Traffic tickets and lawyers

[wired]

This seems to be being treated more like the cost of business for driving fast. Personally I'd rather see the money go into public coffers rather than the pocket of a lawyer. Maybe just post bond first then go see if the cops want to race.

If it were to go into the public coffers without affecting insurance rates and his clearance potential Id agree but thats not the case.

 

[Boboclown]

This seems to be being treated more like the cost of business for driving fast. Personally I'd rather see the money go into public coffers rather than the pocket of a lawyer. Maybe just post bond first then go see if the cops want to race.

With the way things work though, not gonna happen. Speeding tickets affect the insurance.

Last I checked, where I live anyways, not having a seatbelt doesn't though. So some stuff will go to a lawyer, some stuff doesn't. I didn't set the system, I'm just playing by it.

 

[moose]

If it were to go into the public coffers without affecting insurance rates and his clearance potential Id agree but thats not the case.

Isn't that more reason to act civilized in a civilized society?

Just a wild guess, the Marines are gonna be good for him.

 

[wired]

Just a wild guess, the Marines are gonna be good for him.

He's a good kid. Drives a little fast sometimes but he's learning. Nothing like I did when I was his age and he's nowhere near the handful either. I come from a family seriously steeped in the hot rod culture for generations and many a weekend were spent without good old dad who'd be in the pokey for street racing when I was a kid. Yeah, the Marines will be good for him as they are for most people.

 

[Oregonhunter5]

Perhaps you still can salvage things? Will be expensive now but might be cheap in the long term. Have you consider paying some major bucks and sending your son to a real deal real world high speed automotive driving school? Major league? No. But definitely not minor league either.

NASCAR type driver certification? Circle track licensing? If money is tight consider just high speed shifter cart go cart driver training. It might be very sobering to your out of control son to understand that he is not the best driver in the world and that driving laws do not pertain to him.

Particularly when some 12 year old 80 pound girl in the same driving class blows off your sons doors on some race track. Your son may be good but the kid girl will be better ... if both of you get the same professional driver training. The problem may be that your son does not want to attend.

One of my jobs when I drove a 42,000 pound type 1 fire engine was to train all the new very young very hip men into understanding the responsibility of driving high powered high speed fire apparatus. They thought they were just driving another big car. Wrong. Some took to it very well.

Some did not think we needed to teach them anything. They tended not to last through the Fire Academy. So many young people today just do not understand the very fine edge between driving fast and safely with just driving very fast and NOT safely. You son can still be salvaged? Dunno.

Wish I had a dad like you. Race school?! That's what I'm talking about!!!

 

[bolus]

Wish I had a dad like you. Race school?! That's what I'm talking about!!!

I learned more about safe driving in track day schools than I ever did from my parents or DMV. You learn so much better car control when you are driving your car at 9/10ths of it's capability.

 

[CoastRange57]

The justice system is like a business. Business is business.

A huge business. Huge. Washington County has over 45 Deputy District attorneys. Over 450 people employed in the Sheriffs Department. Probably that many in other PD's. probably over 400 people in county custody at any given time. Attorneys to defend the guilty..errrr until proven innocent dirt bags. Probation officers. Jail deputy's. At least 60 new felony cases brought to the Grand Jury every week.

 

[wired]

I would guess that the cops are not showing up for trial and the judge is dismissing it. To show would take 1/2 a day plus depending on the time the cop could be working 3rd shift and just to tired to show. Just a guess.

Its not a trial unless I'm completely off base about what happens in traffic hearings. I havent been to one in years and when I did go I didnt know what I was doing and I got trampled on by the cop and the judge. The lawyers may be petitioning for a trial and the judge just dismisses it out of hand. Probably depends upon the court load I suppose.

 

[wired]

Agree 100%. But is it easier to enable and say boys will be boys. Just pay some money and you don't have to be responsible for your actions.

He is and should be fully responsible for his actions....after all other alternatives have been exhausted. Its called "Due Process " No one should ever roll over and accept the summary judgement of a police officer. That's why we have attorneys and judges and courts. At the end of the day if the justice system has run its course and he has to pay a fine and get the ticket on his record then so be it. If that is avoidable through using the American system of justice even the better.

 

[moose]

I got trampled on by the cop and the judge.

So, were you not guilty and it was all a mistake/conspiracy or was the fine more than what you thought it should have been?

 

[billdeserthills]

Dunno.

Was pulled over by a Mass state trooper I passed (whicked smaht!) one night after a shift. I was probably doing near on 90.

I was wrong and I knew it.

The trooper asked me how much I thought the ticket would cost, I told him probably my semester tuition. Likely would have been.

He wrote it up as a warning, and wrote the warning incorrectly as doing 55 in a 65.

Had he locked me up I would have dealt with it.

Had he wrote it just under driving to endanger/wreckless, I would have paid it & the insurance points.

...because I knew I was in the wrong.

I got pulled over doing about the same speed & the cop wanted to know what my excuse was--I told him I'm not good at lying and that it was my fault. He said he wouldn't be able to let me off without a good excuse, so I provided one and got a warning

 

[Sstrand]

You could have told him you thought he was the cop who ran off with your ex and you thought he was bringing her back!?!?!?!

Sheldon

 

[billdeserthills]

I still wonder how the lawyers are getting the charges dismissed. Every time I went in at that age they threw the book at me and there were a lot of those times.

I have heard that lawyers will find good reason to cancel or postpone the court date on tickets repeatedly, making the officer show up to court for no reason until the ticket is dropped

I can't blame your son for driving like an idiot, the same way I always drove. After having my license revoked a couple of times I quit driving too fast All the time. Now I find inciting other idiots on the road to drive fast and following them is a real help for my once expensive 'stay in front of the pack' fallacy & I've had no tickets or accidents in over 5 years, a real change from my former over 5 tickets and accidents in 5 years record

 

[TriggerDude15]

My 18 year old son has received 4 traffic citations in the last year. The most recent was for 25 miles over the posted speed limit. Before that he had a wreckless driving and a couple of 10 mph over which were probably much higher but the cop wrote it as 10. Every time he has received a ticket he hires a lawyer for $350 and gets off Scott Free. He did get a radar detector and seems to be backing off on the speeding or at least doing a better job of looking around for cops before he nails it but how on earth are these lawyers getting the charges dismissed? He hasnt been in to court just the lawyers. I don't get it.

is he speeding on the freeway or in the city/suburbs???

if it is the suburbs/city, then i dont blame him. the speed limit in this liberal retarded state is 25/30 mph. a bicycle and go faster than the cars in this state. i personally drive over the limit in the city/suburbs.

also, which radar detector did he get? i think the valentine 1 is the top of the line.

 

[wired]

So, were you not guilty and it was all a mistake/conspiracy or was the fine more than what you thought it should have been?

I was pulled over and ticketed for doing 50 in a 35 about 50 yards in front of the first 35 MPH sign. I saw the cop hiding behind a house and slowed down to 35 even before the first speed sign. Known speed trap but they usually wait until after the sign ...you know.. like theyre supposed to. Draw your own conclusions .

 

[TriggerDude15]

I was pulled over and ticketed for doing 50 in a 35 about 50 yards in front of the first 35 MPH sign. I saw the cop hiding behind a house and slowed down to 35 even before the first speed sign. Known speed trap but they usually wait until after the sign ...you know.. like theyre supposed to. Draw your own conclusions .

that sucks dude. you wont catch me going 35 in a 35. more like 50 or 60.

just reading this thread makes me wanna get a good radar detector. the detector itself will pay itself off.

 

[wired]

is he speeding on the freeway or in the city/suburbs???

if it is the suburbs/city, then i dont blame him. the speed limit in this liberal retarded state is 25/30 mph. a bicycle and go faster than the cars in this state. i personally drive over the limit in the city/suburbs.

also, which radar detector did he get? i think the valentine 1 is the top of the line.

The latest speeding ticket that was just thrown out was late night coming home from work rural/industrial area . No one else on the road. One of the tickets he got was for reckless driving also late night coming home from work on the same road . Thats all it said on the ticket. No explanation of how the officer came up with the determination of reckless driving . Thats literally all that was on the ticket. I wasnt surprised when that one got thrown out. The speeding ticket I was surprised . I thought those were pretty much cut and dry and the city even posts their radar calibrations on their website. One ticket was total BS for "following too close" on Hwy 97 in a known speed trap near Goldendale. That one and got deferred and has been the impetus for getting lawyers on the rest since until March he'd get slammed on that one too.

He says the radar detector works well although I dont know the model. He hasnt been pulled over since getting it. Loud yellow Camaro. I told him to paint it matte black and put the mufflers back on ( yeah, theres no mufflers, just resonators and cats ) but you know...kids. He is starting to pick up on the concept of speed traps.

 

[TriggerDude15]

The latest speeding ticket that was just thrown out was late night coming home from work rural/industrial area . No one else on the road. One of the tickets he got was for reckless driving also late night coming home from work on the same road . Thats all it said on the ticket. No explanation of how the officer came up with the determination of reckless driving . Thats literally all that was on the ticket. I wasnt surprised when that one got thrown out. The speeding ticket I was surprised . I thought those were pretty much cut and dry and the city even posts their radar calibrations on their website. One ticket was total BS for "following too close" on Hwy 97 in a known speed trap near Goldendale. That one and got deferred and has been the impetus for getting lawyers on the rest since until March he'd get slammed on that one too.

He says the radar detector works well although I dont know the model. He hasnt been pulled over since getting it. Loud yellow Camaro. I told him to paint it matte black and put the mufflers back on ( yeah, theres no mufflers, just resonators and cats ) but you know...kids. He is starting to pick up on the concept of speed traps.

25/30 on a rural road??? damn, i dont blame him.

that speed limit is good for neighborhood roads.

 

[teflon6string]

I was doing 34 (in a 35) as I entered a school zone in Tualatin, the kind with the light flashing only certain hours of the day. I slowed to 20, but not before an eager scooter cop holstered his radar gun (before I even got to him), motored up, pulled me over and wrote a ticket.

I get a ticket probably once a decade now, so I'm not in danger of losing my license (like I did as a child with a lead foot and a Beemer). So I opted to dispose of this ticket with online traffic school to keep it from affecting my driving record and insurance premiums.

Interestingly, it turns out this was laser not radar, and even showed the distance at which my speed was sampled, 341 feet (more than a football field).

What I should've done was march back to where the cop was lurking when he clocked my speed, and then paced off the distance back to the school zone sign. Might've made a difference, probably not.

Point is, if you ever get cited with a laser involved, the distance might be a legit factor to consider. In the back of my mind, there's at least a 50/50 chance that Deputy Fife was a being little over-zealous when he reached out to clock me. But life is short and I'm not sufficiently motivated to get all spun up, contest it and maybe win - or lose.

 

[Sstrand]

I don't get it! Wouldn't it be easier and a lot less hassle to just not drive faster than the speed limit????

Sheldon