If this is still against NAM rules, mods feel free to delete.

Today I was heading home from the mall when the good ole' police man turned on his lights an sirens. He came up and didnt say "License and registration" he said "Look, why are you driving like an ***, and don't try to act like you don't know what I'm talking about". So that pisses me off real quick. He takes my stuff and looks at the registration and says "This is NOT a BMW" so I then explained to him how BMW owns MINI etc. etc. He goes to his car and starts writing, comes back with three tickets. 1. Reckless Driving, his explination was "You went over the double yellow line around that turn." 2. Failure to Drive Right of Center, his explination of this one was "Basically the reckless driving one again." And 3. Speed Greater Than Reasonable, his explination for this one was "I have no idea how fast you were going, but I know it was faster than you should have been." On two of the three tickets my Make is listed as an "03 MINI 2S" and on the third its listed as an "03 MINI 4S" I drive a standard 2003 MINI Cooper. Now here are my questions now that the background of this is stated, Since I have a 4 seated car (back seats) assuming the "2S"/"4S" means 2 seat/4 seat could I get the "2S" ones thrown out being I have a backseat? And then my second question is, since his reasoning for Failure to Drive Right of Center was the same as Reckless Driving, wouldn't that be considered double jeopardy, being charged twice for the same crime?

 

If your record is clean, I recommend going to court, and politely requesting that the fines are reduced, or thrown out. You can usually get something reduced, in my experience. And, well let's just say I've had some traffic infraction experiences under my belt...

 

still haven't heard your version of what you really did. . .

but I think the reckless driving one can be thrown out pretty easily, as he covered every bit of your offense (at least it sounds like it) with the other two charges, that is, unless you were spinning tires or "exhibiting speed". Sounds like you need to calm down a bit buddy. Take it to court though, and be nice, and they'll probably reduce/throw out at least one of them.

 

Fight it, I have had 2 tickets thrown out because the stupid cop put the wrong information on the ticket. Plus he going to have to come up with a really really good way of telling how fast you were going. what did he put for your speed on the ticket? One time i had a cop write the ticket out and put " i don't know how fast he was going but it was to fast." The judge asked him how he knew and he couldn't come up with a good answer so it got thrown out. I've had them pull that S**T on me before were they try to get me on the same thing by rewording it differently. Don't let them pull this S**T on you.

 

I would agree - you should be able to get out of two of these entirely. You can't be found guilty for the same infraction twice. And if he doesn't know how fast you were going, he certainly can't give you a speeding ticket. Go to court, be polite about it, and get some answers.

 

My advice, is see a lawyer that does the traffic ticket thing. You may, on your own, be able to get a reduction, or some of the tickets thrown out, but then again you may not. Will all depend on who the Judge is, and how it plays out. Some Judges will take the cop's word, and the tickets as written, and not budge. Lawyers who do this thing for a living know all the angles, and will let you know up front what they think they can do with it - most will get it completely thrown out 80% of the time. Here in Texas, for $100, they will take care of everything, even showing up in court for you, and can get most traffic tickets totally thrown, unless its the latest in a long line of speeding tickets or something. My son was tagged in a "trick" speed trap (looooong school zone that has two stop lights in it, waaaaay past the actual school, so most drivers away from the light don't realize they are still in a school zone, so they plant a cop in the next block - 35mph in a school zone, 20 miles over - $$$$$). Then my son, who works out of town a lot, forgot to go down and pay the fine - so had a warrent issued. $100 to the lawyer and that was the end of it, no warrant no ticket, no insurance ding, nothing, and my son didn't have to do anything. There is quite a trick to it - pm me for the scoop.

 

Jeremy, you know I'm always looking at accidents and/or moving violations from an Insurance Underwriter's perspective. After all, that's what I do.

Another good reason for you to go to court and attempt to have these violations removed from your record: In the State of Maryland (and most States), three moving violations is enough to have your auto policy canceled by your carrier.

If the officer gave you 3 separate citation numbers, we view them as 3 separate incidents (as opposed to having multiple violations listed on one citation which we count as just one incident).

Now, as a friend.... you once were talking about how fast you drive and out-running a policeman. Maybe this will serve as a good warning to you at a reasonable price... you could pay a much steeper price for having excessive fun while motoring. Please be careful... in my line of work hardly a day goes by when I don't work on a file where a youngster was involved in a serious and sometimes deadly accident.

There's a time and a place for pushing your tach... you have to pick that time and place wisely !

 

About the only place you have a chance, is the cop admitting he didn't know how fast you were going.

 

Don't know about in MD, but here in TX, all the cop has to say to qualify this type of speeding ticket, is "In my expert opinion the speed was excessive, and above the posted limit." If the Judge is a hard-a$$, that's all it will take. Which is why you need a lawyer who knows the ropes, what to argue, the judges, and how to get most tickets thrown out instantly.

 

One word: Lawyer.

Multi word: Find a Lawyer who is experienced at traffic cases in the jurisdiction of hte ticket. He or she will knwo the personalities involved and is your best case for getting you a favorable outcome. Going yourself is not going to do much for you.

 

Get a lawyer ... NOW.

If these tickets stand, you are SCREWED

Do not attempt to handle this yourself. As they say, anyone who defends themselves has a fool for a client

NO, its not double jeopardy. It can only be double jeopardy if your tried for the same crime twice. This is not the case. Two totally different infractions.

Crossing the double line gets you 1 point (not a named infraction ... like following to closely (i.e., tailgaiting)

Reckless Driving in MD is a whole new game, automatic SIX points. You WILL be hauled in before the MVA for a discussion as to why you should be allowed to drive in MD in the future. It will not be pleasant experience.

http://mlis.state.md.us/cgi-win/web_...e?gtr&21-901.1

§ 21-901.1. (a) A person is guilty of reckless driving if he drives a motor vehicle:

(1) In wanton or willful disregard for the safety of persons or property; or

(2) In a manner that indicates a wanton or willful disregard for the safety of persons or property.
While crossing the double line may be part of reckless driving, its still two infractions.

If convicted, most likely you will get to go to some driving school.

Speeding ... Your word against his. One point. That makes 8 points ... your screwed if convicted.

Get a lawyer and I bet he can get the reckless driving one reduced. Otherwise ... hmm, well your screwed.

As to insurance, as others have said, most likely your insurance company will NOT hike up your rates. Are you under 25? If so, they may just drop you.

Again, your screwed.

This is a very costly mistake.

I wish you the best ... BTW, is the Baltimore County or City

 

Agree with above. Get a lawyer and let him deal with it.

 

Yeah, looks like Lawyer time. I don't think any judge is going to jump at the chance to let you off if you got three pretty serious tickets at the same time. They're going to believe the cop over you. If it was just the excessive speed one and he didn't know how fast you were going they would probably lower it but not with the other two along wtih it I would imagine.

 

Get a lawyer and understanding judge witha decent lawyer should at be able to condense the tickets if they know oyu learned your lesson, the 2S/4S can be changed in the courtroom so they wont be thrown out as a result and as was mentioned, two infractions, two counts, completely different than double jeapordy.

You screwed up, you're young it happens, ownup to what you did, ask for a little understanding, pay the approriate sanctions, consider it a lesson learned and DON"T DO IT AGAIN.

 

Jeremy, as for the reckless driving and the right of center tickets, the officer probably did that because of the 3 infractions and having your insurance revoked thing. As for the speeding, the officer must notify the court as to how they obtained your speed being over the posted limit, i.e; used a radar/laser device, followed you for a specific amount of time for so much distance while using a recently calibrated speedo.

Now, I kinda know you and I know that you throw out a little attitude sometimes and you say that you got upset at his remark, so you could have given him attitude which really doesn't help because most judges are going to look at the officers ticket records, your age, car, previous violations, and than judge on the current violations. The officer is getting paid to be there and you have to take time out of your day, miss work, and than pay minimal court costs/legal fees and/or violation fees, plus most likely an increase in insurance.

It is best to just kiss *** for those 10-20 min and don't break the laws.

 

This sounds like an old fashioned down South screwing over by a corrupt cop. (Except that it's happening in the Frozen North) What were you really doing? What were the circumstances?

Does this cop have a personal grudge against you? (Messing with his daughter or niece or something like that?)

Reckless Driving is a serious charge. Even money-grubbing Georgia doesn't throw that one at you unless there was something WILD going on...or it is something trumped up. Get a lawyer. Let me repeat that louder... GET A LAWYER!

Even in Georgia, the cop has to tell a pretty good story to make a Reckless Driving charge stick.

It sounds like this cop has really got it out for you. Buy a micro-tape recorder and keep it in the storage compartment in the door. If you get out of this, he'll be on you like white on rice and so will his friends.

Tapes are great. If he says something out of line, you can ask him about it on the stand. If he denies saying it, then you play the tape.... Lying on the stand is called perjury, and even cops have trouble when they're caught doing that.

Get a good agressive lawyer.

Rawhyde

 

Actually, don't get a recorder. If I recall correctly, MD has a law stating that you need the person's permission to record their voice. Officers don't need your permission because you are being stopped for a violation. Now, I am not 100% sure about this, so please check it out. I am going to as well.

 

Check you local laws. In Georgia, if ONE PARTY is aware of the recording, it is legal. It is illegal here to bug 2 unsuspecting people talking, but if you're part of the conversation...it's OK.

It's definately worth checking into, but I suspect that it's legal. How else could cop beatings captured on tape ever make it onto the news?

Yet another good reason to get a lawyer. He could definately answer this!

Rawhyde

 

All of the above.

Reckless Driving is a killer as far as fines/points etc. Dunno' MD that well, but take it from someone with a "few" infractions, that you do not want to screw around. Where I come from, the heck with the other 2 tix, Reckless Driving is something close to DUI as far as the state is concerned.

And ALWAYS, regardless of what and where....
"yes officer" is always the reply. You can't win an argument.

 

True......

 

reckless goes on to ur criminal record in md.

Well, I am going in for one tomorrow morning. Of course with lawyer on my back and a witness. so I will see how it goes..

Oh plus, in MD, points do not stack. So if you are convicted of reckless, you get 6 points. Thats all you get. The highest point is the only one that will go under your record. They don't add 1 point from this 5 from this yadayadayada..


Good luck and don't be discouraged. Things just happen. Take your time and find a good lawyer.. since you have like 5 months or so.

 

One thing I have been told to always ask to see is the radar with the actual recorded speed. Also... when you do ask make sure you wait until AFTER the ticket is written up because most of the time the cop will have erased the recorded value and then have to make a note that the speed was not recorded... That supposedly will help in court.

 

Here in Missouri a couple of years ago, a local tv crew (channel 33) was riding with a state trooper. They clocked a guy going over 125 mph on I-44, stopped him, he didn't have his driver's license and didn't have proof of car insurance in his glove box. HE WAS ANOTHER STATE TROOPER!!! The trooper with the tv crew in his car, leaned in and whispered "I've got a camera crew in my car." then it went inaudible and he let the fellow trooper off. If that scenario had played out with one of us Namsters....we would be logging in during computer usage hours at our local jailhouse. And we would STILL be paying for insurance hikes and the ticket. Channel 33 tried to pry further into this and were simply told: "We tend to extend courtious behavior between our immediate depts."
Wow! I should have been a Missouri state trooper!! GOOD LUCK with your ticket.

 

Ok, well I'm not going to multi-quote, but I'm gonna answer different quesitons here.

1. Baltimore County
2. Jay - I was polite to the cop, I may be a punk *** kid, but I know not to mess with cops.
3. The speeding ticket was 'Speed Greater than Reasonable' which, how he explained it was more or less, "I don't need a number, because you were speeding." So asking to see radar wouldn't have mattered, because he admitted to not using radar/lazer on me.
4. sprp, are you in MD? If so, who is your lawyer, and did he get you off/reduced (assuming you read this after you goto court.) Anyone else know of a good traffic lawyer in MD?

 

get a lawyer! sounds like some of that is BS......probably be able to get them thrown out.