100 MPH Speeding Ticket on HW-99 (70 MPH Limit) (Los Angeles: insurance, attorneys)

[helikido]

Hey Everyone,

I recently just got a speeding ticket for doing 100 MPH on a 70 MPH portion of HW-99. When the police officer pulled me over, he was very nice and respectful, let me know that I was seen doing 100 MPH by another police officer (on the opposite side of traffic) and then he himself turned over to pull me over. When he pulled me over, he stated that I was doing 88 MPH. After writing the citation, he told me the following:

1) Since I didn't go above 100 MPH, I wouldn't have to go to court and I can still do traffic school.
2) "They" got me at 100 MPH, but when he pulled me over I was going 88 MPH.
3) I'd be able to pay off the ticket in payments.

Here are my concerns:

1) I just recently got a form that says that my appearance in court is mandatory. This is contradictory to what the officer told me.
2) If another officer "saw" me going at 100 MPH at the opposite side of a 3-lane traffic highway, wouldn't the radar measurements be completely off? I do not remember my speed, because I was focused on driving. But I do remember seeing around 86 MPH when I saw the officer lights turned on a few hundred feet behind me. I also know that radar accuracy is limited to a certain range, not
3) Will I still be able to do traffic school as he said? How about payments? This is allot of money, and it puts a financial strain on me especially near the end of the semester. More importantly, I need to avoid the financial strain that insurance will impose on me if no traffic school is available.

A little about why this happened:

First, I was not intentionally going 100 MPH or trying to race anyone, I was pulled over right next to a CHP weigh station, so no one in their right mind would be doing that at such a location. The car I was driving was a newer luxury car, a recent purchase of mine and an upgrade from a 1999 Saturn SL. It's a completely different driving experience (the cabin is very quite vs. the rocket ship like Saturn NVH), and when I was driving it was at 11:45 PM, zero traffic, windows up (for the first time in a while), music loud to stay awake, and cruise control off. I was going home from my late night study/research at school. I usually drive with cruise control on, but I had it off since I felt a little drowsy and needed to be more engaged in driving. Unfortunately, that lead me to getting this ticket, since with the combination of the reduced NVH compared to the Saturn, louder music, extremely sensitive throttle of the new car, no cars around to visually see my relative speed, and drowsiness, I lost track of my gradually rate of increase increase in speed. I've gone to address this issue by making sure I'm done with work by 10 PM every day, never turning music up to offset drowsiness, being more cautious, and driving my new car more so that I am more in tune with its NVH characteristics at different speeds. Please keep in mind that I make this same exact commute nearly 7 days a week and police activity in this portion of the freeway is known to be highly activity (I see someone pulled over almost every day).

This is my first time being in this situation and I really don't know what to do. Thank you all for your help and support!

[lostsoul359]

I would show up for the court date because the cop might not, then the case will be dropped. If he does show up, just be honest and the fine may get reduced. For the future, buy a Valentine 1, it is a laser detector. I never drive without mine.

[msgsing]

100 mph? People could have been injured or killed. Reckless operation and total disregard for public safety. Too bad there’s no jail time provision.

[helikido]

Originally Posted by lostsoul359

I would show up for the court date because the cop might not, then the case will be dropped. If he does show up, just be honest and the fine may get reduced. For the future, buy a Valentine 1, it is a laser detector. I never drive without mine.

Yeah I have to show up since it states that it is mandatory. Will the officer be there as well for sure? Another question I have is, will they also give me a chance to say my story and take that into account? I'm not trying to contest the officer since I don't remember what my speed was, but I would like to at least be able to do traffic school to prevent any points.

[helikido]

Originally Posted by msgsing

100 mph? People could have been injured or killed. Reckless operation and total disregard for public safety. Too bad there’s no jail time provision.

Like I said, I would have never reached that point if I was not alone on a 3-lane freeway. I would have noticed my speed far before that.

[lostsoul359]

Originally Posted by helikido

Yeah I have to show up since it states that it is mandatory. Will the officer be there as well for sure? Another question I have is, will they also give me a chance to say my story and take that into account? I'm not trying to contest the officer since I don't remember what my speed was, but I would like to at least be able to do traffic school to prevent any points.

You stated that:

After writing the citation, the cop told me the following:
1) Since I didn't go above 100 MPH, I wouldn't have to go to court and I can still do traffic school.
2) "They" got me at 100 MPH, but when he pulled me over I was going 88 MPH.
3) I'd be able to pay off the ticket in payments.

Sounds like he might not show up to court. Only one way to find out is when you appear.

Yes that is why you appear, to explain your side. But, just keep the speed you were going at 88 MPH because that is all that they cited you for. Do not offer any higher speed. Got it?

And get the V-1 so that you know where the cops are for future commutes! It works even with loud music, becauseand it flashes also, and it detects laser and radar. Worth every penny.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Are you sure the ticket isn't for driving OVER 100mph? The mandatory court appearance would indicate to me that the ticket was for driving OVER 100mph.

If it's for OVER 100mph, I think you might want to hire a traffic ticket attorney.

If it's just for 100mph (not over 100mph), you might be able to just fight it yourself because of the methods used by the police officer - saying a different police officer on the other side of the highway clocked you at that speed, but he then clocked you at a lower speed on the other side of the highway. I'd argue it saying I don't believe I was speeding at all, but the ticket should be dismissed because the police officer used improper methods to determine your speed.

It's really important to know which code the ticket says you violated, to understand what could happen. If the ticket is for over 100mph, traffic school is not an option and you get 2 points, plus a huge fine and 30 days suspended license and your insurance would probably go up.

https://www.shouselaw.com/traffic/over-70.html

What Happens With a 100 MPH Ticket – Vehicle Code 22348(b) | Traffic Ticket Attorneys | Sherman Oaks Los Angeles, CA 91403

[helikido]

Originally Posted by lostsoul359

You stated that:

After writing the citation, the cop told me the following:
1) Since I didn't go above 100 MPH, I wouldn't have to go to court and I can still do traffic school.
2) "They" got me at 100 MPH, but when he pulled me over I was going 88 MPH.
3) I'd be able to pay off the ticket in payments.

Sounds like he might not show up to court. Only one way to find out is when you appear.

Yes that is why you appear, to explain your side. But, just keep the speed you were going at 88 MPH because that is all that they cited you for. Do not offer any higher speed. Got it?

And get the V-1 so that you know where the cops are for future commutes! It works even with loud music, becauseand it flashes also, and it detects laser and radar. Worth every penny.

On the ticket, it shows that he cited me for 100 MPH (inputted #). He stated that when he pulled me over, I was going 88 MPH, that was his verbal statement, but he said I'm being written up for 100 MPH since another police officer got me for that. That is the confusing part, where reliability of radar may be questioned. The officer apparently was not able to pull me over since he was on the opposite side of traffic, hence why another officer did it (to my understanding). I wish I can meet with the cop to understand exactly what is going on.

And after this, I'm for sure going to buy it. Just will need to save up more, but I don't plan on speeding, since I don't. It's just an unfortunate mistake, atleast I'll check my speed every time it beeps now though!

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

Are you sure the ticket isn't for driving OVER 100mph? The mandatory court appearance would indicate to me that the ticket was for driving OVER 100mph.

If it's for OVER 100mph, I think you might want to hire a traffic ticket attorney.

If it's just for 100mph (not over 100mph), you might be able to just fight it yourself because of the methods used by the police officer - saying a different police officer on the other side of the highway clocked you at that speed, but he then clocked you at a lower speed on the other side of the highway. I'd argue it saying I don't believe I was speeding at all, but the ticket should be dismissed because the police officer used improper methods to determine your speed.

It's really important to know which code the ticket says you violated, to understand what could happen. If the ticket is for over 100mph, traffic school is not an option and you get 2 points, plus a huge fine and 30 days suspended license and your insurance would probably go up.

https://www.shouselaw.com/traffic/over-70.html

What Happens With a 100 MPH Ticket – Vehicle Code 22348(b) | Traffic Ticket Attorneys | Sherman Oaks Los Angeles, CA 91403

It's not, the officer verbally stated to me that I was cited for 100 MPH. Furthermore, the ticket indicates "100" on the citation, not 101 or any number greater. The code violation number is VC22356(b). Again, the officer stated multiple times that I can do traffic school for the type of violation I had. I asked him multiple times when I got pulled over (i never admitted to any guilt though). Just wanted to make sure that was an option.

[Vic Romano]

All I see in your explanations are excuses. Go to driving school (or pay the ticket) and be glad you don't have to go to jail. Learn from this. You already said you drive the route 7 days a week and see people get pulled over, so you should be aware that police monitor the road...

[helikido]

Originally Posted by Vic Romano

All I see in your explanations are excuses. Go to driving school (or pay the ticket) and be glad you don't have to go to jail. Learn from this. You already said you drive the route 7 days a week and see people get pulled over, so you should be aware that police monitor the road...

I'm asking for guidance here for a mistake that I made. I'm not making excuses, I said it multiple times that I want to pay the fee and ensure that I have the opportunity to take traffic school and correct it. I drive this road ALLOT, over a span of 3 years with no tickets and having one day of cited, that is a ratio of 1/1095 = 0.0009 or 0.09%. It was a honest mistake. Believe me when I say that, people get pulled over here for doing 75-80 on a 70. Just looking for guidance, thanks.