Hmmmmm....

Wonder why this is NOT surprising?

 

It looks like that Jeremy won't be post much here for a while. His parents have taken some action.

 

Good for them.

 

There are situations where all they need is their better judgement and experience. A good example is if a cop is getting into his car and you go flying through a shopping center at a speed that is clearly excessive and dangerous. I wouldn't be surprised if this is maybe where Jeremy's speeding portion came from.

 

And that will get you hauled in for a "discussion" on why you should be allowed to keep your license

Dont even go there.

Read this thread http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55536

especially the violent reactions on why this allowed.

Think about it ... they put their lives on the line ... day in, day out and are given some professional courtesy.

You had better take this very seriously. If your convicted, your screwed, most likely on insurance and may end up in the uninsured motorist pool. Then your insurance rates will be so high you'll be paying for more than your car costs.

Get a lawyer now. Best of luck

Well I never met him but I'm guessing from what you wrote he had some kind of attitude. I am glad his parents are being responsbile

 

No doubt about going in for MVA hearings if found convicted of reckless. (been there NUMEROUS times)

I have learned it HARD way. 5 point speeding ticket after a month of getting my PDL.., 2 point for chasing trooper's *** cause he was a ****, another speeding, numerous other minor tickets. and tada.

Today I went in for Reckless Driving, Aggressive Driving, Driving at an unreasonable speed, Following vehicle too closely, Driving on the shoulders, The fine comes up to near $1500 if you add them up . But guess what? I walked out WITHOUT paying single penny or receiving single point. That's why people tell you to get a lawyer. ...

Oh, and I just turned 21 too. So they wouldn't have gone soft on me..

 

First off, in most jurisdictions, the traffic code has slightly different elements for each offense, therefore your "double jeopardy" probably isn't. Secondly, a lawyer can bargain with the prosecuting attorney and often get one or more of the charges dismissed.

p.s. learn from this experience with "The Man", the public roads are not for aggressive driving.

 

Geeez, from the sounds of the advice you are getting, you would have been better off getting hauled in for DUI. Yeah, you've got a problem, but nothing a greedy lawyer can't get you out of for a couple grand. But do you wanna know what your bigger problem is long-term? Every time that cop sees your car, --and lets face it, he will recognize you from 600 yards away-- he will be making every effort to pounce on you again. Brace yourself, but I'm afraid it may be time for you to start thinking about driving a very anonymous looking Mercury Topaz.

 

Hmmmmmmm

I wonder why no one here is saying to just own up and take responsibility for your actions.

Maybe this is what is wrong with our society. If he has a legitimate case, then by all means get a lawyer. If he was doing what he was cited for, then so be it. I hate it when people get off on a technicality just because they have a lawyer. If you did the crime, plead your case and accept your punishment.

 

that I don't say just stand up and take it is because a lot of the penalties are very, very severe, way out of bounds with the severity of the infractions. A lot of this is driven by the ever ratcheting fines and penalties revenue starved cities mandate. Some of it is politicians who never loose any votes taking "tough stands" on legal issues (don't even get me started on the mess manditory sentancing rules have done to our nation!). Some of it is, at times, over zelous enforcement (I was actually a victem of this once, pretty much all the cops there were surprised at what the lead officer chose to do, but like they said, it was his citation to write....). Some of it is the idea that the system has to prove that they cought you fairly.

If penalties and the like were a better fit for the infraction, I'd say raise your hand and be counted. But if every crossing of the double yellow were in fact wreckless driving, everyone who ever drives to my house would be on a revoked or resticted licence for ever! (windy road, lots of people cut the turns a bit, especially when you can see it's clear for quite a ways).

In my case, if I'd just taken it, I would have ended up with a fine of not less than $1000, at least 24 hours in jail, and a resticted licence for at least 6 months. And all that was at a minimum. What I was guilty of was 35 in a 25 zone. But I was written up for drag racing (it was anti-cruise night in San Jose, and it didn't matter that I lived there, nor that I was 38 with greying hair, and that I was going to dinner, the drag net was out, and reasonable though wasn't present, and so I was cited for everything that the guy could think of.... Dangers of driving a muscle car!) 10 miles over, I wouldn't of hired the lawer for $2k, nor had the 5-7 court appearences, nor the affidavits from witnesses or the like. 24 hours in jail makes you think twice about the laywer, guilty or not!

In the case of wreckless driving, which is usually a judgment call except for some very specific cases of excessive speeds over posted are defined as wreckless, and it's one of the heavy tickets. Here in CA, the poinst stay as long as a DUI. While that's totally appropriate for someone who drives up on the curb, or does street racing and drifting on public roads, it's not the appropriate punishment for mild speeding. Make the system prove what they accuse you of, and if they can't, there's no reason to voleneer to incriminate oneself.

Matt

 

Umm, check that In 1986 I was driving my dad's Mercury Topaz home from college when I was pulled over in the middle of the night, in the middle of Virginia, for wreckless driving (89/55 on I-81 - yes the spedometer only measures out to 85 and yes it was pegged beyond that). I was being stupid, stupid, stupid and that trooper (plus the trucker who radioed me in) probably saved my life that night.

Needless to say, it sobered me up (maturity-wise - I wasn't drinking) and I haven't been in that situation again. I thoroughly enjoyed the track day recently and I try to leave the excessive speed on the track.

 

Personnaly man, I hope you learned your lesson and hope you stop being a dumb***, but from the way you posted it doesn't appear that you did. I would not be surprised to see you posting again shortly about how you used a lawyer to get out of another ticket(s). You clearly did the crime, the tickets where clearly authorized, and yet you are still out there able to do more of this just because some dirt bag lawyer got you off.

I'm only 28, but never would I be stupid enough to get on a troopers a** even when I was 18.

 

Manditory sentancing has done more good for our nation then you think. Mandatory sentancing is only needed because careless judges are letting people off without paying for the crimes that they commit. If you kill someone in a car because you are doing 90 mph while having a bac of .15, then why should a judge be able to give you 6 month probation because he feels that your judgement was impared (and yes this happens all the time). If judges would do their d**n jobs correctly then we would have the need for all of the manditory sentances that you are so much against.

 

Oh well thats you.
u don't even know what happend and why i got pulled over so quit throwing craps and leave the thread dude. RECEIVING TICKETS DOES NOT MEAN you have convicted the crime and i bet everyone knows it very well. so quit lecturing with that dumb crap about how i did this and that and that i will do the samething in the near future blah blah. disgusting

 

I don't think he was talking about you, I believe he was talking about Jeremy.

 

He was talking about my post. o well

 

Oh yea, I missed the quote part.

 

Leave the thread! Yeah right! The way you SEEMED to be bragging about walking out without paying a dime and no points is why I said that I wouldn't be surprised to see you doing something like this again. If I'm misunderstanding it and you wheren't bragging, then hey it's my bad.

"I" didn't lecture that you "did this and that", you did. I just voiced my opinion about the level on intelegence that you lacked when you where chasing the trooper's ***" (gotta love opinions). No matter what the situation, "chasing the trooper's ***" like you say is just another way of saying "Oh Mr. Trooper, will you please mess with me and give me tickets for all kinds of things"!

 

I have to agree with this sentiment...

I know that I drive fast, often over the posted limit. But every time I do, I acknowlege that if I get gunned or don't see a speed trap, I'm going to probably get dinged. I've been pulled over a few times (not in the MINI yet :: crosses fingers :: ) and more often than not, I simply tell the officer "I'm sorry officer - I don't have an excuse - I just got overnenthusiastic." So far I've just recieved warnings, but if I had been ticketed, I wouldn't have fought the tickets, I simply would have gone to court, pled "no contest" and hoped that the judge would reduce the fine and points.

Fighting the ticket is when the officer got the wrong car (and it does happen). Fighting the ticket when you know you're guilty simply ties up the system for everyone.

Or, in the immortal words of "The Theme Song From Baretta":

Don't do the crime if you can't do the time...

 

1) This time, get a lawyer. It's going to cost you, but not nearly as much as a reckless driving conviction.

2) Next time, hold the attitude with the cop. And yes, an "Actually BMW owns Mini..." response is a display of attitude. If you don't think so, reread your own description of what happened and then think about it some more.

I wasn't there so I sure don't know whether you were driving like an *** or not, but there are better ways to handle the resulting constabulary encounter.

Neil
05 MCS
96 M3

 

Matt,

I think you misread my post. If Jeremy did those things he was cited for then he needs to take resposibility. If like you, it was a case of an over zealous cop, then by all means fight it. My comments had to do with those folks who usually have more bucks than morals fighting a justly given ticket in court. A waste of time and money just to try and get off, even though they were doing whatever the ticket was issued for.

 

No, I think we're in agreement, Scott... I was seconding you (or at least I meant to) - fight a ticket you feel is unjust, absolutely, but if you're guilty of the violation then just accept the consequences and move on. And CERTAINLY don't give the officer a hard time for doing their job! I certainly never meant to imply that whenever I was pulled over it was due to an overzealous cop - quite the opposit - I was speeding, I got pulled over and I told the officer that I had no excuse. A little politeness and owning up to what you did won't guarantee you'll get off with a warning, but it certainly doesn't hurt in my experience. If you DO get the ticket, go to court, plead "no contest" and basically throw yourself on the mercy of the court.

 

ImagoX,

I was refering to the Dr. O's post. And I completely agree with you.

 

Good for you. But, how much for the lawyer? If you want to tell us all. And what did he say to get you off? In general?

Some mandatory sentencing works ... For example, years ago Massachusetts introduced a law ... mandatory one year in jail if caught with a gun not registered. The FIRST person caught was an old woman stopped for a traffic infraction ... and she went to the pokey. Big stink but the law keeps guns from old ladies The criminals still have them.

As to reckless driving, just read here http://www.mit.edu/~jfc/laws.html

CA is very lenient. 100 MPH is reckless

but 23 states, almost half, have very clear numbers. VA is the WORST. 80 on an Interstate and big trouble. Over 90 MPH and read what it says ... pokey.

 

Let's say it's 10 over around a turn and crossing a yellow... Is that wreckless driving in a mini? depends on a lot. I"ve been screwed so many times by standing up and being counted that I've come to a realization. The table isn't flat. The system isn't fair. There is so much bias and bs built into pretty much everything. No matter what I have done, I will never give up my demand that those that accuse me of something prove it to the standard set by law.
I have two reasons for this. One is that there is so much excessive punishment and contingent penalty (do you really think a single moving violation justifies multiple years of increased insurance rates? EVERYONE on the local freeway speeds...., the limit is a rarely inforced joke). The second is that it is each and everyone of ours duty to make sure that the entire system is honest and run impartially, in accordance with law.

Let's take your point another way. Let's say you had been speeding, but the officer had no proof at all, other than saying "you're car sounded like it was racing". You were speeding, but the sound of a car has little to do with it's speed. Fight or not. I'd fight it because that a BS way to inforce the law, and isn't a good precident to set. Even if I was speeding. And I wouldn't do it because I was a weasle, but because there is a standard of proof that is required before the state can act to punish. Maintianing that standard is part of the maintenance of our long term social order.

Maybe that's all just a lot of BS justification for self serving actions, I choose to think not!

But then again, when the laywer in my case got me off with much less than a 10 MPH speeding ticket, I didn't go to the judge and say "you know, I was guilty of a moving violation, and not this measly infraction my lawyer settled with your overworked staff for, could you change to the worse ticket?"

Another way to think about it... IF you take the "stand up and be counted for what our actions really are", I guess we'd all end up with a clip board, writing down every infraction and violation of law. Send it in once a month....... I wonder how many do that?


Matt