I fought the law and the law won

[lawlberg]

Got a speeding ticket a month or so back in my car - I felt the circumstances around it (merge zone with a large truck in the way) made speeding more admissible, and the alternative - as my math would prove - showed that it was the safer option (enter roadway ahead of truck above speed limit, or enter highway at 10-15mph to safely merge in behind the truck, which still left the unknown of which cars existed behind the truck.

Didn't matter much. Apparently traffic laws are the most cut and dry of all of the laws. So regardless of the situation, if I was seen traveling above the speed limit, I am guilty.

Anyway, I represented myself and enjoyed having my moment in court, after all, I'd be paying court costs already, so I might as well have them earn it. After my 30 minute line of questioning/defense statement filled with math, judgement and tons of objections from the prosecution who seemed displeased with my lack of knowledge of legalese and proper question format - the judge told me that the defense I chose only works for something like murder or assault, where the laws are less well defined.

Anyway - I found out that the act of representing myself does not, infact, make me an actual lawyer - and I was almost held in contempt of court for asking for a sidebar. I found it funny, the bailiffs did not, though even still, after the trial they still asked if I was a lawyer - which I figured that my entire defense was evidence to the fact I know nothing about law.

So - moral of the story: When the prosecutor asks if you would like a plea bargain for a speeding ticket - take it - you won't win if you fight. :thumbup:

 

[iviyth0s]

Traffic court..."you will never find, a more wretched hive of scum and villianry". (and I don't mean the accused)

 

[yamihoe]

I always go to court, even if its hopeless, I still at least get enjoyment from pissing them off and wasting their time just like they do to me.
my last ticket was for 44 in a 40....so yea, that shows you how they love me.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

I elected to fight my ticket back in Vegas just to experience the whole judicial system, the prosecutor even offered to reduce my ticket to a parking ticket at two separate times. I lost, but it wasn't about losing or winning for me, I just wanted to experience it. Unfortunately, the judge did not ride a motorcycle, so my whole defense of creating a safety margin by creating more time and space away from the drunks never got to factor in from a motorcyclist perspective. Ironically, the cop who wrote me the ticket understood, since he was a motorcycle cop. But the fact of the matter was, I went 13 over doing so.

 

[FIZZER6]

The moral of the story is.....DON'T GET CAUGHT! Blah

 

[Champ1978]

Got a speeding ticket a month or so back in my car

That was your mistake.

You should be saying, I got a speeding ticket about SIX months ago.

Never rush to get into court you have to delay as long as possible if you want good chance of winning.

 

[FinalImpact]

Lawberg, tks for sharing and great thread title! :thumbup:

I've found that your only hope with speeding tickets are a NO SHOW on the part of the issuer. If I'm not mistaken thats 2 merit points and at least 3 years (in these parts) before it drops off your record!

Be safe!

 

[mdfb42]

From advice of my local LEOs who are either friends or neighbors, your best bet to get a speeding ticket dropped is to call the day of or the day before your court date to reschedule within that same week if possible. LEOs schedule all of their tickets on the same court date so they only have to go to court once or twice a month to take care of all of them. Therefore if you reschedule, unless the LEO is really out to get you, there's a good chance the reschedule will be a no show by the LEO and therefore as your right to face your accuser, ticket dropped.

 

[greg]

I fought a parking ticket with a private company last week, and they emailed me to confirm that I had successfully appealed it today

 

[CNY Fizzer]

Very funny, loved it.

 

[iviyth0s]

From advice of my local LEOs who are either friends or neighbors, your best bet to get a speeding ticket dropped is to call the day of or the day before your court date to reschedule within that same week if possible. LEOs schedule all of their tickets on the same court date so they only have to go to court once or twice a month to take care of all of them. Therefore if you reschedule, unless the LEO is really out to get you, there's a good chance the reschedule will be a no show by the LEO and therefore as your right to face your accuser, ticket dropped.

Genius!!

I had a "speeding ticket" (it was for speeding but measured by eye, he gave me a "obstructing traffic" or something because he knew he didn't actually measure it with any sort of instrument) dropped but the dicks made me go a second time and the officer didn't even show!! Two early ass morning drives down to the gloucester county court house and the judge had the nerve to say "You really got luck this time Mr. Mason"...GTFO judge, they knew they didn't have any proof on me.

 

[Erci]

Hilarious!! Sorry you lost.. but still hilarious.. "sidebar" :rof:

Yeah.. highly unlikely to win on your own, so plea bargain, if offered, is a great way to go.. AFTER rescheduling your date in hopes of LEO not showing up.

 

[tejkowskit]

From advice of my local LEOs who are either friends or neighbors, your best bet to get a speeding ticket dropped is to call the day of or the day before your court date to reschedule within that same week if possible. LEOs schedule all of their tickets on the same court date so they only have to go to court once or twice a month to take care of all of them. Therefore if you reschedule, unless the LEO is really out to get you, there's a good chance the reschedule will be a no show by the LEO and therefore as your right to face your accuser, ticket dropped.

Is there no time frame which you must reschedule your date by? The day before your court date seems awful last minute for them to let that fly.

 

[mdfb42]

Is there no time frame which you must reschedule your date by? The day before your court date seems awful last minute for them to let that fly.

Feel it out on how your county is with that. Most of the time the "I got a sick kid" excuse will fly same day assuming you have kids.

 

[tejkowskit]

Feel it out on how your county is with that. Most of the time the "I got a sick kid" excuse will fly same day assuming you have kids.

Its a great idea, but I have a feeling C(r)ook county would get a good laugh at me if I tried that lol

 

[mdfb42]

Its a great idea, but I have a feeling C(r)ook county would get a good laugh at me if I tried that lol

I think you misspelled and snuck some parentheses in there. Crook county is one you will never see me in. I stay out of the big blue city.

Good luck I guess haha

 

[tejkowskit]

I think you misspelled and snuck some parentheses in there. Crook county is one you will never see me in. I stay out of the big blue city.

Good luck I guess haha

It should be renamed the big red city with all the homicides and crimes

 

[kenh]

Feel it out on how your county is with that. Most of the time the "I got a sick kid" excuse will fly same day assuming you have kids.

That's a great idea, I think their value just increased a little more.....

 

[lawlberg]

Yeah - even though it went by fast, this was a rescheduled date - I knew better than to go with the (officer) court decided date.

My reasoning for not agreeing to the plea is kinda funny -

I had built up this awesome defense, 5 pages of questions and math - convinced myself that I couldn't possibly lose because I had the assumption that traffic court was a magical land where logic and common sense count.

I also figured that the prosecutor wasn't going to be that persistent with her offers of a plea bargain if she thought she'd easily win. Turns out she just wanted to leave the courtroom.

Anyway - I learned a lot about court, heard some great stories from people who were much guiltier than I, and took 2.5 hours of that troopers life that he won't get back - he looked THRILLED to be there. As a bonus, I saved a handful of people from his ticket writing.

One interesting thing - I called him out on the fact that he was lying when he said he either sits in his cruiser or stands on the passenger side away from traffic, and nobody seemed to care. He was standing virtually on the white line, door wide open, laser out. "When you monitor traffic from the side of the highway, where are you positioned?" Blatant lie - yet it didn't result in perjury like I expected would happen based on many season of Law & Order.

 

[lawlberg]

Lawberg, tks for sharing and great thread title! :thumbup:

I've found that your only hope with speeding tickets are a NO SHOW on the part of the issuer. If I'm not mistaken thats 2 merit points and at least 3 years (in these parts) before it drops off your record!

Be safe!

Yeah - these two are my first points ever - and I've been slowing down in general over the last few years so I think I'll be okay moving forward.