Back in July received a speeding ticket. I was cited for 66mph in a 55mph zone.
This is the first speeding ticket that I've received in about 18 years, give or take. So I fought it. The last time I fought a ticket was 1994. I won that case.
Today I didn't.
The last law class I had in college taught me the importance of evidence. I knew I didn't have any. My strategy relied on the officer testifying to a fact that I needed to introduce reasonable doubt. He almost gave me what I needed. Almost.
He answered my question truthfully. I do believe that he was truthful. He couldn't remember a detail from July that was inconsequential to his duties, but vital to my defense. That left me with, I believe the legal term here is; buttkiss or maybe that's jackdiddlysquat, for a defense.
So I rested.
And I lost.
If I had to do it all over again, I would still fight the ticket. I recommend you do too. I've lost all faith in the police's basic level of integrity. I think this particular cop was honest, but mistaken. I'm not sure about the honesty of America's police as a whole. The only way citizens have to combat that is in a courtroom. Don't wait till the stakes are high, fight them over every little alleged infraction of every little law. Every. Time.
My philosophy is this:
ReplyDelete1. Posted speed limits are calculated to accommodate the Least Common Denominator (LCD): the old man whose reflexes aren't what they used to be; the young girl with a brand new license, taking her girlfriends to the mall; the distracted driver who's drinking coffee, smoking a cigarette, and messing with the stereo all at the same time. People like this need to drive slower than what most other people can handle.
2. Traffic engineers consider many factors like street particulars when assessing speed limits, but they are typically assessed at the LCD value. However, most streets can easily handle 5-10MPH over the LCD value, and often quite more than that.
3. I quite often exceed the LCD value by that 5-10MPH figure, and sometimes more than that, as long as I am not being distracted by other things.
4. If I get cited for such excess, I consider it the cost for the privelege of Driving Over LCD. I will not just pay the fine out of hand, however; the traffic DA will usually downgrade the citation to defective equipment or some such to lessen points assessed against your license and to eliminate the negative effect the original citation would have with the insurance company. The fine will stay the same; but like I said, I consider it part of the cost of driving, just like the license and the insurance is.
5. Hence, I have gone to court to handle the ticket, but have never gone to trial...and probably never will, largely for the reason you stated: you inevitably lose, but you end up paying more for the right to do so.
That's not to say that your method is wrong, of course. Just that it has its drawbacks, too.
WYO doesn't have a point system. You just pay the fine. I still fought it. The fine ran to $102. It's not the money its the principle.
ReplyDeleteI fought one ticket as well. I had just had the tires replaced on the car with a slightly larger size and was only going 36 in a 30.
ReplyDeleteThe police officer and the judge were personal friends. It was obvious the entire sequence of the trial had been completed hundreds of times between the two.
In a very systematic fashion, they pulled up evidence for when the radar unit had been calibrated as well as the speed assessment training testing results for the police officer at the police academy. Those were the two that stood out in my mind.
I was young and naive.