elementis0
New Member
Hello people of thelaw.com! I am in desperate need of advice.
My name is Joshua, I am a 19 year old college student and have encountered my first speeding ticket today. I apologize for this long post, but I deem it necessary to cover every detail I can recall to give an accurate depiction of my situation.
I was driving in along the fast lane of a highway in Santa Barbara, CA at around 80mph and saw an officer with a radar gun. At this sight, I immediately slowed down to somewhere between 60-65mph and drove approx 0.5mi before I saw his car behind me with lights on to pull me over, he got me hook line and sinker.
I promptly pulled over to the side of the road and watched him walk toward me, I manually rolled down the window of my 1994 Plymouth Acclaim and the officer peered in and asked the classic question "Were you aware of how fast you were going?" to where I replied "I think I was going about the flow of traffic", though knew this was an outright lie in my head. He of course knew too and replied, "You were actually setting the flow". This was true as I was in the front of a line of cars.
I said something along the lines of me not being aware of that, and asked if there was anything I could do to not have to be issued this ticket. Dumb question, but it happens when you're nervous. He then asked for my information which I had already pulled out before he got there. I handed him my drivers license, but then in my nervousness accidentally handed him my insurance instead of the registration. He gave it back and I gave him another paper, which was also the wrong one. I fumbled with a few papers on my passenger seat before giving him the right registration paper. Probably the most poorly executed part of this scenario.
Unaware of the way the judicial system works, I asked how much my ticket would be and he told me that he did not know, since it is to be decided in court. I acknowledged this and asked if I could possibly do community service or something along those lines to get out of having to pay this since it would be a big financial burden to me. He also told me that he did not know.
I jokingly asked if the radar was broken, another stupid action as cops have to be serious on their job, and are not really in the position to humor at such things. A few other things were said that I cannot recall, but because I was nice he offered to only write me up for going 75+. This is great because the speed I was REALLY going (82 mph) would have doubled the traffic fine. He went to his car to write up his ticket, and I calmly watched him in my rear view mirror.
He came back and gave me my citation and told me to sign the ticket. I did just that, and while signing mentioned that this ticket was the last thing I needed and told him this was my first one, while also mentioning all the things going on in my life which made this ticket so inconvenient. Though I did so in an accepting well-thats-the-way-life-goes tone of voice and also mentioned that I was in a rush.
I was not in a rush and should not have said that at all but one does dumb shit when they are nervous, and I bet he probably took note of what I said....
anyways, I handed him back the signed ticket and he ripped me off my goldenrod copy.
Then, I was instructed to turn my blinker on and safely merge back into traffic. He walked back to his car and waited, though I did not leave right away as I had a ton of things racing in my mind and had a question.
I stuck my hand out of the window and waved the cop back to my car. He came to my window and I asked him if I needed to mail anybody anything or do any paperwork in preparation for the court date, he told me I didn't and just need to wait for a letter in the mail. I said "Alright, thank you officer." he then told me to safely merge into traffic and went back into his car. I did just that and drove away.
For the rest of the trip I definitely drove 65mph the whole way after that! And was a little peeved as I saw a sheriff later pass me going at least 75, probably checking up on me or something.
And that's how it went, overall I was friendly, and liked that he only wrote me up for 75+.
Though there may be an issue with that verbal agreement as I am looking at my citation right now and although it says my approx speed is 75+ mph
there is a note that I cannot entirely make out.
It reads "ADUSED 82 MPH" And am not sure what the first word is, that's what it looks like to me, but I'm sure that the first word in that note is really something different and that I'm reading it wrong. Could he have possibly written this because his radar read 82mph? Or did he lie to me when he said I would only write me up for 75?
Either way it worries me.
I have read up online about what I should do to get out of this, some sources say I should keep postponing the court date and hope he doesn't show.
All of them say to plead not guilty and contest, which I plan on doing.
I am just not sure how I should contest this.
I was brainstorming excuses and I did think of one.
I was thinking about saying that there was a car in-front of me that was not driving straight, which I thought was a drunk driver. My reaction to this was to pass up this driver to stay out of his way so I moved into the fast lane to pass up a few cars to get back into the slow lane. While I was passing up the other cars, I had the horrible luck of getting caught on the radar at this point in time.
The argument would be that I am a generally safe and competent driver and that I've decided to plead not guilty based upon not seeing it just to have to deal with a speeding ticket for a minute instance in time to where I may have been exceeding the speed limit. I was not endangering anybody else, and was in fact getting myself out of possible danger.
But there are holes in this fabricated excuse of mine. First, I did tell the officer during his talk with me that I was in a rush. He could possibly use that against me to catch me in a lie. Second, given that fact that I was in the front of a line of three or four cars going my speed of 80mph, it seems unlikely that I would have just moved into the fast lane just to pass up a few cars.
These are small holes in my excuse, but they are holes which could get me nonetheless.
Though, what do you guys recommend I do to minimize the effects of this ticket?
I have a clean driving record, and this is my first ticket.
I am okay with incurring a little punishment, as I accept that I was going over. What I am NOT OKAY WITH is the INSURANCE PENALTIES.
What can I do to make sure that I don't get any points on my driving record?
What do you guys recommend I do to get myself out of this sticky situation.
If it is also possible for me to get out of the fine as well I'd really like that. I plan on suggestion community service (I prolly woulda ended up volunteering for something on my own time anyways)
My infraction code was
22349191VC or something like that, my copy is not that legible.
I would really appreciate your professional advice,
Thank you!
(Once again I apologize for the extremely lengthy post)
My name is Joshua, I am a 19 year old college student and have encountered my first speeding ticket today. I apologize for this long post, but I deem it necessary to cover every detail I can recall to give an accurate depiction of my situation.
I was driving in along the fast lane of a highway in Santa Barbara, CA at around 80mph and saw an officer with a radar gun. At this sight, I immediately slowed down to somewhere between 60-65mph and drove approx 0.5mi before I saw his car behind me with lights on to pull me over, he got me hook line and sinker.
I promptly pulled over to the side of the road and watched him walk toward me, I manually rolled down the window of my 1994 Plymouth Acclaim and the officer peered in and asked the classic question "Were you aware of how fast you were going?" to where I replied "I think I was going about the flow of traffic", though knew this was an outright lie in my head. He of course knew too and replied, "You were actually setting the flow". This was true as I was in the front of a line of cars.
I said something along the lines of me not being aware of that, and asked if there was anything I could do to not have to be issued this ticket. Dumb question, but it happens when you're nervous. He then asked for my information which I had already pulled out before he got there. I handed him my drivers license, but then in my nervousness accidentally handed him my insurance instead of the registration. He gave it back and I gave him another paper, which was also the wrong one. I fumbled with a few papers on my passenger seat before giving him the right registration paper. Probably the most poorly executed part of this scenario.
Unaware of the way the judicial system works, I asked how much my ticket would be and he told me that he did not know, since it is to be decided in court. I acknowledged this and asked if I could possibly do community service or something along those lines to get out of having to pay this since it would be a big financial burden to me. He also told me that he did not know.
I jokingly asked if the radar was broken, another stupid action as cops have to be serious on their job, and are not really in the position to humor at such things. A few other things were said that I cannot recall, but because I was nice he offered to only write me up for going 75+. This is great because the speed I was REALLY going (82 mph) would have doubled the traffic fine. He went to his car to write up his ticket, and I calmly watched him in my rear view mirror.
He came back and gave me my citation and told me to sign the ticket. I did just that, and while signing mentioned that this ticket was the last thing I needed and told him this was my first one, while also mentioning all the things going on in my life which made this ticket so inconvenient. Though I did so in an accepting well-thats-the-way-life-goes tone of voice and also mentioned that I was in a rush.
I was not in a rush and should not have said that at all but one does dumb shit when they are nervous, and I bet he probably took note of what I said....
anyways, I handed him back the signed ticket and he ripped me off my goldenrod copy.
Then, I was instructed to turn my blinker on and safely merge back into traffic. He walked back to his car and waited, though I did not leave right away as I had a ton of things racing in my mind and had a question.
I stuck my hand out of the window and waved the cop back to my car. He came to my window and I asked him if I needed to mail anybody anything or do any paperwork in preparation for the court date, he told me I didn't and just need to wait for a letter in the mail. I said "Alright, thank you officer." he then told me to safely merge into traffic and went back into his car. I did just that and drove away.
For the rest of the trip I definitely drove 65mph the whole way after that! And was a little peeved as I saw a sheriff later pass me going at least 75, probably checking up on me or something.
And that's how it went, overall I was friendly, and liked that he only wrote me up for 75+.
Though there may be an issue with that verbal agreement as I am looking at my citation right now and although it says my approx speed is 75+ mph
there is a note that I cannot entirely make out.
It reads "ADUSED 82 MPH" And am not sure what the first word is, that's what it looks like to me, but I'm sure that the first word in that note is really something different and that I'm reading it wrong. Could he have possibly written this because his radar read 82mph? Or did he lie to me when he said I would only write me up for 75?
Either way it worries me.
I have read up online about what I should do to get out of this, some sources say I should keep postponing the court date and hope he doesn't show.
All of them say to plead not guilty and contest, which I plan on doing.
I am just not sure how I should contest this.
I was brainstorming excuses and I did think of one.
I was thinking about saying that there was a car in-front of me that was not driving straight, which I thought was a drunk driver. My reaction to this was to pass up this driver to stay out of his way so I moved into the fast lane to pass up a few cars to get back into the slow lane. While I was passing up the other cars, I had the horrible luck of getting caught on the radar at this point in time.
The argument would be that I am a generally safe and competent driver and that I've decided to plead not guilty based upon not seeing it just to have to deal with a speeding ticket for a minute instance in time to where I may have been exceeding the speed limit. I was not endangering anybody else, and was in fact getting myself out of possible danger.
But there are holes in this fabricated excuse of mine. First, I did tell the officer during his talk with me that I was in a rush. He could possibly use that against me to catch me in a lie. Second, given that fact that I was in the front of a line of three or four cars going my speed of 80mph, it seems unlikely that I would have just moved into the fast lane just to pass up a few cars.
These are small holes in my excuse, but they are holes which could get me nonetheless.
Though, what do you guys recommend I do to minimize the effects of this ticket?
I have a clean driving record, and this is my first ticket.
I am okay with incurring a little punishment, as I accept that I was going over. What I am NOT OKAY WITH is the INSURANCE PENALTIES.
What can I do to make sure that I don't get any points on my driving record?
What do you guys recommend I do to get myself out of this sticky situation.
If it is also possible for me to get out of the fine as well I'd really like that. I plan on suggestion community service (I prolly woulda ended up volunteering for something on my own time anyways)
My infraction code was
22349191VC or something like that, my copy is not that legible.
I would really appreciate your professional advice,
Thank you!
(Once again I apologize for the extremely lengthy post)
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