tt9714

Well I have been driving for 13 years, and I received my first speeding ticket this morning. It was a sunny, warm, clear Sunday morning around 9:30 AM, and I was driving out in the suburbs (Bloomingdale for those familiar with Chicago; westbound on Schick road between Bloomingdale Rd and Gary Ave).

The road is 4 lanes, pretty wide open, just getting past the strip mall where it opens up to a nature preserve and the "country." I sped up to pass some cars in the right lane, and within seconds I see flashing lights behind me. The officer informed me that he measured my speed at 62 MPH in a 45 MPH zone via radar. I later find out that this area is a major speed trap (listed on several internet boards).

Since this is 17 MPH over the limit, I believe that it is still a "minor" violation with a price tag of $75. Of course I forgot to put my new insurance card in the car (last one expired 6/20/02) so he proceeds to give me another ticket for "operating an uninsured vehicle." How annoying...

He took my driver's license, and I have to show up to court for both tickets. Apparently for the insurance one I just need to bring my current paperwork to show that I was indeed covered at the time.

As for the speeding ticket, I was going over 45 MPH, but there were several other cars in the area at the time. Should I try a 'not guilty' plea or will that just irritate the judge some more? Will this be reported to my insurance agent in any way, or do I just pay the $$ for the ticket and get on with life?

P.S. I wasn't even driving the Porsche. I had my "daily driver" Lexus SC400.

Danno

Personally, I'd just get an attorney who specialized in these types of cases to take care of it all for you. The amount of time you have to take off to deal with these types of annoyances aren't worth it IMHO. In that time, you can just go to work and make more money that what it would cost to hire the attorney. In the end, you'll save time, money and have better results than if you tried doing it all yourself.

User 462021

I still don't understand why some people don't take responsibilty for their actions? Why not just grin and bear it? If you were speeding you were speeding and you got caught.

Flame on... <img src="graemlins/icon107.gif" border="0" alt="[icon107]" />

IceShark

Well there is taking responsibility for one's actions and then making sure they don't hurt you too much.

When I lived in CHI area, I never got a speeding ticket, though regularly drove well over the posted speed.

I knew a couple cops and back in the early '90s they were still getting a bonus for tickets written. They got real strange when I told them that was probably illegal.

Try the attorney route so your insurance rates don't hurt you if they ever check the book of insured.

amaf

I should be the lawyer of this board...

Anyway, goto court, you have a better chance of points and charges being dropped. Go early, dress nice, and talk to the prosecutor. The only thing they want is money.

Don't be stupid like most people, and pay the ticket and pay the high insurance rates. GOTO COURT, AND BE SMART. Trust me, I've been through it, and so have all my friends.

tt9714

Thanks for the feedback guys.

If I go with the attorney route, what can I expect? Should I get one from the same county so that they are familiar with some of the judges in the local courts? What sort of an approach might they suggest? As for going to court by myself, I agree with the "dress nice part," but can I really expect to negotiate with them?

This was clearly a "speedtrap" for revenue purposes, but aren't they all?? Where are the cops when you really need them to pull over that reckless driver or someone who is going TOO SLOW in the left lane of the expressway? <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

FormulaOne10

First off amaf has proven himself to be an assclown on this message board imo, so take his useless advice with a grain of salt. tt9714, I know exactly where you are talking about. I grew up in Schaumburg and work up in East Dundee (right near the Sears headquarters). I've never been nailed going through that spot, but I knew about the cops that camp out there. Sorry to hear about the ticket. You can try traffic court if you want but I havent heard any good results from people that went. One defense that certainly does not work is "well, I was speeding but there were others cars going faster." As the court sees it you still broke the law, reguardless of what other drivers were doing. Now if you have some other loophole, go for it! The court does not expect most people to have the time or will to show up in court (same goes for the Police Officer that gave you the ticket). Therefore you already have somewhat of an advantage if you do find the time to show up.

Hope this helps

BTW If anybody on this board thinks they have it bad with cops and speeding tickets, spend a day in Naperville. They use unmarked Expeditions and hidden motorcycle cops to catch kids and soccer moms. The crime rate is so low around here and our 150 or so police officers have nothing better to do than to meet their monthly quota (never speed on the last few days of the month if you are ever in the area!!!).

TheJonesBoy

Amaf is not being an assclown, FormulaOne10. He is right. Go to the hearing date, dress well and speak to the prosecutor. 90% of the time they will offer a reduction. Plead guilty to it on the spot, pay the lady and leave.

Think about it, if you decide to plead not guilty, and get a lawyer, you will be wasting a very expensive prosecutor and judges time, not to mention the baliff and other court officials. AND more importantly, the courts time. They are there for criminals, and they don't want to spend time haggling over a lousy $100 ticket. Go in, see what they offer, and take it.

BTW, you shouldn't be driving without insurance. I live in NJ, and pay the highest rates in the USA because of &$&%(! that don't bother to insure their $@!*(! vehicle.

triscadek

Take a look at <a href="http://www.speedtrap.org/" target="_blank">speedtrap.org</a>-may help,if it was State Police there was a story in the Ill.State Journal-Register today about ISP and ticket quotas.

Depending on whether it's the ticket and the points or the speed trap that pissed you off, I grew up outside Springfield Ill and got quite a few tickets in those days, we would go to the county building before the court date talk to one of the states attys. and get "supervision"-pay the fine, don't get another ticket for 30 days and it all goes away (your money too, thats all they want anyway)

I have done that for my stepdaughter twice in Ok. also. the worst you may get bargaining it is traffic school and no points.

FormulaOne10

TheJonesBoy, you obviously haven't been keeping track of amaf's posts. This guy is a real ****, the kind that gets kicked off these boards. Yes, he is most certainly an assclown, I stand by my statement. This small ray of hazy brightness from amaf is not the norm.

John Welch

Tim Strayer wrote:
&gt;&gt;I still don't understand why some people don't take responsibilty for their actions? Why not just grin and bear it? If you were speeding you were speeding and you got caught.
Flame on...&lt;&lt;

Tim,

No flame, but I'm curious as others have made this same comment before... Why is going to court to beat the system any different than using a radar detector and other means of not getting caught in the first place?

What I'm saying is that ticket avoidance includes many actions while driving, but why should my ticket avoidance stop before I actually receive my conviction?

Based on what you're saying, I should just write a check before I leave the house in the morning and hand it to the first officer I see as I WILL be speeding.

Besides, if the person manages to 'beat' the ticket, then can play again tomorrow...

Just my $1.380

Danno

I agree with John completely. As we all know, speeding tickets are a large source of revenues for just about any and all counties. If writing traffic citations was purely about safety, then the cops would definitely be concentrating elsewhere. Only 4% of traffic fatalities occur on freeways according to 1996 NHTSA report. Meanwhile 75% of them occur at intersections on city streets with T-bones from people running red lights, not looking, stepping in front of cars, etc.

tt9714

I spoke with an attorney this morning (via phone) to get some feedback on the recommended approach for my county.

The lawyer confirmed that the "driving without insurance" ticket would be immediately dropped if I brought my insurance paperwork to court.

As for the speeding, the lawyer recommended pleading "guilty" then requesting "supervision" based on my 13 year clean driving history. If I don't get any more tickets in the next 30 days then it will not appear on my record (DMV or insurance). This is probably the easiest approach. I asked about pleading "not guilty" and trying to get the charges dismissed based on a technicality, but she thought that the chances of being successful were very small.

amaf

[quote]Originally posted by TheJonesBoy:
<strong>Amaf is not being an assclown, FormulaOne10. He is right. Go to the hearing date, dress well and speak to the prosecutor. 90% of the time they will offer a reduction. Plead guilty to it on the spot, pay the lady and leave.

Think about it, if you decide to plead not guilty, and get a lawyer, you will be wasting a very expensive prosecutor and judges time, not to mention the baliff and other court officials. AND more importantly, the courts time. They are there for criminals, and they don't want to spend time haggling over a lousy $100 ticket. Go in, see what they offer, and take it.

BTW, you shouldn't be driving without insurance. I live in NJ, and pay the highest rates in the USA because of &$&%(! that don't bother to insure their $@!*(! vehicle.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Well said bro.. I live in NJ, and I only pay liabilty. I only speak the truth. No reason for the other board members to lie to you about the court system when half of them never tried fighting the ticket. <img src="graemlins/a_smil17.gif" border="0" alt="[blabla]" />

Deepice

[quote]Originally posted by amaf:
<strong>

I only pay liabilty. </strong><hr></blockquote>

I'm sure its the minimum allowed by law to.

You realy are an assclown for STREET RACING a porsche with only liability insurance.