Pathis

Well, I got my first 'official' speeding ticket in the G. Was getting on the 495 onramp coming from 202. It was 9pm so really dark. Merged on to the highway, went across the lanes to get to the left lane.

As I was in the 2nd to the far left lane I noticed that a car that was coming up in the far left lane started slowing down. I wasnt sure if that was to let me over or if it was a cop. It was about 50 yards behind. I decided to play it self and not accellerate into the left lane. So, I pulled my foot off the pedal and let the car slow naturally.

After about a minute the car got behind me and lights came on. I looked down at the spedometer and it was reading 80. One thing about the G, I felt like I was doing like 65. but at 80 I was pretty much keeping pace with all the care around me.

Anyway, so he pulled me over right before the Route 50 exit. It ended up being a state trooper that was behind me. Went thru all the motions and he came back with 2 tickets.

96/55: $523
Speed greater than reasonable: $75

The trooper told me that MD law says that anything over $30 is an auto Wreckless driving or Speed greater than reasonable. He said he was giving me a break with the lesser one (thank goodness).

I also really lucked out as I think I was in a construction zone (x2 fines). When I was pulling away I saw the sign on the side of the road. So Im not sure if the zone was just starting or I was actually already in it when I got pulled over.


So questions I have:

1) Would it not be wise to take this one to court? Ive heard of Judges changing charges in the courtroom. When the Judge sees I was doing 96 he may slap me with a wreckless.

2) Is there a site I can check to see how many points this will be? Im very interested.

arjunz

iTrader: (1)

its a 5 point ticket... i got a ticket going 93 on a 65 in MD as well ... that was earlier this year. I'm going to court in november... as i have been postponing my court date. I'm going to try and fight it anyways.. i got off lucky compared to you... the cop said no points will be taken off .. but that is incorrect. i will have 5 points taken off my driving record and i got slapped with a $275 ticket!. i can totally understand the way ur feeling right now! ... i would say get a lawyer .. since ur insurance premium is going to jump with that kind of ticket ... to get you out of this situation a lawyer will charge u a lot .. but in the long run you will save money. Good Luck man .. i know it feels like ****...

SkylineFanatic

Here is my two cents:
I know many police officers in Virginia and lawyers (friends) who handle these kind of cases and I can tell you from my experience with them more often then not the judge will cut you a break for two reasons if you hire a lawyer and spend the time to be in court:

1) The judge will respect you taking the ticket seriously and it dignifies respect for the court and the judge
2) Hiring a lawyer costs $$ and the judge know this and in most cases sees this as a fine / punishment in his or her eyes and takes that into consideration.

The last piece of advise I would offer is, if there is a drivers course you can take and complete prior to court or take near the court date, do it and let the lawyer use that as additional ammo of how you are taking this seriously and you have the utmost respect for the law and the consequences of not obeying the laws, but you are do what a responsible citizen should do to make amends.

Ohh, and other food for thought, dress nice and sit as close to the judge as possible while not being afraid to look at him or her and pay attention.

Pratik

iTrader: (3)

That seems like all good information above.

Pat you may have to cut your hair and look respectable in court haha. j/k.

Sorry to hear about the ticket though. That really sucks. Please let us all know what you end up doing and the outcome of it.

pdjafari

iTrader: (2)

I agree with the above statements for the most part. If you have a previous clean driving record, you might want to skip the $$ all together and let your driving record do all the talking. I was hit with a reckless in June which I went to court for about 2-3 weeks ago. Traffic violations seemed to be the least of the judges worries as she was dealing w/ assault cases, DUI's, more serious things basically. I was caught doing 52 in a 25 which was more than double the limit. Now if you have the $$, go ahead hire a lawyer, in my case it wouldve cost me min. $500 for lawyer and my 'turn' so to speak talking to the judge/sentencing took < 3 min total. I pleaded guilty and the judge allows you to 'explain' yourself. I told the judge of my previous clean record, told the judge it was dark and I was tired from work etc etc, she saw the time of day...saw my clean record said reduced to speeding...$40 court fee...$80 for speeding...paid $120 saved myself money from a lawyer. After this speeding ticket I am down to 0 points, so I will take that driving improvement class. Also tell the judge you will take that class to improve your driving. I also dressed nice compared to some of the hoodlums that appeared in wife beaters...

just my opinion...in junior's case the judge see's him as juvenile...18 year old and want to teach him a early lesson, so judge's are usually harder on young bucks...

arjunz

iTrader: (1)

[QUOTE=pdjafari in junior's case the judge see's him as juvenile...18 year old and want to teach him a early lesson, so judge's are usually harder on young bucks...[/QUOTE]

Lethal G35

Pathis was this Monday?

Pathis

Nah, it was last night (9/7) at around 21:00.

I guess Ill go get a copy of my driving record and see whats on it. I had a speeding ticket last year in VA. Went to court on that one and dont think I ever got any points, atleast my insurance never went up. Hopefully its not on there, otherwise im screwed.

Still deciding whether or not Ill get the lawyer or not. I didnt with my VA ticket and it worked out ok. Ofcourse I wasnt doing 41 over on that one, just 19 over.

If I do go the lawyer route, anyone know of a good MD traffic lawyer?

Oh and Pratik, no need to cut the hair, Ill just slick it back in a pony tail. Seems to work well with the corporate and legal types.

Byrnie

good luck man, I bet devon knows of a good lawyer. He seems to be the go-to-guy in MD.

elau

Pathis,
Dude, sorry to hear that. Get a lawyer and plea 90-day advisement. Hope everything works out for you.

spendgy

No question, you would be advised to get a good lawyer. The ramifications of having this type of infraction migrate to your record would be detrimental to your insurance rates for a good period of time. Any thoughts that gaining the services of a competent lawyer are cost prohibitive would quickly leave as you realize the adjustment in rates over a 3-5 year period.

Pathis

Well heres an update on this.

Had to go to court on this today.

My lawyer got this knocked down to 84/55 which is a 2 point ticket. The judge was telling everyone to do a DIP class but since I already got the cert last week I didnt have to worry about it.

Judge dropped this down to PBJ. Got off with NO POINTS and $175 Fine and $25 Court cost.

Im pretty happy, could have been alot worst.


Also, there was a bunch of cases that got dismissed because some cops didnt show (Mine was the only one there, go figure). Right as the judge called the peoples names he said dismissed due to the cop not being there and the people were let off.

arjunz

iTrader: (1)

You are lucky ... i wish i had the same luck ... Hey pat, if you dont mind me asking .. how much did lawyer fees end up costing u?

JDM 350GT

wow...nice...
NO POINT! SWEET!

Pathis

$1k.

But not having my insurrance go up, and the decreasing the original fine of $600 I think was worth it. Especially the insurance I pay on 2 vehicles.