What kind of trouble am I in?

[dazzleman]

Nah, got that ticket in October I think... Already met with the prosecutor to try and get it reduced, but they wouldn't reduce it enough, so I asked for my day in court. May 30, 2008, lol... Over half a year from the ticket date, love the court system....

Ticket is complete bs. I'm quite confident that I will get it tossed, but in any case I will have dragged it out as long as possible.

How fast were you actually going?

[VTEC_Inside]

How fast were you actually going?

No more than 30kph over, lol... While it sounds high its pretty common for the stretch of road. Its downhill so they drop the limit 10kph for cars and like 20 or something for trucks. Thing is no one slows down from the typical 20 over so as you go down the hill now you are 30 over...

In any case, she zapped me from a parked position on the opposite side of the road, but didn't immediately follow, traffic was clear to do so, so I dunno whats up with that.

I stopped at a light not 300meters from where they were and made a right turn, at which point she could have no longer seen me unless she was a couple cars behind me. As I continued onto that road, there was at least one pickup truck behind me and 3 opportunities for someone to have turned onto or off the road before I first caught a glimpse of the cop making the same right turn I had.

I was a full kilometer away when she pulled me over. She was quite frankly a bitch, I asked twice if she was sure that she had tagged MY car and she didn't answer. She even had the nerve to say that "I expect you to fight it" and "maybe you should get a slower car" as she walked away after handing me the ticket.

Well I certainly am going to fight it because I'm sick of being targeted because of the fucking car. I only have two questions for her on court day: a) When is the first time you recorded my plate? (Since it would have been pretty hard as I'm driving by), and after she answers that she did it once I was pulled over, b) How do you know it was the same car? (Unless she can see through buildings...)

To top it off, it was raining a light drizzle that day which is known to affect laser speed measuring guns.

In the past I would have been happy fighting to get the 25kph over which I deserve, but I've had it with the way these things work. I'm not going to admit shit and just try and have the whole ticket tossed. 10yrs driving and my only accident was a clipped front fender from a dick that ran a red light, yet every day I encounter at least one dipshit that doesn't know how to drive at ALL... But yeah, I'm dangerous because I'm speeding on an open stretch of road, two words, bite me.

Oh I'm psyched, I don't even care if I win (well I do), but I'm not going down that easy...

[Tave]

Michigan is not a member of either, which usually means that you will be arrested and required to post bond for traffic violations if you're cited outside of the state of Michigan. One of the parts of these agreements is that, if a non-resident violator doesn't appear for court or doesn't pay the fines associated with the cite, that the home state will suspend their license. Because Michigan and Wisconsin aren't members of either of these agreements, motorists from those two states are normally required to post bond before being released because there's no repercussions if they never show for court. I'm not sure that justifies a ...

Could you elaborate? That doesn't make any sense.

[etypejohn]

Could you elaborate? That doesn't make any sense.

Let me give you an example.

About 30 years ago I'm driving through Oklahoma.  I have a Texas license and registration (strike 1).

I get pulled over for doing 60 in a 55 zone. 

The cop writes the ticket and tells me I have two options.  Spend the night in jail and wait until the Courts open in the morning or post bail and be on my way.  The amount of bail is identical to the cost of the ticket.  So what the cop had me do is take $40 cash (this was about 1977 remember) and put it in a postage paid  envelope he provided along with a document I signed saying I would appear in court on XX//XX/XX and if I failed to appear I would forfeit my bail money.  The cop stood by me and watched me put the money in the envelope along with the document, watched me seal it up and watched me put it in the mail box.

That way Oklahoma was guaranteed of getting their fine money.  Not that it matters though since they reason for enforcement is safety, not revenue.   

[TheIntrepid]

You got pulled over for doing 5 over? That's ridiculous.

[Tave]

Let me give you an example.

About 30 years ago I'm driving through Oklahoma.  I have a Texas license and registration (strike 1).

I get pulled over for doing 60 in a 55 zone. 

The cop writes the ticket and tells me I have two options.  Spend the night in jail and wait until the Courts open in the morning or post bail and be on my way.  The amount of bail is identical to the cost of the ticket.  So what the cop had me do is take $40 cash (this was about 1977 remember) and put it in a postage paid  envelope he provided along with a document I signed saying I would appear in court on XX//XX/XX and if I failed to appear I would forfeit my bail money.  The cop stood by me and watched me put the money in the envelope along with the document, watched me seal it up and watched me put it in the mail box.

That way Oklahoma was guaranteed of getting their fine money.  Not that it matters though since they reason for enforcement is safety, not revenue.   

That's nutty. I've been ticketed out of state and it wasn't any different than being ticketed in Wyoming. The officer handed me my slip of paper and that was that.

[etypejohn]

That's nutty. I've been ticketed out of state and it wasn't any different than being ticketed in Wyoming. The officer handed me my slip of paper and that was that.

That's because you were from a state that cooperates with the other states.  In my example if I didn't pay the ticket and stayed out of Oklahoma they could do nothing about it; Oklahome was just out the fine money and if I was ever stopped in Oklahoma again I could expect a bit of jail time and a fine.

For you if you get a ticket in Montana and fail to show up or pay the fine Montana contacts Wyoming and Wyoming punishes you.

[bing_oh]

Could you elaborate? That doesn't make any sense.

It's not about fine money, it's about guaranteeing that a ticketed driver goes to court. You see, with most states, if you're ticketed in another state and don't take care of the ticket to the satisfaction of the court (ie, show up for your court date, post bond, etc), they'll suspend your drivers license on the behalf of the state that ticketed you. There's no point in putting out a warrant for a minor traffic offense, so suspending a person's license usually does the trick. Michigan and Wisconsin refuse to agree to cooperate with other states in punishing their residents that get ticketed in other states and skip out on the court, so those drivers are required to either post bond before being released or they're held until they can see a judge on the traffic offense.

Without those agreements, you could drive in another state with absolute disregard for the traffic laws with no repercussions as long as you left the state.