1st "speeding" ticket after 13 years -- opinions?

[crosvs]

Hey everyone-

So I'm 29 now, and finally got my first "speeding" ticket. But the where, why, and how I got it is ridiculous, in my opinion, and hence my asking for your opinions here, if you please!

I went to UCLA and lived in Westwood area for almost 8 years. Suffice to say, then, that Sunset Blvd was basically my backyard all that time. Not only am I familiar with nearly every bump and pothole on the road lol, but I've also grown accustomed to the tolerated speed along different portions of the road.

You can imagine my surprise, then, when I got flagged down by a motorcycle cop as I was headed east on Sunset, coming down the slight decline by the UCLA intramural field parking lot (i think it's like 2 stoplights before hilgard).

The funny thing is, I wasn't even TRYING to go fast. I wasn't even in my "spirited" driving mode like I so often am! It was a beautiful day; the top was down; I had my left elbow on the door, my hand resting on the A-pillar; had some chill flamenco music playing lol ...... I wasn't even thinking "ooooooh yeah time to have some fun on sunset" lol ... I was just out for a leisurely drive, en route to beverly hills to sit and read a book while sipping a latte at il trem lol

Long story short, he got me for 49 in that 35 MPH zone. I reminded him I had a perfect record, and whether he'd consider giving me a break. Here's what he said, almost verbatim:

"Look, we know that nobody actually goes 35 here. So we generally give a 10 mph buffer. In fact, I probably wouldn't ordinarily have stopped you for doing 49 either. The only reason I did was because it was a downhill portion of the road, and it was around a bend. Since this made it more dangerous, I have to give you a ticket."

So what do you guys think? Should I bother fighting the ticket? It's "only" $159 and of course I can just do a quick traffic school online to delete it from my (otherwise!) perfect record.

Thanks for your advice!

--Marc

[JCL]

Pay it, learn from it, and move on.

[crosvs]

yeah, that's what i've been thinking too lol ... to me the $159 is worth gettnig it deleted from my record with traffic school. my understnading is that if i try to contest it, i lose the opportunity to do traffic school to remove it.

[primetime]

Uh fighting it? Correct me if I'm wrong but you were doing 14mph over the limit. If you get pulled over, going that much over, thats a ticket in any state, city, or road that i've ever been on. yeah it sucks the cop told you why he gave you a ticket and his reasoning seemed somewhat off. But fighting it will get you absolutely no where. Especially since you were actually "speeding".

[crosvs]

eh. you know what? i'm over it. my time is worth more than $159 anyway lol ... i'd rather just pay and forget lol.

this thread might as well be deleted lol

[crosvs]

p.s. to primetime: i agree with you about the "14-over-speed limit" is a ticket in any other state, but local tolerances DO differ, and if you don't known sunset blvd, let me just tell you that the average speed there is EASILY 45-55 constantly. the 35 mph is a joke lol

but anyway, yeah i'm paying the thing now

[AzNMpower32]

I'm in a similar situation. Last month, I was just tooling normally along a rural stretch of Rt.15 between Gordonsville and Orange, VA. The State officer was just going the other way, and I guess decided to make a U-turn and come after me. He cited 79/55 but wrote it down to 74/55 which is below the felony reckless driving charge. Honestly, I don't even think I was going 79mph but whatever. I really don't mind paying the fine.......I don't want it on my record. Being an out-of-state driver (MD), I won't get any points from my ticket, but it will appear on my record if I plead guilty (prepay the fine).

My thought is to appear in court and plead for leniency regarding it showing up on record. What do y'all think? Court date is 21 Jan 2009. Chances of the officer showing up are not that great, given he is a State trooper and Orange is in the middle of nowhere.

By the way, VA is running low on funds. They're everywhere and ticketing everyone. That very same weekend, my parents were almost ticketed themselves.

[B-Line]

I'd fight it.. Even if it cost me more than the price of the ticket.

What you got there is a "Speed Trap" which is a constitutional violation. Any traffic lawyer can most likely get you out of that ticket on the grounds that the posted speed limit is likely much lower than the engineered road survey.

Thus any ticket that is given especially if tracked on radar is easy to fight under the "speed trap law".

But again, it's easier to just pay it and forget it... And that is what the state is hoping for.

[crosvs]

i bet that's why i've been seeing such a huge number of chp patrolling socal, way more than ever before- cali could use the funds lol

[Wagner]

Originally Posted by JCL

Pay it, learn from it, and move on.