Got a Speeding ticket today...

[Fiveg56]

I’m sorry to hear about your family difficulties, but we hear those kinds of excuses EVERY TIME we stop a car for speed. It she was already in the hospital, there is nothing more you can do and driving that fast with your hazard lights on is dangerous. Heck…it’s dangerous for me to drive that fast with all of my emergency lights and siren on because people don’t pay enough attention to see my fully marked squad car…how are they going to see you? I’d go to court and let the judge know what was going on; maybe you can get a break. Hope all goes well. Drive safe and best wishes to your family.

[awfarley]

Too many responses to comment on everything, but here's the update. Nanny is up and responding normally, seems all scan and MRI's show nothing at all. Brain scan results tomorrow. Hopefully all is well, although going into comatosis for 12 hours isn't good.

Anyway, yeah I understand I was in the wrong regardless of situation. My close friend is an EMT and tells me the same thing about their emergency situations. No excuse. The thing that is upsetting is the fact that LEO make it situational in the way they respond to an event. Some officers would have just said slow it down, and go see 'grams'. Who knows, maybe that 15 minutes could've been the difference in saying a final goodbye.

Again I know that seems far out there, but I'm sure it has happened at some point. The lesson learned here is obviously 'DON'T SPEED'. As for the driving while worried statement, well thats just completely distorted. In no way was my driving skill impaired due to my worry. In fact I was probably more alert for others merging into me than a typical drive and I was at 10 and 2, not the usual 12 and 6:30.

Thanks everyone for the opinions good or bad, and the kind words. It means a lot in stressful times.

[Caspers2SSRS]

[QUOTE=awfarley;4860926]Too many responses to comment on everything, but here's the update. Nanny is up and responding normally, seems all scan and MRI's show nothing at all. Brain scan results tomorrow. Hopefully all is well, although going into comatosis for 12 hours isn't good.

Anyway, yeah I understand I was in the wrong regardless of situation. My close friend is an EMT and tells me the same thing about their emergency situations. No excuse. The thing that is upsetting is the fact that LEO make it situational in the way they respond to an event. Some officers would have just said slow it down, and go see 'grams'. Who knows, maybe that 15 minutes could've been the difference in saying a final goodbye.

Again I know that seems far out there, but I'm sure it has happened at some point. The lesson learned here is obviously 'DON'T SPEED'. As for the driving while worried statement, well thats just completely distorted. In no way was my driving skill impaired due to my worry. In fact I was probably more alert for others merging into me than a typical drive and I was at 10 and 2, not the usual 12 and 6:30.

Thanks everyone for the opinions good or bad, and the kind words. It means a lot in stressful times.[/QUOTE] This is most important...

[Supermaro585HP]

If you go to talk to the judge you will be fine. I have got several speeding tickits and I always show the cops respect and I have had many tell me that if I request a hearing that the judge will drop the points and you will just have to pay the fine. IT WORKS!!!! With your situation I don't think you have anything to worry about. He even wrote on the ticket about a medical emergency. Hope your grandmother is ok buddy.

[brantley847]

Originally Posted by BowtieBelle

No lo contendre means no contest. Basically a guilty plea. It doesn't help you at all.

Talk to the judge. I think he may sympathize (this is coming from a paralegal).

It is state by state basis.. no lo here gets you no points, no class.

Case workers for civil attorneys are also "paralegal"...point?

OP, sorry for citation but they hear every excuse in the book. I think in his situation if it was your immediate family, I would cut a break. Anyone else, probably not. 18 over in relatively busy traffic flow, is pretty fast. 18 over at 2 in the morning is something completely different. There is your discretion.. to complain about a human beings discretion is ridiculous. With the next 15-20 years, there will be no more officers patrolling the highways. You will be monitored by a traffic camera with speed enforcement capabilities, and you will get a ticket for doing 10 over. (trust me, I am not stoked about this either.. the open highway at 2am is my fun spot It is already happening in Europe, and I can tell you with our connections at the Florida-DOT, it will be coming to the US. There will be no discretion. The red light cameras were the first step and now they are finally starting to uphold in court. People fight in court against the cameras saying "they wish they had an officer with discretion". It is just a roll of the dice, man...

Fact is a judge who is by the book won't waver on this, but should get you out of the points and no class. Contact an traffic attorney in your area and he will set you straight...

[awfarley]

Originally Posted by brantley847

It is state by state basis.. no lo here gets you no points, no class.

Case workers for civil attorneys are also "paralegal"...point?

OP, sorry for citation but they hear every excuse in the book. I think in his situation if it was your immediate family, I would cut a break. Anyone else, probably not. 18 over in relatively busy traffic flow, is pretty fast. 18 over at 2 in the morning is something completely different.

Fact is a judge who is by the book won't waver on this, but should get you out of the points in class. Contact an traffic attorney in your area and he will set you straight...

I don't mind paying the fine at all. I am really just trying to avoid getting hit with the insurance surcharge. Traffic was very minimal. I passed maybe 10 vehicles in a 15 mile range. We'll see and I'll update then as well

[brantley847]

Originally Posted by awfarley

I don't mind paying the fine at all. I am really just trying to avoid getting hit with the insurance surcharge. Traffic was very minimal. I passed maybe 10 vehicles in a 15 mile range. We'll see and I'll update then as well

Traffic attorney can easily get you out of the points.. but you will pay 50-70 bucks.

Actually, traffic attorneys here in FL only charge you 70 period. You don't pay the fine. They bank on cops not showing up and that is easily 50% of the time... so the ticket is dismissed and they just pocketed 70 bucks regardless. It is a scam.. and it is BRILLIANT!! lol

[brantley847]

Originally Posted by Fiveg56

Really? Is that what you are going with? "douchey"???

You just insulted every officer on here.

Highly doubt he cares....

Originally Posted by Caspers2SSRS

The problem is............, there are many bullshitters themselves in the profession who have a dimmer and less responsible view of their own unethical reckless hwy behavior ( sworn to protect) in non emergency situations witnessed by the general public than the spotlight they narrowly shine on citizen Joe whenever he errs and he offers up a honest explanation disregardless if a statute is being violated or not. Liars wear coats of many colors and no one is excluded regardless of whether they are candlestick maker or employed in Blue....................I doubt the OP's situation is about who is more believable. LEO's responsibilties aren't to believe nor judge................thats the judges and jurys job.

Oh my silly goose BFF...

So with that logic cops should have absolutely zero discretion and cite for every single violation they stop? No story should waver his opinion... If a cop cannot "believe" or form an opinion on scene of a stop, then he should be by the book and let the judge be the..... judge. Boom goes the dynamite.

If you offer up a "justifiable" reason to speed and the officer SHOULD let you go. What about situations when he is presented with a liar? Because a few bad apples in every department drive like bats out of hell, should that officer not form an opinion based on the presented information?

If we discuss this logically, a cop SHOULD have no variation and should be uniform in each application. Which means no discretion..no warnings. Let the judge decide. However, we have discretion and in his situation the officer felt the means did not justify his action... or he felt he was a liar?

Mind f---?!?!?

[90503]

Originally Posted by Caspers2SSRS

disregardless

C'mon, man!...lol...."irregardless" would be more correcterer!! j/k!

[AdamZ]

Welp, me, being the Law Enforcement you are refering to. He put down that you were driving with your emergency on purpose. He understood your situation BUT when you hit that 15 over mark it is basically a manditory ticket (at least at my department). That 15mph mark is basically it. He did put that flasher comment on there so you can explain to the judge the situation and they should drop the ticket. He was looking out for you. Emergency or not...you are not an emergency vehicle. Need to obey limits. (it takes about 8-10 minutes to complete a ticket. It takes a few minutes for your information to go through the NCIC on the cruiser computer)

[awfarley]

Originally Posted by AdamZ

Welp, me, being the Law Enforcement you are refering to. He put down that you were driving with your emergency on purpose. He understood your situation BUT when you hit that 15 over mark it is basically a manditory ticket (at least at my department). That 15mph mark is basically it. He did put that flasher comment on there so you can explain to the judge the situation and they should drop the ticket. He was looking out for you. Emergency or not...you are not an emergency vehicle. Need to obey limits. (it takes about 8-10 minutes to complete a ticket. It takes a few minutes for your information to go through the NCIC on the cruiser computer)

Thats what I figured after reading the comments on here. He could have just as easily left that off and made me look like a real idiot in front of the judge. Should I bring documents from the hospital or would that look too pushy?

[AdamZ]

Of course. Anything to prove you were there. Be as pushy as you'd like you don't want the ticket on your record lol. I would much rather pay those court fees and get out of the ticket rather than the bump on insurance. When you talk to the judge you may want to plead no contest. Then explain "yes your honor I understand I was speeding (then explain your situation, then explain that the officer confirmed your story on the ticket, then offer the paperwork you have) (if you have a clean driving record explain that here) and it will not happen again. I do apologize your honor". Easy enough...then it is up to the judge.

[lawman007]

I was out driving a few days ago. It is my day off, (I work 1800-0600 so I keep the schedule on my days off). It's 0230, I am definitely speeding, no one on the road. A cop pulls me over and asks the usual questions.

HEo you know how fast you were going?
ME:Yes, 120mph.
HE:Laughs
Ok he has a sense of humor, I have a chance.
ME:Ok, I'll be honest, I was speeding. I only do it at this time of night, with no one on the road, only when I think it's safe.
HE:May I have your license, please. I need to write something down.
ME:Here.
He goes to his car, comes back.
HE:I apreciate you being honest with me. Here's your license back. Have a nice day.

Now I take that to heart so I drive to get a cup of coffee to settle down. Six or seven miles later, in another city, I get pulled over by a cop again.

SHEo you know why I pulled you over?
ME:No.
SHE:You were weaving in your lane. License...Please.

In my town, the roads have potholes and I try to avoid big ones.
She goes to her car and comes back.

SHE:Here is your license and etc. What were you in?
ME:I'm sorry?
SHE:Your license says you're a vet. What service were you in?
ME:Oh, I was in the Navy.
SHE:Well, have a nice day and thank you for your service.
ME:Thank you Ma'am.

Moral of the story: It's nice to be right, but better to be lucky.
Stuff like that happens to me a lot. Not saying I was right, just lucky.
Troy Lawson

[awfarley]

Oh and here ya go.

My ticket minus officer # and sensitive info.