Official Reckless Driving Thread (Arlington: dental, engineer, complaints)

[munkhuu94]

Hey, i just got a ticket for speeding, 46 in 30. I was thinking of going to court and try to contest it.
My main argument is that " There was this steep hill, and at the bottom cops were measuring speed, the hill added a lot to the speed and i knew the speed limit, i told the officer 30 when he asked. So i can argue that i knew the speed limit, and i was going around 35, but the hill added a lot of speed" (35 is still over 30, but i heard that around 5 m over limit is okay. or usually not ticketed. )
and i was thinking may be i can do a calculation on the hill, how much speed it adds, and show it to judge. Do you think this will help?
I also had a test that day, i was in a hurry.
also does mentioning that its my first ticket help?
and that I'm a college student, I'm not saying i should not get ticketed because I'm a student. Im just asking if this would help the judge go easy on me.

Should i just pay the ticket, or try to contest it. yes or no and why.

one more question. Does my insurance rate go up?

[boyd888]

Oh my please do not go up to a judge with that first argument and the old "i'm a broke college student." There is literally no chance your argument will work. You have brakes to slow yourself down coming down a hill.

If you go to court you may get a break if you just plead no contest and you have a good record - maybe a lower fine or a lower level of speeding (9 over instead of 16 over). Straight up beating a speeding ticket is nearly impossible.

[Eagle4Life]

So because a hill adds to speed, that is an excuse for speeding? Do you have brakes on your car?

[munkhuu94]

Originally Posted by boyd888

Oh my please do not go up to a judge with that first argument and the old "i'm a broke college student." There is literally no chance your argument will work. You have brakes to slow yourself down coming down a hill.

If you go to court you may get a break if you just plead no contest and you have a good record - maybe a lower fine or a lower level of speeding (9 over instead of 16 over). Straight up beating a speeding ticket is nearly impossible.

If i get lower level of speeding, how much does the ticket get reduced.

[airjay75]

At just 16 miles over the speed limit, I presume you're not facing a reckless driving charge, so I would just skip court. One, you really don't have a good defense, and, two, I don't see the judge letting you get away with a reduced fine or any lesser charge that wouldn't result in the same 3 points on your license. As such, I would view court as a waste of time and energy. Pay the fine and move on.

[airjay75]

Originally Posted by munkhuu94

If i get lower level of speeding, how much does the ticket get reduced.

Possibly none. When I hired a lawyer to go to court for me for a reckless driving ticket (84 in a 70 mph zone), the judge lowered the charge to defective equipment, but kept the amount of the fine the same as if it were reckless driving. I got the benefit of no criminal record and no points on my license, Virginia got to keep the same amount of money. A win for both parties, so to speak.

But, you can certainly always try. If you've got the time and energy, you don't really have anything to lose.

[Bigfoot424]

Originally Posted by munkhuu94

can i argue that using brakes waste gas? I'm not saying don't use the brakes at all, I'm just saying on hills i don't usually use brakes, just let the car roll down.

Wow. You are really grasping at straws with these excuses. Have to admit though that this is a good one. Not at all believable but a good one.

Go to court if you can make it and look for the charging officer. Ask him if he'll support your reduction to charge of 39/30. It only drops it down by one point but every little bit helps. You could also get your speedometer calibrated and see if this helps but this is not free.

But I really would not advise for you to go in and use the excuses you're throwing out to us. Unless of course you want to give the judge a good chuckle.

[munkhuu94]

i just don't want my insurance rate to go up, i will probably plead no contest, seems best choice.

[FCNova]

If you don't want your insurance to go up just don't speed in the future. Yes, it's rather sneaky of officers to purposely wait at the bottom of hills knowing there's a much better chance of catching people. But speeding is speeding. And there could just as easily be a pedestrian at the bottom of the hill as anywhere else. I'd just pay it and consider it an expensive life lesson. If you have the time to spend going to court try what Bigfoot suggested.

[tysonsengineer]

Ah yes, another speeder in an urban area. Be thankful you didn't kill a pedestrian. Learn, pay up, and if you can't follow traffic rules stay off the road. I hope the judge doesn't adjust it one bit.