad ever came of it. It had something to do with rear view mirrors, or reflectors, or some lame crap I don't recall. But I didn't _ignore_ it. That's the worst thing you can do. Just cough up the dough and make a copy of everything for your records. Maybe it was my tires didn't have enough tread. Can't remember. 40 years ago ya know. Lg >This week I had to make a rush trip to Virginia to visit a dear Uncle who >had a heart attack. Had to speed up to pass a slow moving truck and just as [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >I just ignore the ticket, does the traffic court automatically judge me >guilty,, etc. You will automatically be guilty-- and in violation by not responding. If your state has a reciprocity agreement with VA [NY does, as I found out many years ago] next time you go to renew your drivers license you'll find out it has been suspended. [25 yrs ago $1000 in lawyer's fees cleared that up. I definately would have been further ahead paying the fine and spike in insurance.<g>] Jim > >This week I had to make a rush trip to Virginia to visit a dear Uncle who > >had a heart attack. Had to speed up to pass a slow moving truck and just as [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > >I just ignore the ticket, does the traffic court automatically judge me > >guilty,, etc. > You will automatically be guilty-- and in violation by not responding. > If your state has a reciprocity agreement with VA [NY does, as I found > out many years ago] next time you go to renew your drivers license > you'll find out it has been suspended. [25 yrs ago $1000 in lawyer's > fees cleared that up. I definately would have been further ahead > paying the fine and spike in insurance.<g>] > Jim That is correct and if you show up in court you will find out that the court costs are usually more than the fine. You are messing with a major stream of revenue for the Virginia District Court system. Unless you have a speedometer calibration showing that it was off by at least 8 MPH or can prove that the Trooper was drunk or some very unusual thing happened I suggest you pay it off. If one 10 MPH over ticket in 15 years makes your insurance go up I would be changing companies... Good luck. You were doing the speed, so I would counsel you to pay the ticket and learn from it. It isnt likely to come back on you in severe insurance increases with only one offense in 15 years. If you want to get a lawyer and fight it, you might be successful, but it will cost you. > You were doing the speed, so I would counsel you to pay the ticket and > learn > from it. Why? Attitudes like that allow this kind of extortion to continue unabated. Was the speed limit valid in the first place? Most likely it is not. On average, speed limits are 10-15 mph too low. I'd suggest the opposite. The OP should take the ticket to court and not complain that the officer was picking on him or that the officer didn't like his attitude, etc. Stay with things like was the officer trained on radar use, was there any other traffic there that could have caused the reading, etc. If your insurance goes up 5% a year for 3 years, what's the true cost of that ticket that was "too much trouble to fight"? So what if the OP goes to court and loses. He threw some sand in the gears of the enforcement machine. Yes I have taken two tickets to court; the last two I had. I had to pay the fine both times but didn't get any points on the license so it was worth the time and I find some satisfaction in wasting the court's time too. The OP should check out www.motorists.org too. > > You were doing the speed, so I would counsel you to pay the ticket and > > learn [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > > The OP should check out www.motorists.org too. Good advice, Bob, and you're right that it's nothing more than an extortion racket to raise revenue. The OP should also call the courthouse in the county where the case will be and get the paperwork to subpoena the last calibration record of the equipment used by the officer that day. Also subpeona his training records to see if he was trained on that equipment. Also, did the OP_see_the readout on the equipment? If he'd cleared the display, you've got a good case for dismissal, but that's not likely anymore. All good ways to pitch sand in the gears. Be courteous and polite, but stand up for your rights. I'm all in favor of penalizing criminals, but the OP isn't one. And, yes, many speed limits around the country are set low only to allow the police to raise funds. I beat a ticket in one of those obvious speed traps set up here in NC by changing the speedometer drive gear on the trans. of my truck and getting a calibration report showing the speedo about 9 miles an hour slow. Gear was 3 dollars and something, got some greasy hands, but saved myself a bunch in insurance premium increases. Good luck. Garrett Fulton >Good advice, Bob, and you're right that it's nothing more than an extortion >racket to raise revenue. The OP should also call the courthouse in the >county where the case will be and get the paperwork to subpoena the last >calibration record of the equipment used by the officer that day. Good idea. >Also >subpeona his training records to see if he was trained on that equipment. Good idea. >Also, did the OP_see_the readout on the equipment? If he'd cleared the >display, you've got a good case for dismissal, but that's not likely >anymore. Bad idea, and wrong. In some places cops are not supposed to let you see the reading because that woudl involve you getting out of your car on a highway with cars passing at a high speed. They don't want to be held liable if you get hit by a passing car. Also, if the cop is using radar properly they would be watching the speed reading and making sure that the changes in the speed reading match what they are seeing your car do. That is one of the clues they use to GUESS what car is causing the reading on the display. If they were to lock in the reading, they would lose some of the clues they use to guess which car the radar is reading. Some of the newer radar units have a dual display that can lock in the high speed while simultaneous tracking the moving target. >All good ways to pitch sand in the gears. Be courteous and >polite, but stand up for your rights. I'm all in favor of penalizing >criminals, but the OP isn't one. Agreed. >And, yes, many speed limits around the >country are set low only to allow the police to raise funds. And to allows cops to pretty much pick who they want to stop based on their prejudices. --------------- Alex >>Also, did the OP_see_the readout on the equipment? If he'd cleared the >>display, you've got a good case for dismissal, but that's not likely [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > the reading because that woudl involve you getting out of your car on a > highway with cars passing at a high speed. The US Constitution states that a citizen has a basic right to be confronted with the evidence against him. That radar reading is the ONLY evidence the state has against him. If a cop denies that right to see the evidence, the citizen has lost a very basic legal right. Always ask to see the reading if you think you will be fighting it. If you know you aren't going to fight it, you can waive that right by keeping silent. > >>Also, did the OP_see_the readout on the equipment? If he'd cleared the > >>display, you've got a good case for dismissal, but that's not likely [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > the reading because that woudl involve you getting out of your car on a > > highway with cars passing at a high speed. > The US Constitution states that a citizen has a basic right to be > confronted with the evidence against him. That radar reading is the ONLY [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > If you know you aren't going to fight it, you can waive that right by > keeping silent. While this sounds good on the Internet reality is so much different. The Trooper can tell you to stay in your car. If you don't you have another problem. In Virginia the Trooper does not have to show you anything. It is his word that he saw you speeding with the aid of that device. The Trooper will show up in court with all the paperwork. He will also remember what you said to him when he stopped you. Take all the Internet lawyers you want but I'll advise you to bring some cash too... Also bring a copy of the Constitution as well, the judge, who already feels that he draws his powers from god all mighty, will love to hear you quoting from it. > > You were doing the speed, so I would counsel you to pay the ticket and > > learn > > from it. > > Why? Attitudes like that allow this kind of extortion to continue unabated. *****You think that scofflaws are in the right, and the system of law is extortion??? You are indeed one of the'special' ones. > Was the speed limit valid in the first place? Most likely it is not. On > average, speed limits are 10-15 mph too low. ******While I also kvetch about the posted speed limits in some areas, the law is the law. Usually officers give you 5 mph (in this state), and most cars speedometers are off a few mph at the high end. So what. If you exceed the speed limits, you are going to get a ticket. > I'd suggest the opposite. The OP should take the ticket to court and not > complain that the officer was picking on him or that the officer didn't like > his attitude, etc. *****Here we agree. If you think you have a point, take it to court. If you lose, you pay the fine, lose a day, and it still goes on your record. You will seldom win unless you have a really demonstrable reason and a clear case. Below the bottom line, it depends upon how much paying the ticket will cost you, versus how much fighting it will cost you. Here in Texas you can simply take a short Defensive Driving course at an approved presenter and it is off your record.....at least, that is what I am told. I haven't had a ticket in about 30 years, nor one does not need to be a rocket scientist to avoid most citations. Keep a close eye on the posted speed limits and try to stay arguably within them, do not cut people off, do not tailgate, drive in the right hand lane (which is a part of the law here), turn on appropriate lights at night and whenever visibility conditions make it prudent. > This week I had to make a rush trip to Virginia to visit a dear Uncle who > had a heart attack. Had to speed up to pass a slow moving truck and just as [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > guilty,, etc. > Any and all advice appreciated. thanks. RG In some states, exceeding a posted limit is legal in a passing situation. You need to check the VA laws. As for fighting a ticket, many tickets here in Texas are dismissed just because the cop fails to show for the trial. He has to give up a day off to do so, and if yours is his only case on the docket, he may well decide to stay home and mow the lawn. |
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