Don't Speed in Texas! (Austin, West: felon, house, neighborhood) - (TX) - City-Data Forum

gigi927 · 04-26-2007, 01:57 PM

I just got my first ever speeding ticket in 23 years, in my own neighborhood, yesterday.

They don't mess around with speeding fines here. I was going 40 in a 25, and the fine will be $200

Guess I'm off to defensive driving or deferred adjudication. Had I known the fine was so large, I would have put up a more valiant fight to get OUT of the ticket.

jennyb315 · 04-26-2007, 02:20 PM

ooo- sorry to hear that gigi!!! It amazes me that people are going 80+ on the freeways like it's no big deal. Evidently on the side streets, you'd better go what the sign says

$200 for 15 over!! wow!

(and don't worry about it--- I got 2 in 4 months in WA!!! I did get off on 1 of them but I have to pay the other one but my fine was only $60!)

orionid · 04-27-2007, 01:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gigi927

I just got my first ever speeding ticket in 23 years, in my own neighborhood, yesterday.

They don't mess around with speeding fines here. I was going 40 in a 25, and the fine will be $200

Guess I'm off to defensive driving or deferred adjudication. Had I known the fine was so large, I would have put up a more valiant fight to get OUT of the ticket.

Gah!!! Don't they know what you do on this board? Can't that alone get you off with a suspended sentence?

I KNOW I was doing more than 40 in River Place a couple of weeks back ... guess I was just lucky ..

nwcubsfan · 04-27-2007, 08:25 AM

Gigi,

You and I can go to class together since I got my first TX speeding ticket in January (3 weeks after getting here). I was speeding in a high school zone during the lunch hour. While the officer was writing my ticket, kids were peeling out of the school's parking lot. At least they're safer now that I've learned my lesson :-\

Going to class will only save you about half that cost tough, you still have to pay "court costs" to plead no contest to get your deferred adjudication, which was around $115 I want to say. Add the cost of the class and you're getting closer to the fine.

I'll find one of the comedy club classes, wince through the cheesy jokes, and move along my merry way.

james203 · 04-27-2007, 08:40 AM

that 200.00 will buy plenty of donuts for the police officers of austin,tx.they should be thanking you for speeding.the cop could of just given you a warning.

Trainwreck20 · 04-27-2007, 08:54 AM

From somewhat extensive experience (although mostly for the dang tags and inspection

) with the APD over the past 30+ years, I have found that they are mostly very professional and polite...at least the ones in cars are, the motorcycle ones are another story. State troopers are often downright obnoxious, not sure what their deal is.

Anyway, speeding in a neighborhood will much more likely get you a ticket than speeding on the highway. A school zone is triple the fee, I think. Also, I do believe that the court 'fees' and other costs were implemented solely to make up for lost city revenue due to defensive driving classes. Anyway, there really aren't too many places around Austin that would even come close to being a 'speed trap'. On MoPac, I probably average around ~70-75 mph (which is a 65 mph zone) on a regular basis and have never been stopped.

Now, Rollingwood...you have to be careful there...and Westlake, to a lesser extent.

Hungry For Cheese · 04-27-2007, 09:19 AM

+15mph isnt a big deal? $200 is a bargain. Thats a large amount over.
I've heard and read on here that Texas isn't a place you want to speed.
Los Angeles is a different story. Speed limit is 65 on the freeway but thats like the slowest you should go. Its a suggested speed. I average 85-90, and I know I shouldn't. But I personally think the 65 is too slow. But there are a lot of people who cannot drive that great, and because of that we need to drive slow. I say the fast lane should be at least 80.

Trainwreck20 · 04-27-2007, 09:23 AM

Quote:

+15mph isnt a big deal? $200 is a bargain. Thats a large amount over.

Hehe...yeah, if you come by my house at 15 mph over the limit, I will be hoping for the police to show up...might have to call em myself if I know you drive by regularly and give em a freebie ticket to write

.

Quote:

that 200.00 will buy plenty of donuts for the police officers of austin,tx.they should be thanking you for speeding.the cop could of just given you a warning.

Why in the world should he/she give just a warning? 15 is almost double the speed limit in a 25, which I assume is a residential street with that low limit. I know that I have probably done that too (I am in no way trying to make this personal, gigi

) on occasion, but I would fully EXPECT a ticket in that situation if I had been caught. At some point (and I have no idea what governs this), they can also give you a reckless driving citation, as well.

james203 · 04-27-2007, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Hehe...yeah, if you come by my house at 15 mph over the limit, I will be hoping for the police to show up...might have to call em myself if I know you drive by regularly and give em a freebie ticket to write

.

Why in the world should he/she give just a warning? 15 is almost double the speed limit in a 25, which I assume is a residential street with that low limit. I know that I have probably done that too (I am in no way trying to make this personal, gigi

) on occasion, but I would fully EXPECT a ticket in that situation if I had been caught. At some point (and I have no idea what governs this), they can also give you a reckless driving citation, as well.

speeding can be quite costly & its just not worth it.i do hate it when i have some jerk riding my bumber.i usually just pull over & let them pass.

gigi927 · 04-27-2007, 12:33 PM

Well, I normally never speed, for those of you making me out to practically be a felon

My husband actually complains that I drive too slow. I was a couple minutes behind getting home for my 3 year old kid to be dropped off in front of our house from the bus and my 2 year old was screaming bloody murder in my backseat, and obviously my speed got away from me.

The road is residential, but it's one of 2 main thoroughfares through the neighborhood. I'm not saying I didn't deserve a ticket, just saying that a warning would have been nice given that I have driven for 23 years with no citations or accidents whatsoever. I was certainly NOT driving recklessly. You have to show a blatant disregard for human life to be reckless (speaking as a former prosecutor).