Looks Like My Good Driving Record is History!
Frogdog
Member Posts: 2,994 ✭✭✭✭
Just got my first speeding ticket (or ticket of any kind) in 20+ years. Heading into a small town on a back road and lost situational awareness just long enough to cross from 55 into 35. Slowed down as soon as I realized where I was.....but too late.
Good News:
a) I didn't hurt anyone
b) He didn't write me for reckless driving (which he could have)
c) Kids were with me, so I got a chance to model the right way to own up to your mistake and handle a traffic stop with respect.
Bad News:
a) pretty hefty fine
b) license points/insurance
As I mentioned, it has been a very long time since I had a ticket. What are your experiences? Best to just pay it online and move on? Only other alternative I can see would be to go to court and hope for a miracle with the judge. I won't fight the charge (I did it). He would just have to have mercy and completely dismiss the case based on my previously good driving history (which I think is highly unlikely). There is also a very small chance he could up it himself to reckless driving.
Any conviction here (VA) will transfer to my home state of TX for license stuff. Speeding would be 2 points.
What do y'all think? I think I probably ought to suck it up and pay.
Comments
Don't beat yourself up too bad over it. Yes, pay it and move on, just a little slower.
Mercy in court?? Are you kidding? Well maybe if you're a illegal alien which you're most likely not. Pay it and move along son 'cause you'll just waste a day sitting in court.
Speaking of speeding tickets. Back in the 70s a friend of my dad's who was a preacher got a speeding ticket in a small town in North Carolina and that was before they had the agreement between other states where you could mail the payment in for the fine. He didn't have enough money to pay the fine so the cop had him follow him to jail and left his wife sitting in the car. She had to go call a family member to wire the money to get him out of jail. In the mean time he didn't make any friends in the police station by complaining about the ticket and his innocence. He got the fine paid and as he and his wife were driving out of town he got stopped again by the cop and given another ticket. Back to jail he went. He finally got that one paid and finally made it home to Knoxville. He called my dad and said he was thinking of going back filing a complaint in court. My dad said the best advice I can give you is to stay the hell out of that town. I can't remember the name of the town but the judge and the sheriff in that town were kin and they would probably have found him floating down the French Broad River if he went back.
I got a ticket near Canton, NC back in 1980 and the cop was sitting at the bottom of a long hill and if you took your foot off of the gas you'd still be speeding by the time you reached the bottom. They still required you to pay for the ticket there and I had to follow him to a local grocery store to pay and as soon as the girl behind the cash register saw us coming in she started getting the money order and envelope ready without having to be told anything. I said you got a regular route here don't you to the cop. He just kept that sour look on his face and didn't say anything.
My advice is to always fight the ticket. If you go to court these days you can still admit guilt and get the fine reduced and changed to a non-moving violation that does not affect your driving record. It's always worth it. They just want money.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
They may not throw it out completely but this is indeed a possible scenario. Fighting a ticket these days is not like it used to be.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
Call the number on the ticket and see if you can get it changed to a non-moving violation and pay the fine over the phone. Explain what happened and you are aware of your mistake. Wish you luck.
Yes, you may be able to plead it down to a lesser, non moving offense with no points. Call the prosecutor & ask. They get paid the same, no matter how much time they have to be in court. The town saves money by not paying the officer to be in court. But, I've seen where you just pay it on line or by mail & it never makes it back to your home state or record or insurance.
in my humble opinion, 2 pts isn't worth the effort. My insurance company is tolerant enough that 2 pts in 20 years will have no bearing on my insurance cost. I would see if it can be payed by mail and do it that way. There is always a chance some clerk will be to lazy to send your info back to TX.
My last ticket was 15 years ago for doing 104. Well, 104 KPH in a posted 80 KPH zone in Ontario. That's 65 MPH in a 50 mph zone. The irritating part was that I had just been passed by several locals when I got stopped. Guess that Cop didn't like Americans. When I got home I had to figure out the exchange rate and send a money order because that was the only way they accepted payment. On the positive side, I never had any points assigned. Either Ontario never contacted Michigan or some civil servant here couldn't figure out what to charge me with because of the metric system confusion.
It does raise a few eyebrows though when I tell folks that I got stopped for doing 104. Almost worth the price of the ticket.😀 Bob
You were racially profiled, and that's just wrong.
...Ive had one ticket, speeding ticket...probably 40 years ago...decided to fight the ticket...had several friends bet that I couldnt beat it, I took a $100 in bets...went to court and the judge said for "everyone" with a ticket approach the bench...seems he had a very important case, so he dismissed everyones ticket that wasnt for anything he deemed "extremely dangerous" 😁...so I made a $100 from my only ticket...
If you go to court, and the cop doesn't show up, the judge might dismiss the case.
some states/counties will dismiss a first offense if you agree to go to driving school (even online). Ask about that.
Yea, I looked at that. It seems VA won't dismiss a ticket if you do a good driving course, but will give you credit points that effectively eliminate it on your driving record. Problem is, that only matters if you have a VA license. Conversely, Texas WILL dismiss a ticket if you take a course, but only if the offense was in Texas. I'm stuck in the middle, I guess....so out of luck on that one.
Q: did you break the law?
A: set the example and pay the fine. I know, it was a speed trap and it sucks.
Pay it with a paper check, in an envelope. Bring your kids and explain what you're doing when you drop it in the post box. That may solidify the experience in your kids' minds, and that's worth a LOT more than the price of the ticket.
if you decide to fight it you will have to go back to VA to fight in court, seems price of gas nowdays, it would be cheaper to pay fine.......
I don't know how it works in my county now but a few years back it was common to pay 2x the fine and not get any 'points' on your license or a note on your insurance.
I've gotten 2 speeding tickets. The first one in 1967 and the second one in 1994. I was guilty both times, paid the fine, and moved on.
I'm just lucky I haven't been caught all the other times I've sped over the limit. 😮
Joe
Stopped once in 1968. Didn't get a ticket. Never been stopped since.
Margaret Thatcher
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."
Mark Twain
Young motorcycle trooper got me for 53 in a 40 zone.Im 99% sure he was an ex jarhead.Looked at my license,my age and veteran verification on the license,let me go with a warning.
I got it for 3 1/2 times the posted speed limit. 😇 That one hurt for years.
not bragging just the sad facts at least a few too many to list trust me lets just say I had my share and maybe enought to cover more than a few of you when I was younger
I never got a DUI but speeding reckless driving several times speeding lost count , following to close almost causing a accident . crashed a few 🤨 cars
not yielding to a old couple in a cross walk and hit them ( but I had a witness come forward to the police and backed up my story they walked against the light the sun was setting and they even said they would hit them if I had not I was just idling thru town so no speed but I jumped out ask the old couple you OK the old fellow replied hell not you just ran over us with a car 😁 but the dropped the charges due to one great patrol man on my side who helped
my stand out I was coming home from a GF house early one Saturday morning ( close to noon ) I know I was well over 100 maybe 120 slowed down to 90 to go around a curve and I passed several cars doing it. there was a oncoming car I seen so i pulled back in my lane . then continued to pass a few more cars this went on for 3 miles or so looked back ( I seldom cared what was back there but red lights maybe blue this was 46 years ago so I pulled over .
the state trooper was mad 😡 ask me if I knew how fast I was going ? well no my speedometer broke a few days back ( well maybe it was acting up a bit ) he said I clocked you at 93 MPH around a 45 MPH curve you about hit me head on . I said oh was that you ? and no I would not have hit you there was a open fields both sides and I had plenty of time to pull back in my lane or or hit the field 😜
I had to go sit in his car while he was yelling at me . he then got out a camera pulled up behind my 65 mustang . I said you know a lot of people really like my car you must as your taking photos 😍
NO its evidence ( think Jackie Gleason in the bandit movies ) no way should a rear bumper of a mustang be above the hood of my car ( we had a 4" max above stock limit on bumper height laws ) Oh I see 😐️
and your exhaust is too loud . gee officer I never noticed
I was not a smart @$$ I was just calm and being what I thought was answering his questions
so I had to tow my car back into town too high too loud and breaking the laws
so that one pull over
I got a speeding ticked for 90 in a 45
a ticket for reckless operation and almost causing a accident by about hitting him head on ( his story )
a ticket for excessive bumper height
maybe one for loud exhaust
I lost my license and had to go to driving school over that one as I had already accumulated more ticket points earlier reckless speeding and accident and etc etc.. oh had a points system
way too many stories to list and untold numbers of being pulled over and told told to go home for the night or get out of town for the weekend or just the butt chewing lectures and let go .
but I never drank and drove . street racing provided all the high feeling I needed
but its been ( knock on wood ) 40 some years since I got a ticket a few more bad dave bad dave talks but no tickets
have to add this in my wife had never got a ticket , I came home one day to find she was crying ..I had to ask 😲
( note we had just moved here and the small town has a 35 MPH zone but as you come up a small hill from doing 55 it changes to 35 )
her reply I was come up the hill I was slowing down and the sheriff pulled me over for speeding I sad I was slowing down coming up the hill "the cop " told her slowing down don't get it lady ( tears were flowing at that point ) the speed limit is 35 you were doing almost 45 your getting a ticket 😥
needless to say she said the way you ( pointing at me ) drive and as fast as you drive and I get a ticket , honest I could not keep from laughing at her for crying over a ticket
more stories will post later about her and her bad luck on driving before then I will say she is the most careful driver I ever met )
I have a departed uncle to blame he loved racing going fast and riving a bit wild
as for my kids they had no idea until years later when they met my old buddies and the stories stater coming out to all my pld buddies all gone now and RIP I was a legend they told every one about me even added some stuff I found out at funerals when they had passed from there familys and friends
any way I got the really dad and your on us about driving and you did all that 😲
Well, I just called Texas DPS to clarify the penalty that will be on my license. Interesting development. They advised me that the Texas legislature (God bless them) voted away the license point system in 2019. As a result, for an out of state ticket, it only gets sent to and recorded by Texas if I fail to pay it promptly or appear in court. Seems if you just pay it, you are good to go.
So, for all you fellow Texans.....it's apparently a free-for-all when you are out of state on vacation. However, probably still wise to avoid the Ditch-Runner "State Trooper chicken game." Haha! 😁
Little brother and I were headed to Ft. Leonard Wood in a bit of a hurry. Had to get paperwork to join spousal unit in Germany. Second tour we were not given concurrent travel as we waited for housing. Had to be at the travel office before they closed.
State trooper pulls us over and walked up to my door (I'm driving). He asks where I was going in such a hurry. I explained the situation. Trooper says be careful and have a safe flight.
As we drove away little brother expressed his extreme ire that I didn't get a ticket. He is an owner/operator so he has a target on his back. 😆 He said it wasn't fair that I smiled, explained my predicament and was off with well wishes for safe travel.
I cannot resist: If you are a very good driver-how come you got all those coupons from the police?
Margaret Thatcher
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."
Mark Twain
For the record, I only said that I have a "previous good driving history." That's administrative DMV stuff. In the real world, as I always tell those riding with me....I ain't never been accused of being a good driver. Hahaha!
Smitty- I'll bet you a doughnut that the town in NC was Oxford. At one time the AAA actually listed them as a speed trap on their maps.