Speeding / Traffic Ticket Blues

[Soulstation1]

$270 paid today

I'm bummed

[7/4]

Sheee-it. that ain't nothin'. I had to spend quite a bit to get a ticket reduced last year.

Edited August 7, 2008 by 7/4

[Chuck Nessa]

Wait for the next insurance bill.

[AllenLowe]

I beat 2 out of three tickets up here in Bohunkus - cops ain't no match for a pissed-off Jew -

[Chuck Nessa]

I beat 2 out of three tickets up here in Bohunkus - cops ain't no match for a pissed-off Jew -

Didn't used to be that way.

[AndrewHill]

Yeah tickets suck Luckily, I haven't gotten one in almost five years, but when I did get them, I would appear on the court date and plead not guilty and go to trial. If the cop doesn't show, the ticket is dismissed. That worked a couple of times. Other times when I plead not guilty, the prosecutor would come out and reduce the ticket to avoid going to trial. Best of course is to just drive the speed limit, which I've been doing a pretty good job of as of late -_-

[Tim McG]

$270 paid today

I'm bummed

$301 big ones here.

It's what I get for driving a rental car...it is like driving your couch. I totally lost track of how fast I was going.

I'm bummed, too.

[sjarrell]

My first ticket in 7 years is going to run me $121.00 at rock bottom (for "court costs"). I was doing 70 in a 55 after spending most of the afternoon in 70mph zones. I was nailed by some silly red Dodge thing that I didn't recognize as The Man's.

At least my son napped through the fun.

[papsrus]

There's a town here in central Florida that is so notorious for it's speed traps that it's singled out by AAA. The highway (301) runs through the middle of town and the speed limit seems to change every few blocks, so unless you know you're driving through a speed trap, you'll get nailed if they're out there.

Haven't had a ticket in a loooooooong time, thankfully. How far over the speed limit for a $270 fine?

[AndrewHill]

I've learned from a few judges that if you drive no more than 10 miles over the speed limit (except for school zones, constructions zones, etc) that a judge will throw out the case. So you at least have that (I guess I should just speak for Ohio, to be sure).

[A Lark Ascending]

In the UK you get three points on your license for a speeding offence (plus a fine...I think it was £60 last time, though I think they are changing to an incremental system). If you get 12 points you lose your licence.

I got caught just over three years back, following a school coach through Wales. We both got zapped! Then just over a year later I got caught late one night on a camera on a 30 mph stretch on the edge of town following a 40 mph in the middle.

With six points I started driving very carefully. With 3 years since the first lapsed I'm now back to three points.

Lots of grumbling over here about authorities using cameras as revenue milk cows. Doesn't bother me much...if I'm daft enough to speed then I deserve the fine/points.

[AllenLowe]

truth is, speeding can be bad but it is not half as dangerous as many other things I see on the highway, most of which involve following too close and tailgating - problem is, it's easier for the cops to just point a radar gun and get a number, rather than really deal with nuanced issues of public safety; speed traps are like the old-style mass drug stings - cops are there and than gone and everything resumes as before - I will quote a former police chief I used to work with:"Cops are the laziest fuckin' people on earth."

[7/4]

There's a town here in central Florida that is so notorious for it's speed traps that it's singled out by AAA. The highway (301) runs through the middle of town and the speed limit seems to change every few blocks, so unless you know you're driving through a speed trap, you'll get nailed if they're out there.

I drove a rental car from Jacksonville to Gainsville a few years ago and it was the same situation, the entire ride. I still think it's amazing I didn't get a ticket, those rental plates should have been like waving a red flag to a bull.

[Big Wheel]

There's a town here in central Florida that is so notorious for it's speed traps that it's singled out by AAA. The highway (301) runs through the middle of town and the speed limit seems to change every few blocks, so unless you know you're driving through a speed trap, you'll get nailed if they're out there.

Apparently, AAA is pissed off enough about this practice to buy billboards on both ends of town warning drivers about it.

[JSngry]

Lots of grumbling over here about authorities using cameras as revenue milk cows.

I've seen a direct correlation between increased fuel/energy costs & increased aggressiveness of speed patrols over the last two years locally. It has not been even remotely subtle. The city needs more money and we the citizens are a cash crop to be harvested as needed.

[papsrus]

I drove a rental car from Jacksonville to Gainsville a few years ago and it was the same situation, the entire ride. I still think it's amazing I didn't get a ticket, those rental plates should have been like waving a red flag to a bull.

Yes, be afraid, be very afraid ...

Apparently, AAA is pissed off enough about this practice to buy billboards on both ends of town warning drivers about it.

I believe that's the one. Probably the main source of revenue for the town.

I know there's a stretch of I-75 around Valdosta, Georgia -- just over the state line from Florida -- that is also a notorious speed trap. I've seen cops stationed on overpasses pointing their speed guns at cars driving below them on I-75, and a line of four or five patrol cars ready to go after anyone the guy on the overpass targets. It's quite a system they have. AAA also warns about that stretch.

They're a little touchy in Virginia, too, I know.

[7/4]

I drove a rental car from Jacksonville to Gainsville a few years ago and it was the same situation, the entire ride. I still think it's amazing I didn't get a ticket, those rental plates should have been like waving a red flag to a bull.

Yes, be afraid, be very afraid ...

I was just careful, very careful. It was pretty obvious what was going on....the changing speed limits and the cops sitting around all over the place. I knew something was up.

[Big Wheel]

I know there's a stretch of I-75 around Valdosta, Georgia -- just over the state line from Florida -- that is also a notorious speed trap. I've seen cops stationed on overpasses pointing their speed guns at cars driving below them on I-75, and a line of four or five patrol cars ready to go after anyone the guy on the overpass targets. It's quite a system they have. AAA also warns about that stretch.

It's not just Valdosta - it's the whole stretch of I-75 in Georgia (Atlanta possibly excepted). My family is from the Tallahassee area and it was the habit of my relatives to call the Georgia Highway Patrol the Yiddish word for "thieves."

[papsrus]

I drove a rental car from Jacksonville to Gainsville a few years ago and it was the same situation, the entire ride. I still think it's amazing I didn't get a ticket, those rental plates should have been like waving a red flag to a bull.

Yes, be afraid, be very afraid ...

I was just careful, very careful. It was pretty obvious what was going on....the changing speed limits and the cops sitting around all over the place. I knew something was up.

Yeah, I guess that would be a tip off. ... These small-town cops, not the most sophisticated bunch. In fact, like the Valdosta operation I witnessed, sometimes they make no bones about it, it's just full-on quota time. ... Or time to replenish the slush fund.

[papsrus]

I know there's a stretch of I-75 around Valdosta, Georgia -- just over the state line from Florida -- that is also a notorious speed trap. I've seen cops stationed on overpasses pointing their speed guns at cars driving below them on I-75, and a line of four or five patrol cars ready to go after anyone the guy on the overpass targets. It's quite a system they have. AAA also warns about that stretch.

It's not just Valdosta - it's the whole stretch of I-75 in Georgia (Atlanta possibly excepted). My family is from the Tallahassee area and it was the habit of my relatives to call the Georgia Highway Patrol the Yiddish word for "thieves."

I will say this -- the closer you get to Atlanta on 75, the crazier the driving gets. ... We were driving north of Macon a few years ago, heavy, heavy downpour, zooming along in three or four lanes of traffic and all of a sudden this wheel bounces by in front of us. ... ... There was no stopping to see what happened, but I figured somebody more-or-less beside us had slid off into the ditch and a wheel came loose. Mother-in-law snoozing in the back seat never knew what happened.

[1009]

I suppose parking tickets don't count? Got two of those (in Chicago, south loop) within 19 minutes of each other.

The first: issued two minutes (I know, I timed it) after the meter expired.

The second: issued at a broken meter.

Just burns a bit to contribute to Mare Daley's efforts to rid our town of independent music venues.

[7/4]

I will quote a former police chief I used to work with:"Cops are the laziest fuckin' people on earth."

In my town, whenever there's construction, there's a cop there but if he's not sitting in his car, he's not even watching or even directing traffic.

Bah!

[Soulstation1]

about five minutes north of my place

the fuzz will give you a speeding ticket for going 1 MPH over the speed limit

[Soulstation1]

anyone have those cameras installed for people that run red light in their hood?

it does make some people STOP at the red lights

i saw some girl run the red light while talking on the cell and she got her photo taken

someone in town jumped up and yanked the camera down so it was just taking pics of the ground :tup :tup :tup

i found the link http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...%3DPBo%26sa%3DG

Edited August 18, 2008 by Soulstation1

[Rooster_Ties]

The best way to escape from a cop...

Officer: May I see your Driver's license?

Driver: I don't have one. I had it suspended when I got my 5th DUI.

Officer: May I see the owner's card for this vehicle?

Driver: It's not my car. I stole it.

Officer: The car is stolen?

Driver: That's right. But come to think of it, I think I saw the owner's card in the glove box when I was putting my gun in there.

Officer: There's a gun in the glove box?

Driver: Yes sir. That's where I put it after I shot and killed the woman who owns this car and stuffed her in the trunk.

Officer: There's a BODY in the TRUNK?!?!?

Driver: Yes, sir.

Hearing this, the Officer immediately called his Captain, the car was quickly surrounded by police, and the Captain approached the Driver to handle the tense situation.

Captain: Sir, can I see your license?

Driver: Sure. Here it is. It was valid.

Captain: Who's car is this?

Driver: It's mine, Here's the registration.

Captain: Could you slowly open your glove box so I can see if there's a gun in it?

Driver: Yes, sir, but there's no gun in it. Sure enough, there was nothing in the glove box.

Captain: Would you mind opening your trunk? I was told you said there's a body in it.

Driver: No problem.

Trunk is opened; no body.

Captain: I don't understand it. The Officer who stopped you said you told him you didn't have a license, stole the car, had a gun in the glove box, and that there was a dead body in the trunk.

Driver: Yeah, I'll bet he told you I was speeding, too.