[Haird]

Get a slower bike?

 

[45102]

First post!!!



A good rule of thumb, if you are passng people you are probably speeding. I would get a lawyer (if you can afford one) to drag it out and then get the thing dismissed. You could also see if you could get deferred ajudication. Then you would be on probation and when the probation time is up the ticket gets wiped from your record. If you get busted for anything else though the ticket comes back to haunt you.



Good Luck

 

[nokneedragin]

In my aged years I have come up with three cardinal rulles for dealing with tickets:



Get a lawyer.



Get a great Lawyer.



Get the best Lawyer your money can buy!



The short term pain of paying the bloodsucker has saved me long term pain of paying the guv'ment bloodsuckers and the Insurance bloodsuckers.

 

[52366]

In my experience a little 'respect' (a$$ kissing) can go a long way when dealing with cops. Don't argue that you didn't do anything wrong, just argue that you hadn't realized how fast you were going. Try not to lie, just extend the truth. The severity of the ticket usually depends on the mood of the officer, so every little thing you can do to make his job easier, may help you out a little bit. This doesn't always help in extreme cases of speeding like this.



I don't know how it is where you are, but in PA you can fight a ticket without having to pay a lawyer. Usually you still have to pay some if not all, but more importantly, the judge will minimize the points that go onto your record. at almost 100 mph you will probably not have them all removed, but getting 2 point is better than 5 or so. Many times you can even ask the cop for a ticket that is stated slightly different so you won't get points. I've had many tickets that have been changed by the judge to eliminate points and reduce the cost of the ticket.



In the long run, the money can be re-earned. The points are much harder to get rid of. I'd rather pay the full extent of the ticket without points, than get points and pay less.



Just my thoughts from my experiences.

 

[longride]

No use in beating yourself up for it. Just about everyone speeds. On the expressways here, the average speed is about 20 over the limit for everyone. The key to not getting caught is to pick your spots. Speeding all the time will get you nabbed every time. Get a lawyer and fight it. It may get reduced to driving school or supervision. Also, it helps to have a firefighter commision card to have fall out of your wallet accidentally. It's like a Monopoly "Get out of Jail Free" card. Got me out of a few.

 

[33129]

I second the thought of picking your spots. I'd rather hit a tree than risk messing up someone on a main road. Plus, police tend not to police trees in my area. Notice, I said "tend". Also, when the aggressive urges start to build, pull off the road, take a few pictures, have a Coke and a burger, get a hooker. Anything to drop the testosterone levels back to normal.

 

[33809]

Am I the only person who noticed that the police didn't tell you how they registered your speed?

If they didn't then that's probably enough to beat the rap. If it's a radar or laser thaey have to tell you and show you the calibration (if you ask).

 

[m_t_yeo]

In Canada, they can pace you to write the ticket, but they have to show in court that their speedo is accurate and was recently calibrated (they regularly are for this reason). If you leave him behind, though, the maximum they can write the ticket for is the speed at which they last saw you, not their guestimated speed you were traveling. It also has to be corroborated to really stick, so a lot of those get won by the speeders because the officer was the only on in the vehicle.

 

[32754]

take it like a man, already

technicality/schmechnicality. You were speeding at an aggressive speed. The cop cut you a break by not writing you up for 100+ and dumping your sorry ass in jail right then and there. Pay the fine, live with the points and remind yourself that a freakin' track day costs $200 or less.

Take the heat. You earned it.

 

[36284]

Your're probably right that he didn't get you on radar, or he would have said so. As a former MP, I can tell you that those guys get pretty good at estimating speeds, and while a Judge may decide to ding you for less than what was on the ticket, he's probably not going to dismiss it. Even a civilian can probably tell the difference between 70 and 100, after all. If you get it lowered enough that they don't put you in the go-to-jail group, do they have traffic school available in your state? It's usually more expensive than the fine, but you won't get charged the points. Some of these schools can be found online as well. Good luck!

 

[Lowrez]

Agreed. The cost of a traffic lawyer is generally under $200 for simple cases and you can save that much in insurance premiums in two years by maintaining a clean record.



Second suggestion, ditch the radar detector and learn to ride closer to the common speed when in any kind of traffic. Fast is fun, but faster than traffic is dangerous.

 

[Lowrez]

Hit refresh before you write first post. You were late by over 8 minutes.

 

[646]

What's with the "Speeding is wreckless, dangerous, and wrong" BS? Wreckless behavior has very little to do with speed. Riding 35mph can be wreckless if you are on a crowed city street, while 90mph on an open interstate can be perfectly safe and reasonable. You were not impaired by drugs or alchohol were you? You were in complete control of your vehicle at all times right?

Stop perpetuating this tired mantra of "Speed Kills". Irresponsible behavior is dangerous, no matter what the speed. Just ask Kelen Winslow.



PS. If speeding is so bad, what's the RADAR detector for?

 

[47973]

Just my feeble attempt at sarcasm. You are absolutely right about speeding vs. being wreckless, even though the two are not differentiated between in the instance of speeding. Actually, the radar detector has been invaluable in the two years that I've owned it by allowing me to get into the gaps at 80-85 before slowing to the speed of traffic.

 

[jaholbro]

You don't need a lawyer...at least here in michigan. I was on my way home from campus one night at 12:30 am after a long night of studying for exams...in my car btw. passed a cop doing 70 in a 55. Went to talk to the magistrate, waited for my name to be called, claimed that i was guilty. He said since my record was clean he was going to drop the offece to impeding traffic. No points just a fine. I will never ever again just pay a ticket w/o going to cort.

 

[arch99]

Re: take it like a man, already

I totally agree, it bothers me that people who are totally in the wrong, go to court, waist taxpayer money by blocking up the courts, and then recieve a lesser fine, just because they show up and complain. My two cents.

 

[vritual_stas]

Since you were polite and nice with the police officers, there's a good chance that they won't show up in court. I don't know how is it in your state, but in IL if they don't show up and you do, then your case is automatically dismissed. The couple of my last speeding tickets (all highway and done safely) were dismissed this way, because I was actually polite, cooperative and in a good sense humourous about the situation and myself with the police. Why - just imagine with how many a$$holes they deal every day, so if you're nice, they'll appreciate it. It works for me, even though I shave my head, drive/ride fast cars/bikes, my English is far from perfect and I have a distinctive Russian accent .



Now, the important part: 98 MPH can be considered not only a serious speeding but also an "endangerment of public safety" and blah-blah-blah. So, even if you have good feeling about it, don't take it lightly and find a lawyer.



Again, in any case, whatever you do, get a lawyer. I did, paid $200 every time, and I had a piece of mind knowing that he'd do what was possible to do.



PS the fact that they gave you a ticket for 98, not for 100-something is a good sign. You have a very good chance of them not showing up.



Good luck and don't get caught again

 

[longride]

And.........

The only dumbass that's bigger than the "First Post" moron, is the guy that says it on the second post.

 

[45643]

Sorry for you, i know how it feels...your mood is destroyed for the rest of the day, if not a week....



But i can tell a little bit about situation here, in my country.Different things are here....I live in small country - Lithuania (ofcourse you probably have no clue where it is, but we are located near Russia, in the Europe).For 50 years our country was occupied by Russia and only for the last 15 years we were independent.When our country became independent, economical situation became dramatic.The average salary went down, very fast.But it is possible to earn money if you aren't lazy and stupid and it is possible to buy good things,goods,cars,bikes,etc.Still people that work in public work (e.g. cops) earn very little and usually it is expected that people who can't get job anywhere else, go to work there.Thus they need money and bribes are very common here....during last couple years when we joined European Union, situation got a little bit better but it is still the same.So if you drive car, you actually "pay" for your speeding at place, it is in the form of bribe and money goes to officer rather than to national budget (who cares,right? probably....) But if you ride on your bike (sportbike) situation is different - cops don't have fast cars,there are no helicopters so they can't catch you...the only way is if you stop by yourself.And official ticket prices are high, so guys on bikes don't stop at all.And now cops don't even try to stop you, they just let you ride by.Thus we have practicaly no speed limits (for the bikes) and we choose what is safe speed for us.Interestingly enough, there are no more deaths than anywhere else (by statistic) and if you buy bike you probably have enough money and you are not stupid And insurance companies don't insure bikes at all.....So now we have "little heaven" here and can do up to 170mph in the city (or even more,very rarely ofcourse) , but only when there are no cars and roads are pretty wide.You drive and there are no cops for you, they just don't excist for ya......But you risk to have big injuries and even death, so everyone also tries to think.By situation and not by rules.Its is probably good if you have experience and more brain than the one who just goes flat out and kills himself....But you are free and you don't have to think everytime you pass civil car, if there is cop inside or not. Ofcoure everything will change, probably not so fast but eventualy change, especially that we are now in ES....So we just enjoy riding for now, and I feel somehow happy about things here...I ride already more than 8 years with sportbike and didn't have any accidents at all..i guess it is possible to live without speed limits Ofcourse nobody knows what can happen in the future, so you must always have "speed limits" in your head at first.You have situation different there, but that feeling inside you is most important.The only one who can save you from accidents - its you and not cops, so don't take it to your heart and try to forget is.Just enjoy your ride and the control of your bike



And if you want to avoid cops, know the places where they usually are.Good luck

 

[51653]

Re: take it like a man, already

Okay, then I guess I'm one who really bothers you. I have challenged 12 tickets in court since 1997 and beat them all. I live in Washington state by the way.

PS, I'm working on a 13th, that one's in California and I'm not so optimistic.

L.F.