Advice for handling speeding ticket

[max955]

Well, I got popped the other day out on 1431 a few miles outside of Lago Vista coming back from Marble Falls. I was sandwiched between a van and a 'vette, with the 'vette getting a little too close for comfort. I decided to pass the van and put some distance between me and the 'vette on my rear tire, and wouldn't you know it, as soon as I made the pass a DPS trooper comes around the corner. :angryfir:

I want to talk to the judge and try to get her to dismiss the ticket, since I felt I was in a bad situation and was trying to keep myself out of danger. But, I've never tried something like that before and have no idea what the best way to proceed is. Anyone dealt with a similar situation and have some advice?

:help:

[Tourmeister]

Howdy,

Man that is a tough one! There might have been a time in the past when your personal credibility meant something to a Judge. Not much anymore. If they don't know you, they are not going to believe you over a Trooper. It seems that the presumption is you are lying because you have something to gain, namely avoiding a ticket. After all, a Trooper that the Judge trusts would not stop for without good reason, and if he did not buy your excuse, why should the Judge? :headbang:

In principle, your argument is valid. Pragmatically speaking, it doesn't hold much water :| However, there are those people that have gotten out of these things, so it couldn't hurt to try. It will really help if you don't have any priors on your record. Wear your best suit. Be very respectful and curteous to the Judge and don't brown nose, just "yes sir" "no sir" (or mamm).

Who knows? The judge might be in good mood that day :wink:

Adios,

[hillcountry]

About a year ago, I got a ticket from a state trooper at 7:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning about 10 miles outside of Camp Wood (middle of no where) for doing 11 miles an hour over the speed limit. He was writing the ticket up before he even started getting out of the car so all the "Yes Sirs" in the world wouldn't have worked there. I would have lost a day of work if I would have had to see the judge, but like Tourmeister says...it's not likely a judge would dismiss a ticket given by a trooper. Since I was less than the magic 15 miles over, I just bit the bullet and sent in the money. If you were caught at more than 15 over, I'd suggest going to Google and searching on ("How to beat a speeding ticket"), do some research and at least see if you can get the ticket reduced. It will save you a weekend in traffic school to avoid the points and your insurance won't go through the roof.

Good Luck

[John Bennett]

Hey Roger,

I'm a Defensive Driving Instructor. You would be surprised how many people in my class tell of being let off by a judge. Many of these people were in blatant violation and not the type of person I would be charitable to.

Call and ask to speak with the judge. Explain your situation. It doesn't hurt to try. You might be surprised.

[brd]

Since I was less than the magic 15 miles over, I just bit the bullet and sent in the money.

Is it only 15mph over that you can get off with def driving for now? I thought it was 25???

To the original poster, I don't know what to tell you other than don't plead "not guilty" at least make it "no contest" and ask to explain your circumstances, and yeah, wear your best suit, etc. Good luck and let us know what happens.

[VFRRider]

3 options:

1 Pay it. Many insurance companies have a single ticket forgivenenss policy. :oops:

2 Fight it and hope for an undersanding judge vs. a revenue machine looking for fines. :bigokay:

3 Deferred Adjudication. No points, just court costs and take DDC within the 60-90 day time frame. Plus you get the DDC discount on your insurance plus no points come renewal time. Only drawback is it only works once every 2 years, or 1 year, depending on the judge. Decision is usually based on your driving records. :headbang:

My last one was for 125 in a 65. Had my lawyer plead for mercy and I was soooo lost. Got off with a $265 fine. And I was lucky. :help:

Pays your money and takes your chances. :shame:

[brd]

3 options:
My last one was for 125 in a 65. Had my lawyer plead for mercy and I was soooo lost. Got off with a $265 fine. And I was lucky. :help:

Pays your money and takes your chances. :shame:

125 in a 65! :bow:

Did you get put in the squad car and taken down to the station for the night? Do tell.

[max955]

Thanks for the replies so far, guys. I figured the group was bound to have one or two tickets between them. :)

I'll do the Google search and see what that turns up. I've already taken DD within a year (had that ticket coming, I wasn't paying attention) and have paid the fine for another that I think I got screwed on :angryfir: , so this one will make two on the record. :tears:

The trooper told me that there had already been wo fatal MC accidents on 1431 this year and they were cracking down. I don't blame him, he was just doing his job. I didn't bother explaining much since it was obvious I was going to get written up.

I guess what I hoped to figure out was if this is something I should let an attorney handle, or something I stood a decent chance of solving on my own. Even if paying a lawyer to do it costs me $500, it will probably still be less than the amount my insurance would go up. :suicide:

Any more thoughts?

[Tourmeister]

Howdy,

The trooper told me that there had already been wo fatal MC accidents on 1431 this year and they were cracking down. I don't blame him, he was just doing his job. I didn't bother explaining much since it was obvious I was going to get written up.

We arrived right after one of the occured back in Jan. Was a spectacularly beautiful weekend, low seventies and sunny. Right after 1431 narrows down to one lane each way and just after the first cattle guard, there is a sharp left that descends into a ravine. A couple on a cruiser went over the guard rail. Both dead on the scene. The irony is that the bike did not look too bad. The people landed on jagged rocks and likely did not have on helmets :-( Game over. Very sobering.

Every year, there are tons of wrecks on 1431 and Lime Creek. I can understand why the troopers get tired of it. Still don't like getting tickets though ;-)

Adios,

[VFRRider]

No, no ride that day. He really felt sorry for me. I was lost and trying to catch up. It was 15 miles outside of Enid, OK and nobody was around.

The real reason he flet sorry for me was as he was writing the ticket, my VFR just fell over from a flat rear. Big nail in the middle of the tread. So he saved me in reality. I so deserved it. We were so far out no cells worked there and his radio was the only way to contact HRC for a tow.

But that day costs me about $550 total. Bad enough.

Duh, stupid hurts.

[max955]

Right after 1431 narrows down to one lane each way and just after the first cattle guard, there is a sharp left that descends into a ravine. A couple on a cruiser went over the guard rail. Both dead on the scene. The irony is that the bike did not look too bad. The people landed on jagged rocks and likely did not have on helmets :-( Game over. Very sobering.

I know the spot you're talking about. It freaked me out a bit the first time I rode 1431, but I got used to it real quick. Lime Creek RD I will not ride. Every time I hear that road mentioned the conversation immediately goes into "I remember when I high-sided out there," or "I rode with a guy who died riding Lime Creek one morning." I've been down it once, and since I ride solo most of the time, it would be a bad place to go down.

[Tourmeister]

Howdy,

but I got used to it real quick. Lime Creek RD I will not ride

I agree. It is an amazing road, but there are so many blind corners with driveways right around the bend. We came around a corner to find an F350 stopped in our lane chatting with someone on the shoulder. Major braking and swerving save our butts but took a few years off the life of our seat covers :-) Never been back.

Actually, riding around Austin is getting to be a drag. There are lots of good roads but there is always so much traffic that it takes all the fun out of it. You really have to get out a ways to get away from the traffic. :-(

Adios,

[max955]

I agree. It is an amazing road, but there are so many blind corners with driveways right around the bend. We came around a corner to find an F350 stopped in our lane chatting with someone on the shoulder. Major braking and swerving save our butts but took a few years off the life of our seat covers :-) Never been back.

The one time I rode Lime Creek was the day after I got my Sprint, so needless to say I rode SLOW. Even with that, there were a couple of times I could have gotten creamed by oncoming cages whipping around the corners...in the middle of the road, of course.

riding around Austin is getting to be a drag
Yeah, you're right. And as I've found out, the roads are increasingly patroled by the five-oh. Double no-fun. :shame:

[brd]

Lime Creek RD I will not ride. Every time I hear that road mentioned the conversation immediately goes into "I remember when I high-sided out there," or "I rode with a guy who died riding Lime Creek one morning." I've been down it once, and since I ride solo most of the time, it would be a bad place to go down.

(Maybe this should be moved to the "roads" forum, but oh well)

Yeah, that is an amazing road. I found it on a map by accident looking for a way to get from 1431 to 2222. I had been riding all day from FtW and was tired and had the Sprint in full touring (loaded topbox +tankbag) mode. Still, I had FUN on that road. :mrgreen:

But that was on a weekday afternoon. I could see it being dangerous with all the driveways and on weekends. Plus it's so technically challenging that I bet a lot of people get in over their heads.

[Anonymous]

Try talking to the judge. It may work. Yea, you can hire a lawyer and if you loose, you will end up paying the lawyer, getting the ticket on your record and paying the court costs.

So before you try anything else, see if the judge will listen to you.

[Anonymous]

Try talking to the judge. It may work. Yea, you can hire a lawyer and if you loose, you will end up paying the lawyer, getting the ticket on your record and paying the court costs.

So before you try anything else, see if the judge will listen to you.

[Anonymous]

They don't care what kind of danger you were in. They will always say if you could SPEED out of the danger, you could just as easily SLOW DOWN away from the danger.

[brd]

Well, just as a counterpoint, I had a friend in highschool who was racing someone on Loop 410 in SA at about 100mph. They went by a cop who pulled him over, but not the other car. My friend said that this truck had come up to him and tried to run him off the road and he was afraid to stop and tried to escape. The cop let him go.

[buck000]

Re: 1431 accidents, anyone know the details of the Amy's Ice Cream guy who died there recently. All I've read is that he "lived on the edge" and died passing a car on 1431...

Re: Lime Creek Rd. - Being a newbie, I haven't tried that road. Not sure I want to, especially after a buddy told me that a friend of his, whose GARBAGE TRUCK route is Lime Creek, says that there's no way he can stay in his lane on that road...!

Re: tickets - This past weekend, I rode with folks at quite a bit quicker pace than I prefer. I was the sweep rider, and had to hustle a couple of times to catch up. While I must admit that I kinda enjoyed that part (and the RST LOVED it, I daresay), I'm just not into paying extra $$$ to govt agencies and insurance co.'s. Plus, it's nice to look around now and then. Oh, well, wimpy and wussy, that's me. :shrug:

Paul

[Tourmeister]

Oh, well, wimpy and wussy, that's me.

Nonsense! Sure going fast is fun. But I think it is just as fun to make yourself go slower than normal. I find that even on a route I am intimately familiar with, this can make it feel like a totally different ride. It lets you relax and take it all in. There is a time and place for either style of riding. Last weekend was the time and place for the fast one :twisted:

Adios,