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Criminal Speeding Ticket


VetVixn

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On 12/25/2015 at 8:58 AM, y2krtaf said:

My criminal experience was for 90 in a 65,100% bs,but none the less.

 

Went to court and stood in front of the judge to plea not guilty.You’ll then have to go stand in a line with everyone else,and they will assign you a date to come back,where the county prosecuter will offer a plea deal of speed not reasonable and prudent,3 points on your license,and a 280.00 dollar fine.

You can fight it if you choose,and the prosecuter will tell you all the doom and gloom,license suspeded for all eternity,fines in the millions etc.,so most choose to just pay the fine and move on...

 

That is very similar to my experience.

 

I feel that it is BS getting ticketed at near normal speed of traffic in these type of cars, and is nothing more than a source of revenue. Corvettes are far safer going 90 than a lot of vehicles out there going 75. It really is disappointing seeing officers that could be actually protecting the public wasting their ability collecting revenue.

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6 hours ago, 94transamgt said:

Corvettes are far safer going 90 than a lot of vehicles out there going 75. 

 

You know, I will spout this line off all the time too. But we all know it's not the car but the ability of the driver that plays a big part of the story.  

If I put you in a Prious, are you going to be far safer at 90 than most drivers out there ?

The Stig proved many times in everyday econoboxes that he could out drive the boys driver far superior cars. 

 

So yes, a Corvette is way more capable of handling better at twice the legal speed limit than your average soccer mom POS. It still depends on the driver behind the wheel. 

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13 hours ago, 94transamgt said:

It really is disappointing seeing officers that could be actually protecting the public wasting their ability collecting revenue.

 

Sorry, 90 in a 65 on a city freeway (sustained) they are just doing their job. DPS stands for department of public safety.

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12 hours ago, Desertdawg said:

 

You know, I will spout this line off all the time too. But we all know it's not the car but the ability of the driver that plays a big part of the story.  

If I put you in a Prious, are you going to be far safer at 90 than most drivers out there ?

The Stig proved many times in everyday econoboxes that he could out drive the boys driver far superior cars. 

 

So yes, a Corvette is way more capable of handling better at twice the legal speed limit than your average soccer mom POS. It still depends on the driver behind the wheel. 

This is absolutely true.  I am a very capable driver - been racing since I was 16.  And I know that is rare for a woman.  In fact, I jump in the same camp with a lot of people about women drivers because a vast majority of them don't know how to drive very well.  That said, I've seen some stupid aggressive drivers that think that going fast is all that matters.  I've always been highly strategic about my driving - thinking 3 or 4 steps ahead. I CAN beat a corvette in my Honda CRV and have because I outdrive them - it's not always about just going fast.  That said, the DPS guy has no way to know if I'm the garden variety idiot with a Corvette or I actually know what I'm doing.  I totally get it.  It IS frustrating though that since I got that ticket I have been doing my best to keep my speeds down and literally everyone is blowing past me, and not driving carefully at that.  So from that perspective I don't feel I deserved the ticket.  

 

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6 hours ago, Blk n Blu said:

 

Sorry, 90 in a 65 on a city freeway (sustained) they are just doing their job. DPS stands for department of public safety.

Not that I'm disagreeing, but for the record, I was going 90 for less than a minute.  I was already slowing down before I came across him.   I had sped up to pass someone and then went a little longer than was necessary.  But it certainly wasn't me blowing 90 or more down the freeway, weaving in an out of traffic and being reckless.

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54 minutes ago, VetVixn said:

Not that I'm disagreeing, but for the record, I was going 90 for less than a minute.  I was already slowing down before I came across him.   I had sped up to pass someone and then went a little longer than was necessary.  But it certainly wasn't me blowing 90 or more down the freeway, weaving in an out of traffic and being reckless.

 

I was not referring to your driving just making a point of LE.

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All depends on the prosecutor. I got nailed for 75 over and criminal/reckless. Went to court, talked to the DA, he agreed on $400 fine and no other moving violations for 90 days then it would all drop off my record. So in the end it cost me $400 and never showed up on my record. 

 

I strongly suggest you try whatever is possible to keep it off your insurance/etc as you will easily pay $2k+ in higher rates over 3 years it is on there. It is better to pay $1000 up front than $200-400 and have it on your record. 

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22 hours ago, VetVixn said:

 

This is absolutely true.  I am a very capable driver - been racing since I was 16.  And I know that is rare for a woman.  In fact, I jump in the same camp with a lot of people about women drivers because a vast majority of them don't know how to drive very well.  That said, I've seen some stupid aggressive drivers that think that going fast is all that matters.  I've always been highly strategic about my driving - thinking 3 or 4 steps ahead. I CAN beat a corvette in my Honda CRV and have because I outdrive them - it's not always about just going fast.  That said, the DPS guy has no way to know if I'm the garden variety idiot with a Corvette or I actually know what I'm doing.  I totally get it.  It IS frustrating though that since I got that ticket I have been doing my best to keep my speeds down and literally everyone is blowing past me, and not driving carefully at that.  So from that perspective I don't feel I deserved the ticket.  

 

So when I got nabbed swapping lanes at 97 mph on I-10 during fairly heavy Sunday afternoon traffic somewhere around Banning, CA and I had had my race tires and helmet where the passenger seat normally resides and the shoe polish numbers still on the windshield, the LEO said he was well aware that I was far more capable than other drivers, but the quick high-speed lane change that potentially scared other drivers was the reason for stopping me. He then wrote me for 15 over in a 70 zone that cost $250 and no report to AZ DPS. You may be more competent than me and/or most people, but perception is king.

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1 hour ago, HOXXOH said:

So when I got nabbed swapping lanes at 97 mph on I-10 during fairly heavy Sunday afternoon traffic somewhere around Banning, CA and I had had my race tires and helmet where the passenger seat normally resides and the shoe polish numbers still on the windshield, the LEO said he was well aware that I was far more capable than other drivers, but the quick high-speed lane change that potentially scared other drivers was the reason for stopping me. He then wrote me for 15 over in a 70 zone that cost $250 and no report to AZ DPS. You may be more competent than me and/or most people, but perception is king.

Absolutely right.  I am sure people feel bothered by me speeding past them.  Heck I'm bothered when people speed past me, LOL.  I do try to be careful not to be a rude driver or cut people off, etc.

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5 hours ago, Unreal said:

All depends on the prosecutor. I got nailed for 75 over and criminal/reckless. Went to court, talked to the DA, he agreed on $400 fine and no other moving violations for 90 days then it would all drop off my record. So in the end it cost me $400 and never showed up on my record. 

 

I strongly suggest you try whatever is possible to keep it off your insurance/etc as you will easily pay $2k+ in higher rates over 3 years it is on there. It is better to pay $1000 up front than $200-400 and have it on your record. 

Did you have to go all the way to court to get to talk to the DA?  I worry a bit about taking my chances with that. If they offer me a plea deal, I'm inclined to take it.  Anyone have any experience with "countering" the plea agreement? For instance if they offer to reduce to a civil ticket but it's still 3 points, will I have any success if I ask them to drop it to 1 point or something like that?  I just took the driving school in May so I'm not eligible which is quite unfortunate.  I'd certainly love to have it thrown out or just pay a fine.  I've only had one time where I showed up (on a civil ticket) and when they called my name, someone stood up and said that my ticket had been dismissed.  Have no idea why. I would certainly love to have that kind of luck with this one!

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If you are worried get a lawyer now. Yes I had to goto court and talk with them there before the trial. He was busy with stabbings/drug offenders/etc and didn't want to mess with a speeding ticket that day so I got off lucky. If you want to counter, then I would get a lawyer now. 

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20 hours ago, VetVixn said:

Did you have to go all the way to court to get to talk to the DA?  I worry a bit about taking my chances with that. If they offer me a plea deal, I'm inclined to take it.  Anyone have any experience with "countering" the plea agreement? For instance if they offer to reduce to a civil ticket but it's still 3 points, will I have any success if I ask them to drop it to 1 point or something like that?  I just took the driving school in May so I'm not eligible which is quite unfortunate.  I'd certainly love to have it thrown out or just pay a fine.  I've only had one time where I showed up (on a civil ticket) and when they called my name, someone stood up and said that my ticket had been dismissed.  Have no idea why. I would certainly love to have that kind of luck with this one!

The "man" has all the power.  If you don't accept their plea, I would just stay mute and say that was more than you were hoping for, and see how overwhelmed they are.  Once you make an offer you set the bar and may get a counter that is much higher than you wanted.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I got popped doing 88 in a 65 -

 

Cop wrote the ticket for criminal speeding.  After he wrote the ticket he wanted to stick around and BS about my Porsche (at the time) .....

 

I went before the judge and apologized for speeding - and yes I admitted fault.  Yes sir - no sir to the Judge.

 

He reduced it from criminal to civil and allowed me to go to driving school.

 

No points and just time wasted in that God awful waste of day traffic school plus the cost of the class.

 

YMMV

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  • 4 weeks later...

Wanted to give you all an update:

 

I went to court in January. The judge gave me the choice to plead guilty, not guilty or he would allow me to take the defensive driving school.  I was not eligible for the driving school because I had a ticket in May of last year.  So I pled not guilty.  I was given a pre-trial conference date in February (today).

 

From what I had researched, the prosecuting attorney will typically offer a plea. This typically seemed to be a reduction from a criminal ticket to civil, a reduction in fine and in some cases a reduction of points.

For me, the prosecutor only offered to reduce the fine (which I believe the judge would have done in the first place had I pled guilty based on what I saw him do for a couple of other people in the courtroom).  This didn't really seem like much of a plea deal to me, especially since it was still a criminal charge (misdemeanor) that would stay on my record.

 

We talked at length about how the judge would have let me do defensive driving school had I been eligible.  We did some research together to see if the judge could defer the case until May so I would be eligible for the class. This did not end up being an option because the State of Arizona requires a year from the citation date and there is no latitude to allow someone to take a class sooner and have it qualify to dismiss your ticket.

 

So we talked some more and I asked again about getting the ticket reduced to a civil ticket. The prosecutor said he was only allowed to offer that for speeds of 90 miles or less (I was going 91).  I pointed out to him that the judge had been welling to let me take a civil traffic defensive driving course.  He said he might be able to do it if I was willing to do community service. I said I would be open to that option.  He had me sit outside of his office while he made a phone call and was told he could go ahead and offer that plea.

 

So my final disposition was civil traffic violation (Failure to drive at a reasonable and prudent speed), $249 fine (down from $500), 3 points on my license, and 40 hours of community service.

 

Not the best outcome, but not the worst either.  It was good to know that I could have done traffic school  had I been eligible.

 

The fact that I was going over 85 really seemed to hurt me.  I have been caught going 85 or over before, but the cop usually writes it for less.

 

Ironically, ever since I got this ticket, I have been watching my speed and so many cars blow by me. It's pretty ridiculous that they wrote it as a criminal ticket in my opinion.  But I guess you have to set a threshold somewhere.  

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Glad you didn't get thrown in the clinker. :thumbs

Not the best, definitely not the worst outcome either. You're like me, just not lucky enough to get away with it like others do

 

Slow roll that car to the February lunch if you can, they'll be some east side cars rolling over for sure and sign up to run with the pack to Gila Bend in March. You can enjoy the drive in the safety of numbers!

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1 hour ago, TheCMSH said:

Glad you didn't get thrown in the clinker. :thumbs

Not the best, definitely not the worst outcome either. You're like me, just not lucky enough to get away with it like others do

 

Slow roll that car to the February lunch if you can, they'll be some east side cars rolling over for sure and sign up to run with the pack to Gila Bend in March. You can enjoy the drive in the safety of numbers!

Is that the ACE lunch on the calendar?

1 hour ago, Bigfoot said:

At least you got it reduced. Better than where it was at.

definitely!

 

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I seriously think you would have been better off pleading guilty. I much rather pay a $500 fine than 40 hours of service. 

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1 hour ago, Unreal said:

I seriously think you would have been better off pleading guilty. I much rather pay a $500 fine than 40 hours of service. 

I guess that depends on how much it matters that you have a misdemeanor on your record.  They would have given me a $249 fine regardless of whether I took the plea or I pled guilty.  The fine wasn't the issue. I'm not thrilled about the community service but I look at this way - I did get caught speeding. I'd rather do something to give back to the community and be a little humbled in the process than to have a misdemeanor that would stay on my record forever.  I get to choose who I want to do community service with.

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Sounds like a good deal to me. 

My latest work truck has teletracker on it so I have to drive the speed limit.  Man it feels like I'm sitting still now while everyone flies by. 

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12 hours ago, VetVixn said:

I guess that depends on how much it matters that you have a misdemeanor on your record.  They would have given me a $249 fine regardless of whether I took the plea or I pled guilty.  The fine wasn't the issue. I'm not thrilled about the community service but I look at this way - I did get caught speeding. I'd rather do something to give back to the community and be a little humbled in the process than to have a misdemeanor that would stay on my record forever.  I get to choose who I want to do community service with.

Well put

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18 minutes ago, Ted Y said:

You should see if they'll let you serve food to poor Corvette owners in Gila Bend as part of your community service.

LOL...is it a 501 (C) 3 Nonprofit?

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On February 10, 2016 at 8:04 AM, Chameleon said:

FYI - 85 mph is the maximum speed in Arizona per statute. That law is why being over 85 made it a class 3 misdemeanor.   

 

Uh oh… so my friends theory about "going 94 in a 75 is no biggie since it's still just a normal less than 20 over speeding ticket" is not true?

 

I... I mean he has like 50k miles on the 8 and 10 with the cruise on 94...

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