My first speeding ticket

[BeyondInfinity]

Originally Posted by gpilot1

I ended up doing something stupid last night. I was driving home from Atlanta and ended up getting a ticket on 85 south near Union City. The most I've ever sped is 5-10mph over the limit.

My car had been making a weird noise lately and I decided to push it a bit to see how it would react (Ive heard sometimes pushing it can clean up carbon buildup). This was at 3 am so hardly anyone was on the road. Unlucky for me I let off but I got clocked going 92mph.....

This is my first speeding ticket ever so I don't know how much it would be or if I would get points on my license/court etc. I have to wait 3 days before I can call to see how much its going to be. Can anyone chime in on how screwed I am?

Edit: I am 23 and got my license at 16.

Were you driving in the fast lane or slow lane?

I am only asking because my theory is that you are less likely to get pulled over in the fast lane than in the slow lane!

[axemanjoe]

Originally Posted by BeyondInfinity

Were you driving in the fast lane or slow lane?

I am only asking because my theory is that you are less likely to get pulled over in the fast lane than in the slow lane!

Well, not true from my perspective, when we conduct speed enforcement the lane thespeeding vehicle is in is not a consideration unless the vehicle is doing less than the posted speed limit in the left lane with vehicles behind it, that is a violation but not an exceeding the speed limit violation. The fast lane is where a lot of the violations occur, but not exclusively. A laser will detect a speed almost a mile away, but I prefer to have a distance of no more than 1500 feet on my citations. This way the tracking history can be more practically and accurately established.

[gpilot1]

Originally Posted by BeyondInfinity

Were you driving in the fast lane or slow lane?

I am only asking because my theory is that you are less likely to get pulled over in the fast lane than in the slow lane!

Thanks everyone for the advice! I was speeding in one of the middle lanes, but I dont think it matters because it was 3:00AM when this happened so there was no one else on the road.

[Adric]

Well at least you weren't putting anyone else in immediate danger if the roads were empty but still, that won't fly in the court of law.

I'd plead Nolo which is basically saying that you're not innocent but you're not admitting guilt either and that you just want to pay it and move on. You can only use this plea once every 4-5 years depending on the jurisdiction but it will usually reduce your fine to the minimum amount they can give you... Which in your case will still probably be expensive unfortunately.

The good news is that if you don't have enough money on you to pay the fine at the court, you can get put on probation while you pay it off through a payment plan.

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by Adric

Well at least you weren't putting anyone else in immediate danger if the roads were empty but still, that won't fly in the court of law.

I'd plead Nolo which is basically saying that you're not innocent but you're not admitting guilt either and that you just want to pay it and move on. You can only use this plea once every 4-5 years depending on the jurisdiction but it will usually reduce your fine to the minimum amount they can give you... Which in your case will still probably be expensive unfortunately.

The good news is that if you don't have enough money on you to pay the fine at the court, you can get put on probation while you pay it off through a payment plan.

This might be a... call and ask a lawyer real quick thing.

Someone once told me to save the NoLo thing in case you were in a situation where you would earn alot of points or you would already hit 15 points.

Idea being... you might not hit 15 points in these two years, but you might in the next two and need the Nolo then instead of now.

but this is a ask a lawyer thing... I don't know all the ins and outs, but wanted to express the pro and con I heard.

[axemanjoe]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

This might be a... call and ask a lawyer real quick thing.

Someone once told me to save the NoLo thing in case you were in a situation where you would earn alot of points or you would already hit 15 points.

Idea being... you might not hit 15 points in these two years, but you might in the next two and need the Nolo then instead of now.

but this is a ask a lawyer thing... I don't know all the ins and outs, but wanted to express the pro and con I heard.

I have been telling people for the 34 years I've been doing this that they should never under any circumstances go before any judge without an attorney, regardless of why they would be there.

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by axemanjoe

Well, not true from my perspective, when we conduct speed enforcement the lane thespeeding vehicle is in is not a consideration unless the vehicle is doing less than the posted speed limit in the left lane with vehicles behind it, that is a violation but not an exceeding the speed limit violation. The fast lane is where a lot of the violations occur, but not exclusively. A laser will detect a speed almost a mile away, but I prefer to have a distance of no more than 1500 feet on my citations. This way the tracking history can be more practically and accurately established.

I was curious about this. I heard the law provides or some type of laser licensing process only allows use of a laser gun within 2,200 feet.

Do you know anything about this? or is this completely wrong?

[atlantagreg30127]

Legal questions should be answered via an attorney that specialized in traffic issues. Sorry.