Speeding ticket

gameland

Twelve Pointer
Ok first let me say that I am telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Friday night I was driving in a 45 mph zone and up ahead I see a police car at a stop sign on a side street waiting to pull out on the main road so I made sure I was going 45. Right past this road the speed limit changes from a 45 mph zone to a 55 mph zone. About a quarter mile in the 55 mph zone I see two highway patrol cars sitting beside each other facing opposite directions in the median. So again I've just left the 45 zone and I am at 55mph when I pass the troopers. As soon as I pass them the blue lights on one car comes on and I pull over. I'm assuming he is gonna say
something because I had a big cooler on my hitch hauler blocking my tag. He walks up to my truck and asks why I'm going 78 in a 55 zone. I was in shock at this point.... I told the trooper no way was I going anywhere near 78. He asked me how long I've had the tires on my truck as bigger tires can change the speedo. I told him about two years ago and I went up one size tires and that doesn't make a speedometer off by 23 mph. I asked was there anyway that maybe he clocked someone else and pulled me by mistake. Long story short is he gave me a ticket for 78 in a 55. He said because of the rate of speed it's mandatory I have to show up for the court date. To say I'm pissed off is an understatement. If I was guilty or even running 65 I would take my lumps but I was not even speeding. So now my options I guess is to drive 5 hours back to the town this happened at and try to represent myself or hire a lawyer and hope I can get it reduced. Either way I'm out a lot of money for something I'm completely innocent of.
 

lbksmom

Banned
I would call the DA in that county, explain to him. You just will probably pay him $$ to have it reduced. No points on Insurance etc. Saves the drive/hassle for you?? Good luck, state troopers are hard to get out of.
 

Moran

Four Pointer
I can give some advice on because I drive a truck and over the years I have had alot of tickets. For one the cop does not have proof in court . But if you are asking for proof you can really get them if you ask for the information of when the last time his radar was tested and he training records. But the easiest way to deal with the ticket is to postpone the court date and try to find out when he will off work and try to get the court changed to that date . Because if he will not show up in court and you are there then you please not guilty you win the case. It will be dismissed. I have done this more than once without using a lawyer
 

NCST8GUY

Frozen H20 Guy
I thought their their instruments were calibrated VERY often?

Also, was it day or night? Imho, an experienced SHP with years of watching vehicles at various rates of speed, can probably determine a difference of 23 mph by eyeball if daytime.

I would also suggest going to a shop and having your speedo checked. If it's correct, you could bring that to court with you and try to politely explain your confusion in that you checked your speed as soon as you saw them. I have sat in court and watched people who said "no way I was going that fast" and seen the judge add an "improper equipment" on top of the speeding ticket. :skeerd:

I also believe you know your vehicle's speed, relative to others. IF your speedo was that far off, you'd be doing like 100 in the 70 mph zones :eek:
 
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wncdeerhunter

Old Mossy Horns
I can give some advice on because I drive a truck and over the years I have had alot of tickets. For one the cop does not have proof in court . But if you are asking for proof you can really get them if you ask for the information of when the last time his radar was tested and he training records. But the easiest way to deal with the ticket is to postpone the court date and try to find out when he will off work and try to get the court changed to that date . Because if he will not show up in court and you are there then you please not guilty you win the case. It will be dismissed. I have done this more than once without using a lawyer

Most every bit of this is ridiculous. Seriously. Speaking as someone who has had people try most of this in court - and lost.
 
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aya28ga

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Innocent or not you most definitely need a lawyer, and you will start receiving solicitations from lawyers in the mail this week. With that charge you are possibly looking at serious points, even loss of license. Lawyer up!!
 

Moran

Four Pointer
Lol your comment is is what is ridiculous . I can provide proof to what I wrote here . Over the years I have had 7 tickets dismissed and had alot others changed to other fines so that's pretty damn good for over 3 million miles in a truck . NEXT !!
 

wncdeerhunter

Old Mossy Horns
Lol your comment is is what is ridiculous . I can provide proof to what I wrote here . Over the years I have had 7 tickets dismissed and had alot others changed to other fines so that's pretty damn good for over 3 million miles in a truck . NEXT !!

Ok, buddy.
 

darkthirty

Old Mossy Horns
Had several speeding tickets pretty much from end of the state to the other. A couple were faster than you were clocked at. Never not one time have I ever been to court or had my insurance go up. If your driving record is clean, just write the layer a check and be done with it. Some lawyers can get pricey but if it keeps me from being in a courtroom, points on my license or rates going up, the lawyer is money well spent. Goin on about 5 years without a ticket now. Reckon I’m due. Hahahaha
 

mekanizm

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Lol your comment is is what is ridiculous . I can provide proof to what I wrote here . Over the years I have had 7 tickets dismissed and had alot others changed to other fines so that's pretty damn good for over 3 million miles in a truck . NEXT !!

Lol...I see you are new here so welcome to the forum.

As it stands though, you have just summarily dismissed the Expert opinion of a member whose above-board standing and credibility in this forum has been earned through an exceptional amount of professional advice offered to members here for years (He knows what he is talking about and it's not because he stayed at a Holiday Inn!).

Challenging calibration and training along with trying to time when an officer isn't in court is not a realistic strategy for the OP (who lives 5 hours away). Has it happened? Sure but the odds are very heavily slanted towards getting the book thrown at you with this approach. There are MUCH better strategies for dealing with this than relying on a perfect storm.
 

wncdeerhunter

Old Mossy Horns
Lol...I see you are new here so welcome to the forum.

As it stands though, you have just summarily dismissed the Expert opinion of a member whose above-board standing and credibility in this forum has been earned through an exceptional amount of professional advice offered to members here for years (He knows what he is talking about and it's not because he stayed at a Holiday Inn!).

Challenging calibration and training along with trying to time when an officer isn't in court is not a realistic strategy for the OP (who lives 5 hours away). Has it happened? Sure but the odds are very heavily slanted towards getting the book thrown at you with this approach. There are MUCH better strategies for dealing with this than relying on a perfect storm.

Officer isn't here? You plea not guilty? Okay. We will subpoena the officer and continue the case, marked for trial. If only I knew that we didn't have to go to court on our days off. 👀

Most competent officers carry a notebook/folder into court on their court dates. Those generally contain all their certifications/training/etc. usually isn't their first rodeo
 
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gameland

Twelve Pointer
I was in Bertie county. Here's the deal. I've got to decide if I'm going to bend over and take this by pleading guilty and paying a lawyer my hard earned money for something that I'm completely innocent of or do I try to go defend myself in court? I'm still stunned about this whole thing. It's not like I got a ticket for 5 over or running a stop sign. That's arguable. 23 over is a huge difference. How does an officer miss something this far off? After the trooper handed me my ticket I asked him to get in front of me and get up to 55 mph and I will follow him to check my speedometer. He agreed and once we leveled out at 55 we were traveling at same exact pace.
 
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1SHOT1KILL

Old Mossy Horns
Best advise on here is to lawyer up. I suggest that you to take that advise. Any time you are dealing with law enforcement where you are facing any kind of charge, be it a speeding ticket, Jay walking, or any other matter, you would be foolish not to have an attorney represent you. Unfortunately it is the times we live in today, where any time you step foot inside a court room you had better have an attorney to represent you. Like I said unfortunately these are the times we live in today.
 

corapeake

Eight Pointer
I was in Bertie county. Here's the deal. I've got to decide if I'm going to bend over and take this by pleading guilty and paying a lawyer my hard earned money for something that I'm completely innocent of or do I try to go defend myself in court? I'm still stunned about this whole thing. It's not like I got a ticket for 5 over or running a stop sign. That's arguable. 23 over is a huge difference. How does an officer miss something this far off? After the trooper handed me my ticket I asked him to get in front of me and get up to 55 mph and I will follow him to check my speedometer. He agreed and once we leveled out at 55 we were traveling at same exact pace.
IMHO, you have little choice but hire a lawyer mainly because of insurance points, but principle too. It sounds like their equipment isn't calibrated properly or operator error.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 

SamCo89

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
I was in Bertie county. Here's the deal. I've got to decide if I'm going to bend over and take this by pleading guilty and paying a lawyer my hard earned money for something that I'm completely innocent of or do I try to go defend myself in court? I'm still stunned about this whole thing. It's not like I got a ticket for 5 over or running a stop sign. That's arguable. 23 over is a huge difference. How does an officer miss something this far off? After the trooper handed me my ticket I asked him to get in front of me and get up to 55 mph and I will follow him to check my speedometer. He agreed and once we leveled out at 55 we were traveling at same exact pace.

Lawyer... FYI, court cost have gone up.. so grin & bear it...

Just went through the lawyer thing earlier in the year. My wife & I were getting back to a family get together last Thanksgiving weekend from our family mnt trip. We’re coming down 421 just above 64 & I look over, she’s running between 80-85. About the time I said you need to slow down, i saw the charger top the hill .

Trooper didn’t say much, & $550 later she still had her license. He hit her with speeding and careless/reck.. speeding charge was tossed but the c&r stayed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
New online program through our DOT to deal with speeding tickets. Not all counties participate though.
A lawyer and court costs will most likely be your best bet in the long run...and have your speedo checked with a full diagnostic report to prove one way or the other if you inadvertently contributed to the ticket.
 

GSOHunter

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Pay $75 to a lawyer and then pay the $200-300 in court costs you will get slapped with. That 23 over is nothing to mess around with. My wife got nailed with something similar. There is no way she was going as fast as they said. She had just pulled out of a gas station less than a 1/4 mile form where she stopped and they said she was going 70 in a 45. The speed drops from 55-45 then immediately goes back to 55 after the bridge. The trooper knocked it down to 54 in a 45. We paid a lawyer $100 and ended up paying another $130 in court costs.
 

bryguy

Old Mossy Horns
as has been said, lawyer up...........by the time you figure taking the day off work, gas, mileage and such, a lawyer is a bargain.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
Ok first let me say that I am telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Friday night I was driving in a 45 mph zone and up ahead I see a police car at a stop sign on a side street waiting to pull out on the main road so I made sure I was going 45. Right past this road the speed limit changes from a 45 mph zone to a 55 mph zone. About a quarter mile in the 55 mph zone I see two highway patrol cars sitting beside each other facing opposite directions in the median. So again I've just left the 45 zone and I am at 55mph when I pass the troopers. As soon as I pass them the blue lights on one car comes on and I pull over. I'm assuming he is gonna say
something because I had a big cooler on my hitch hauler blocking my tag. He walks up to my truck and asks why I'm going 78 in a 55 zone. I was in shock at this point.... I told the trooper no way was I going anywhere near 78. He asked me how long I've had the tires on my truck as bigger tires can change the speedo. I told him about two years ago and I went up one size tires and that doesn't make a speedometer off by 23 mph. I asked was there anyway that maybe he clocked someone else and pulled me by mistake. Long story short is he gave me a ticket for 78 in a 55. He said because of the rate of speed it's mandatory I have to show up for the court date. To say I'm pissed off is an understatement. If I was guilty or even running 65 I would take my lumps but I was not even speeding. So now my options I guess is to drive 5 hours back to the town this happened at and try to represent myself or hire a lawyer and hope I can get it reduced. Either way I'm out a lot of money for something I'm completely innocent of.

i empathize with your situation. To hell with being falsely accused.

at this point just get a lawyer from that town and see what he can do. he knows the territory and can tell you. assess that cost and benefit with stronger action on your part.

while it's personal to you ;the trooper doesnt care either way; and the future costs of not getting lawyer help may be huge. insurance companies do not like those speeds.

i have done the self rep deal a few times but not on those speeds.

Good Luck whatever route you go.
 

Greg

Old Mossy Horns
Best advise on here is to lawyer up. I suggest that you to take that advise. Any time you are dealing with law enforcement where you are facing any kind of charge, be it a speeding ticket, Jay walking, or any other matter, you would be foolish not to have an attorney represent you. Unfortunately it is the times we live in today, where any time you step foot inside a court room you had better have an attorney to represent you. Like I said unfortunately these are the times we live in today.
I agree with everyone who said this ^ . What we have are court systems, not a justice system. It doesn't matter if you're completely innocent ... they'll eat you alive w/o an attorney. Sorry, man.
 

Foothillsd1

Six Pointer
Its been my experience to get a lawyer. Especially if its a long drive. Im sure your time is more valuable spent working or with your family. If you have a pretty clean record it wont cost you that much and will be taken care of very easily.

Without a local lawyer, once you step into the courts your in their world. They probably wont throw the book at you, but your not gonna get out of it. Good luck getting a dash cam or the radar calibration info they don't like to give those up to just anyone.
 
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